Wangaratta-based Nationals’ MP for Ovens Valley, Tim McCurdy, is urging regional Victorians to get behind a new petition calling on the Victorian government to properly investigate the long-proposed Big Buffalo Dam near Myrtleford.

The petition went live this week and calls for the government to work with the Commonwealth to commission a comprehensive and independent feasibility study into the project through the National Water Grid Authority, or a similar Commonwealth-funded body.

Mr McCurdy said Big Buffalo Dam had the potential to be a transformational project for the Ovens Valley and Victoria’s long-term water security.

The project would involve expanding the current 24,000 megalitre Buffalo Dam into a 1,000,000 megalitre storage.

While proponents say the project would boost regional irrigation and offer greater water security for townships such as Wangaratta which rely on the storage for domestic water supply, others such as the Murray Darling Basin Authority have said it would harm downstream river health and violate caps on basin extractions.

“Big Buffalo has been on my agenda for more than a decade, and I believe it is time Labor stopped looking exclusively to Melbourne and started backing nation-building infrastructure in regional Victoria,” he said.

“The land for the project was acquired by the Victorian government in the 1960s to preserve the opportunity for a future dam, yet decades later we still haven’t had a proper, modern assessment of what this project could deliver.

“There is more to renewable energy than solar factories on prime agricultural land and wind turbines.

"Hydro remains a viable, proven and potentially low-cost source of renewable energy, and the first step is doing the research to properly understand what Big Buffalo could deliver.

“A feasibility study would allow us to assess the potential for increased water security, environmental water storage, support for downstream users, hydroelectricity or pumped hydro, and significant economic opportunities for the Ovens Valley.

“With growing pressure on our water resources, climate uncertainty and the need for reliable energy storage, now is the time to look seriously at every practical solution available.”

Mr McCurdy is encouraging residents across the region to add their voice by signing the petition.

The Big Buffalo Dam Petition can be signed online through the Victorian Parliament website.