The ability to trade in water has offered dairy farmers in northern Victoria a much needed way of buying time.
Farmers need time to recuperate from crippling debts caused by drought, low milk prices and high fodder prices.
Last year's season set the average farmer back by at least $150,000, on top of debts from previous years.
Some farmers have sold part of their water right and intend buying it back when the situation improves.
Water, after all, is an asset that can be traded, just like cows, crops or machinery. Sell when the price is high, buy when the price is low.
Other farmers, waiting to exit the industry with some dignity, find their water is worth more than the land they spent a life time developing.
Irrigation is what underpins agriculture and the many towns that depend on it for survival. take away the water and you forever alter the social structure of whole communities.
Let us hope the full impact of water trading is fully understood before water is allowed to leave the region forever.