The bureaucrat responsible for the buyback program was Mary Colreavy. The government did not want the water storage, but in the course of negotiations the price for the water seems to have escalated, with the final price being $2,745 a ML. The amount paid by the department in 2017 was a record for floodplain water entitlements. Colliers provided a range of values between $1,050 and $2,300 per megalitre and discussed factors that might shift the price. For the cost of a phone call the department could have saved the taxpayer $13m.
The Government did not want the water forest.
( z0 want :ARG0 ( z1 government-organization :ARG0-of ( z2 govern ) ) :ARG1 ( z3 forest :mod ( z4 water ) ) :polarity - )
(z0 / want-01
    :ARG0 (z1 / government-organization
              :ARG0-of (z2 / govern-01))
    :ARG1 (z3 / forest
              :mod (z4 / water))
    :polarity -)
The Government did not want the water forest .
z1 :ARG0-of z2
z0 :polarity 0
z0 :ARG0 z1
z3 :mod z4
z0 :ARG1 z3