“Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink,” he proclaims.

Riverina irrigators know the feeling.

Despite a downpour of biblical proportions, despite catchment dams rising faster than a hot air balloon and despite flash-flooding across much of the state, general security irrigators have been lumbered with just 17 per cent of their rightful allocation.

The situation has exposed the farcical nature of the allocation process, a process that is deeply flawed, overly conservative and hopelessly bureaucratic.

Most galling for farmers is that the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is either reluctant or unable to explain how allocation numbers are arrived at.

The issue goes far beyond the health of crops (the current deluge means winter crops will be finished off anyway) and is more about the lack of transparency in the process.

How can a farmer plan for the future if he doesn’t know how much of his most precious commodity he will have at any given point?

The DPI is happy to bite farmers for ever-rising fixed costs, regardless of the allocation they receive.

It should be just as happy to give a thorough explanation as to how it manages a farmer’s water.

Of course, the current 17 per cent allocation is not an end point.

Allocations steadily rise throughout the season and will no doubt be ratcheted up at the next announcement on Tuesday.

But that is immaterial. 

At the heart of this issue is accountability and a farmer’s right to know.

Riverina irrigators are among the most productive farmers in the nation, producing food and fibre for the world.

They have already faced the indignity of the Murray Darling Basin Plan, the rise of corporate farms, the vagaries of Mother Nature, the free trade farce and fluky commodity prices.

They at least deserve transparency from the government they elect on matters that can have such profound consequences for their livelihoods.