The Victorian Environmental Water Holder has spent $143,000 buying 5,000 megalitres of water for use in the Wimmera and Glenelg waterways.

The water was purchased from junior miner Donald Mineral Sands.

Water holder chair Denis Flett says these rivers are the “lifeblood of local communities” that need water for their own protection and to keep native wildlife safe too.

“It was identified in our trading strategy last year [that we would need more water] and we started to commence negotiations a bit over six months ago,” he told reporters.

“That was really just to say; ‘Look, we are in that circumstance, and if there is the potential to negotiate the purchase of water then we are an interested party’.”

The Victorian Environmental Water Holder has paid $143,000 for the allocation so far, but it will cost more when it actually uses some or all of the supplies.