CANADIAN investors now own 841,000 megalitres of water entitlements in the Murray Darling Basin.

Close to half of entitlements owned by Canadian investment funds are held in the northern basin, on unregulated river systems.

Due to a lack of regulation in New South Wales, these investors have the ability to harvest water from floodplains and use water beyond their listed entitlements.

Member for Mildura Ali Cupper said it’s deeply concerning.

“Law-abiding Victorian irrigators pay the consequences for over-extraction upstream, and we need to be able to hold floodplain harvesters to account,” Ms Cupper said.

“Foreign water investors have no vested interests in the fate of our river system.

“Canadian investors alone hold more than 400,000 megalitres of water entitlements in a region where unconscionable water practices run rife.”

Ms Cupper said floodplain harvesting rules need to be established as a matter of urgency.

“It’s bad enough when Australian entities engage in floodplain harvesting,” she said.

“But when foreign multinationals have the opportunity to floodplain harvest, it’s even worse.

“It’s a fair bet that they have even less interest in the long-term health of our river or the fairness of the system.

“To them the Murray Darling Basin is just a cash cow, half a world away from home.”

In June 2018, Canadian investors owned 212,000 megalitres of Australian water allocations. Three years later, it’s close to four times that amount.

Ms Cupper will be making a submission to the New South Wales Legislative Council Inquiry into Floodplain Harvesting.