No water plan, no future, says berated farmer

For Goulburn Valley farmer Russell Pell, the divisive debate about the State Government's plan to upgrade the region's century-old irrigation system is personal.

Mr Pell, a third-generation farmer from Wyuna, on the Goulburn near Shepparton, says the controversial Government scheme provides hope that his son Michael will be able to fulfil his dream and carry on the family tradition.

On Tuesday night in Shepparton, Mr Pell was branded a "sell-out" by a group of angry locals as he walked in to a dinner held to congratulate Premier John Brumby for pursuing the controversial foodbowl modernisation project, which includes a pipeline to pump water from the parched north to Melbourne.

Yesterday, Mr Pell stood beside newly lined irrigation channels just outside town and said he could not understand why the protesters were opposed to the $2 billion upgrade of the leaking, ageing scheme.