The relocation of 76 Murray-Darling Basin Authority positions to the bush should not drain its ACT office of policy expertise and disrupt its work managing Australia's largest river system, farming and irrigation peak bodies have said.

Industry groups have welcomed the Coalition's decision to relocate public servants from the national capital to Mildura, Murray Bridge, Griffith, and Goondiwindi, saying it would bring the agency closer to people affected by its work.

However the support of some for the plan came with a warning to consult staff and make the relocations smooth.

The National Farmers' Federation and Cotton Australia said they supported decentralising public service jobs, provided there was a strong business case.

National Farmers' Federation general manager of natural resource management, Warwick Ragg, said the government should keep the right proportion of staff needed in Canberra for policy work while relocating jobs.

Mr Ragg said he hadn't seen evidence the authority's spread of offices had created communication problems.

Cotton Australia general manager Michael Murray said appropriate staff levels should remain in Canberra to continue directly speaking to the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, state jurisdictions and the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources.

"There is great value in the Murray-Darling Basin Authority having a presence in basin communities. The main focus should be on the delivery of the plan, and this should be assisted by having people on the ground," Mr Murray said.

Senior water researcher at the Australia Institute and ex-authority director Maryanne Slattery said a blunt decentralisation push could harm the agency's work.

Water agencies needed to change and more input was needed from regional communities in managing the Murray-Darling Basin.

"In my time at the MDBA, there was real resistance to letting staff travel around the basin and the views of regional people were not seriously sought or respected," she said.

"The changes that are needed in senior personnel, policy direction and organisational culture could be harder if key parts of the organisation are far from each other.

"The MDBA needs change, but bedding down those changes will need stability.

"We definitely support MDBA opening offices in the basin where communities can be heard and local conditions properly understood. But splitting up specialist policy staff as part of a simplistic decentralisation push would be a mistake."

National Irrigators Council chief executive Steve Whan called for the authority to conduct the move carefully.

"What we don't want to see is the work of implementing the Murray-Darling basin plan disrupted by relocations," he said.

The authority would find staff willing to relocate, and would benefit from having them closer to other towns on the river system.

"When you've got people on the ground in the communities, they can get a feel of what people think about it, and what the issues are," Mr Whan said.

Ricegrowers' Association president Jeremy Morton backed the Coalition's decision to move staff.

"Having the MDBA people living in our communities where they can see the direct outcome of the policies they are tasked with implementing will help them understand the impact of these reforms on the rural agricultural businesses, their communities and our environment," he said.

"Of all government agencies, this is one that most needs to be outside of Canberra."

ACT Liberal senator Zed Seselja said decentralisation efforts should focus on large cities like Sydney and Melbourne, while Labor senator David Smith said the Coalition had learnt nothing from the pesticides authority's turbulent relocation of jobs from Canberra to Armidale.

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority has discussed the planned move with staff. A spokesman said the government would  provide adequate funding and time for the authority to plan and complete the relocations.

"The MDBA will work with staff to methodically plan the regionalisation, and to ensure the MDBA continues to deliver its core responsibilities during the transition," he said.

"However, it is too early to identify specific positions, or staff members or options for staff, who might be affected."