Victorian Water Minister Lisa Neville says she will look at water held for Melbourne as a way to improve water security for rural irrigators.

Ms Neville is looking for more options, after being slammed for a suggestion that water from a desalination plant at Wonthaggi could be used to ease the situation.

The Water Minister says she is still weighing-up ideas for both the desalination plant and volumes of water tagged for Melbourne, which are being held in the state’s north-east.

She hopes to find a balance “to see if we can meet a range of needs in regional communities as well as obviously metropolitan communities,” Ms Neville said.

“That's the sort of work I want done now before we're in the midst of a drought and when we see communities do it really tough.”