South Australian potato growers fighting government on water allocations

Two of South Australia's biggest potato growers are fighting the State Government in court over changes to their water allocations.

They say a new water plan for the Murray Mallee region, east of Adelaide, will force them to cut back their production and workforces.

The SA Government has spent years preparing the new allocation arrangements, wanting to ensure sustainable levels of groundwater extraction.

Neighbouring businesses Parilla Premium Potatoes and Longtrail Farms at Parilla are upset with the changes.

Wade Dabinett from Longtrail Farms said his business could lose 20 per cent of its irrigation supply.

"We don't consider the plan to be fair given the amount of investment and the amount of development that we've gone through in our businesses to then all of a sudden, almost at the 11th hour, be reduced right back," he said.

"It's not about us wanting to extract as much water as we can.

"We want to do everything within the rules ... we've developed our business within the rules."

The two companies have gone to the Environment, Resources and Development Court to tackle the Government.

They hope to win a better water allocation and say cutting back their supply will lead to business losses.

Mr Dabinett said the companies were keen for more talks with the Government and not opposed in principle to protecting the aquifer.

"We need the groundwater to survive, our businesses need it," he said.