Basin horticulture farmers feel the pinch in NSW, Vic

Beneath is the snaking Murray River which provides crucial water to irrigate southern Australia's foodbowl.

Just outside the Victorian-NSW towns of Echuca and Moama is the Barmah Choke, a narrow section of the river that runs through the Barmah-Millewa Forest.

River managers have come under fire for their actions in the Barmah Choke.

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Last summer they waited for water from tributaries into Lake Victoria - a key storage point for water further downstream - but it didn't come.

That meant the river was run hard to meet demand, with water lost as it spilled into the forest.

There's now a class action against the Murray-Darling Basin Authority which is being sued for $750 million in damages by irrigators who say they missed out on water because of poor management.

But senior authority officials have defended their conduct, arguing they face increased pressure on the choke from erosion and a complex range of challenges in delivering environmental and irrigation water.

On the NSW side of the Murray's banks, the severe drought is continuing to bite.

Victoria has a more conservative approach to water management with the government keeping water for use in dry years.

That's why cotton and rice are more prevalent north of the border, while industries which can't have a year off - like dairy, nuts and fruit - are common to the south.

For NSW farmers without water, it must be agonising to see the river flow and their Victorian counterparts with allocated water.

However, in Victoria's north, fruit growers are feeling the pinch as water prices soar as high as $800 a megalitre.

At Mick Young's peach, nectarine and plum farm at Woorinen near Swan Hill, the crop can't be "turned off" like some other industries.

Despite a perfect storm of market forces, dry conditions and labour shortages making things tough, he believes there's a future after the tough period eases.

"If I was an older person and I didn't have kids coming through, I'd scrap the joint and get out of it," Young says.

Water Minister David Littleproud just spent three days in the southern basin with interim Murray Darling Basin inspector-general Mick Keelty.

Littleproud sees the former Australian Federal Police commissioner's role as a "tough but fair cop" looking at compliance across the one million square kilometre river system.

The minister is also adamant the lack of rain is to blame for issues in the basin, rather than mismanagement.

"I've got to be honest with people, it's still going to be tough," Littleproud told AAP.

"You can't sugar-coat things, you've got to say it up front.

"I think we can get through it but the only thing that will deliver it is rain."

The Greens and South Australian minor party senator Rex Patrick are among Littleproud's chief political opponents on the issue.

They say mismanagement, including over-allocating water to NSW irrigators in the basin's north, is to blame.

"They really don't add anything constructive to the debate anymore - they are fringe-dwellers," Littleproud says.

He questions if Senator Patrick, who suggested cotton exports should be banned because the crop uses too much water, should be listened to.

"This is the guy that wanted to ban cotton. Are we going to ban citrus in South Australia? Really, how serious are we going to take him?"

Littleproud is driving ahead with his sales pitch to farmers and state governments to stick with the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, which is 80 per cent complete.

He describes getting a historic agreement between basin states to deliver the plan as akin to achieving peace in the Middle East.

Once the last drop of water is returned to the environment through the plan, Littleproud sees governments' role as simple.

"We get the hell out of people's lives and we stay the hell out of people's lives," he says.

Australian Associated Press