Sludge Watch ==> Australia water war

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

Water rebels urge farmers to fight back
25.jun.06
The Age
Carmel Egan, Jason Koutsoukis
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/farmers-urged-to-fight-back/2006/06/24/1150845421296.html
Victoria, Australia, farmers are, according to this story, being urged to 
rebel against the Federal Government's national plan on water, in a rural 
backlash to rival that sparked by the Snowy Hydro sell-off plan.
With a radical plan to seize back control of irrigation, rural communities 
have the backing of one influential ally of Prime Minister John Howard who 
wants the Government's water changes scrapped.
Under the Government's National Water Initiative, water can now be traded on 
the open market.
But it has been proposed that regional communities establish a network of 
"water banks" to buy, allocate and distribute water to their shareholders 
and lease it at subsidised fees to farmers in need.
The water banks would be based on the community banking system established 
in small towns with the help of the Bendigo Bank in response to sweeping 
branch closures in the 1990s. The water banks would bid for water against 
large farms, urban water authorities and managed investment funds, which 
have already acquired millions of megalitres since water trading began.