By Ann Marie Angebrandt
THE reputation of Werribee South farmers has been dealt another blow after vegetable crops from five properties were damaged by a herbicide mysteriously found in a drainage channel earlier this month.
The D1 channel carries stormwater run-off and is used by some licensed farmers as a top-up water supply.
Southern Rural Water’s general manager, Clinton Rodda, said it was unclear how the herbicide, sulfonyl urea, got in the channel. “There are lots of rumours going around down there, but nothing is confirmed yet.”
The herbicide is used for weed control but was not used by local farmers, he said.
“We’ve checked the area and none of them use it. It’s now in the hands of the police,” he said.
The channel runs from Hoppers Crossing to Port Phillip Bay.
Mr Rodda said SRW could not guarantee the quality or quantity of the drainage water.
“The ones who use it know it’s opportunity water dependent on rainfall, and they use at their own risk.”
The incident is not related to a separate investigation into stunted and yellowed crops that were produced last September on 15 Werribee South properties using recycled water, he said.
A Department of Primary Industries report released earlier this month was unable to find a cause for the problem, but could not rule out the recycled water.
Werribee South landowner Nik Tsardakis said the latest incident put local farmers under a bad light yet again.
“They’re losing confidence down here,” he said.
“The channel water is only meant to be a top-up supply, because the Government can’t meet our total need.”
Werribee supplies about 70 per cent of Australia’s lettuce and is a major producer of other vegetables, including broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower.
