The town of Griffith in Northern NSW is covered in signs criticizing the Murray -Darlin Basin Authority's plans for water restrctions, with residents being urged to take part in the Authority's consultation in the town today.
The ABC reports that over 2000 people from the area could attend today's stop on the five week tour.
Around 60 per cent of businesses could be shut up today., residents said.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
The meeting is for consultation on the Murray-Darling Basin Authority's (MDBA) plan to restore the vital Murray-Darling river system, which supports 40 per cent of the nation's farmers, AAP reported.
Reductions of up to 43 per cent in water from watercourses and 32 per cent for groundwater are proposed for Murrumbidgee irrigators, including Griffith's wine, citrus and rice growers, according to a draft guide released last week.
But this morning, Federal Water Minister Tony Burke reminded farmers and rural communities that a plan for the Murray-Darling Basin is nowhere near to being finalised.
State Nationals MP Adrian Piccoli is hoping the Griffith meeting shows the government how devastating the plan will be for his Murrumbidgee electorate.
"You just can't sit in Canberra, make these kinds of decisions with people's lives and expect there to be no response and expect people even to be calm about it," he told ABC Radio.
"People have invested their lives in their businesses and to see them threatened in this way, of course people are angry."
Shelters erected
Shelters have been erected outside the venue in case more people turn up than can be accommodated.
In Deniliquin, close to the NSW border with Victoria, more than 300 people were shut out of a meeting on the issue on Wednesday.
Police were called when one man burned a copy of the MDBA's guide in protest and others blockaded the road with their cars.
In Griffith, the Chamber of Commerce has urged business people to shut up shop for the morning and attend the 9am (AEDT) meeting to voice their opposition to the cuts, which it says could be the death of the city.
The front page of the local newspaper, the Area News, this week carried a picture of a gravestone that read "RIP Griffith 1916 - 2014" and an open letter to federal Water Minister Tony Burke.
"We're not going to take this," the letter read. "Never. We are simply not going to take it."
