"We will dry up and we will all blow away - it will become a desert."
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Those are the dire conclusions desperate farmers and affected people from across NSW and Victoria are looking at if the Murray Darling Basin Plan isn't stopped in it's tracks.
And they want it done before their hand is forced.
More than 1000 people packed Albury's QEII square on Tuesday calling to "pause the plan", to put a stop to the zero water allocation and asking for help to stay afloat.
And despite the political cloud which surrounded the rally, to get independent Kevin Mack elected in the seat of Farrer and celebrate independent Helen Dalton's win in the seat of Murray, plenty of people in the know held up signs and made their voices heard.
Families were out in force with children leading the charge holding signs and showing farming is a family affair.
This is true for Berrigan's Noel Baxter.
With two sons in tow Noel brought his truck full of hay into the middle of Albury's Dean St with the words "No more buy backs stop Burke's water plan" spray painted across it.
He is a fourth generation farmer who said in more than 100 years his family farm has been operating it has never seen anything this bad.
"I am not irrigating at all which is very rare, there is the odd irrigating going around the district to water up grass to keep the sheep alive but that's about it and normally it is a really prosperous area," he said.
"The financial pressure on farmers in our area is definitely going to be high.
"There are more and more farms coming on to the market, there is stock getting sold off because people have had enough all while we are looking at the potential change of leadership in the federal election."
Mr Baxter said if Labor gets into power it will crush local farmers.
"If buy backs happen, like they are promising, it will destroy our area like nothing we have seen before."
For the past 50 years Paul Sexton has been farming in Tocumwal but that may all be coming to an end.
"They have actually stopped us from earning a living by cutting the water," he said.
"We have ewes lambing on dry ground, which is not ideal, they are walking off and leaving lambs."
If the plan isn't paused Mr Sexton believes most farmers will give it away.
"We will all be walking off," he said.
"We all have commitments with rates and things and they have just cut off our livelihood.
