Daniel Wills
The Daily Telegraph

VINEYARDS struggling to recover from oversupply face closure from water cuts, winemakers warn. The Murray-Darling Basin Authority yesterday published more than 160 official responses to its plan to return the system to health by mandating large reductions to water consumption.

The Winemakers Federation of Australia warns the industry's outlook is already rocky in the wake of a grape glut and closure could be "the only option" for some irrigation districts if large water cuts are introduced.

Federation chief executive Stephen Strachan yesterday told The Advertiser Riverland and Langhorne Creek growers were most at risk as they relied heavily on Murray water.

"Irrigation, particularly in the Murray-Darling Basin, is essential to the ongoing success of the Australian wine industry," the submission states. "In an irrigated locality facing reduced water allocations ... the only option may be to close down the irrigation district."

The submission questions MDBA modelling indicating the grape-growing industry will be isolated from the harshest impacts of water cuts because of the high commercial value of its product.

Mr Strachan said altering the Basin plan to remove requirements for individual districts to meet strict savings targets would help protect at-risk growing regions.

The Basin Authority's draft plan released last year concedes annual water cuts beyond 4000 billion litres, the largest option floated in a three-tiered sliding scale, would have a major affect on SA growers.

"Horticulture ...   may contract or leave the region, except for some boutique wineries with cellar-door sales," the document states.

Nature Foundation SA president Bob Lott's submission calls for the MDBA to enforce the maximum water-saving target.

"Preventing the collapse of water-dependent ecosystems will provide an ongoing base to sustain the productive capability of the Basin and the communities that depend on it," he says.

The SA Government has already indicated irrigators are likely to receive their full 100 per cent entitlement from July thanks to stronger flows.