South Australia is the only state not to have suffered any substantial pain under the Murray-Darling Basin plan, a key Senate cross bencher claims.
On the other hand Queensland, NSW and Victoria had suffered enormously from water buybacks, Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm said.
"Yet there's Nick (Xenophon) bleating away for South Australia, saying 'give me water'," he said of the independent senator who is holding out support for the government's workplace reforms in return for a better water deal for the state.
"I don't think it's the right thing to do for the country."
Taking a shot at SA's manufacturing record, Senator Leyonhjelm said the state had struggled to complete naval shipbuilding projects on time and within budget.
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"They can't be expected to build the submarines inside 20 years."
Senator Xenophon said there was a fundamental issue of trust in terms of ensuring the basin agreement was adhered to by the states.
"I think that this is a tightrope, it's a very complex and delicate agreement that must be maintained," he told ABC radio.
It was in the national interest not to trash the intergovernmental agreement and to make sure the plan was maintained.
"But that involves real political will amongst all the basin states to get on with it," Senator Xenophon said.
He rejected suggestions he was trying to extort the government over the issue.
"It's not extortion to ask for people to stick to their word, to do the right thing both in terms of public policy and to keep their word."
Senator Xenophon said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had given him a number of assurances during their discussions over the weekend.
Assistant Minister for Cities Angus Taylor said it was critical to get balance right between environmental objectives and agriculture and broader community goals.
"People have been fighting over water for thousands of years," he told Sky News.
