A group of councils have used their combined voice to call for changes to water laws.

The Riverina and Murray Regional Organisation of Councils (RAMROC) has made its submission to the Federal Government’s overhaul of the Water Act. 

The councils are concerned that residents who rely on their Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder licences are being disadvantaged in favour of environmental protection.

“The Water Act and the Water Act terminology puts the environment first and all other areas, such as social and economic... they come second,” Conargo Shire Mayor and RAMROC member Norm Brennan has told the ABC.

“We don't want the environment to suffer, but we don't want our communities to suffer as well.

“The catch-cry is triple bottom line.

“The environment, the economic and the social benefits should all be in the equation, not just the environment,” he said.

The Federal Government says the review of the Water Act currently underway will consider whether it is delivering on its objectives with the minimum necessary regulatory burden.

The Review will also look at the terms of reference set out in the original Water Act, which cover the extent to which the objectives and outcomes of the Basin Plan should be met.