The state government claims a cease to pump order on the Hunter and Paterson rivers, and Wallis Creek, is necessary to protect the Hunter Estuary - a large area from the mouth of the Hunter River to Oakhampton, Gostwyck and the Seaham Weir.

But farmers say the government has no evidence to support this need. They extract 23,000 mega litres of the 622,000 allocated each year under water licences - a mere 3.7 per cent.

If the draft replacement water sharing plan for the Hunter Unregulated and Alluvial Water Source 2022 is approved it would kill the Slow Food Earth Market in The Levee - a venture created to support local farmers and biodiversity in the region.

It would also shut down farms along the Hunter River - everything from dairies and vegetables to beef, turf and lucerne.

Food grown here and sold through the Sydney markets, the Newcastle markets, the earth market and other farmers markets will dry up. Local crops that Hunter and Sydney restaurants buy direct from farmers will be gone.

And, the ingredients for almost 10,000 meals that Slow Food Hunter Valley volunteers make each year for the city's most vulnerable would be wiped out.

Five hundred direct jobs and 3000 indirect jobs would be affected.

The NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment did not answer The Mercury's questions but did say that "feedback will be considered before the draft plan is finalised".

For East Maitland farming duo Matthew and Liam Dennis, who have recently planted 2000 carrot and onion seedlings, a cease to pump order would be diabolical.

They've worked for the past five years to diversify so they can both survive on the land and now they will be forced off the farm.

"If you buy thousands of seedlings you need to water them to keep them alive. I can't plant them and then be issued with a cease to pump order - the whole crop will be lost," Matthew said.

"We can't work with this order, we'll have to sell the farm."

The department has said the cease to pump order would come into effect once the salinity level at Green Rocks near Millers Forest reached 4000.

Mr Dennis said that was the lowest part of the river system so it was frequently salty.

He would never see a reading like that at his farm, yet he will be forced to abide by it.

"I would never irrigate at that level, it would be way too salty," he said. "You only have to get onto Google and you'll see what salinity level different crops can handle."

At the height of the worst drought in living memory - in 2018 - farmers would not have been able to irrigate on 260 days of that year, according to salinity data Lower Hunter Agricultural Water Users Incorporated Secretary Julia Wokes has collated.

The data also shows the order would have been in place after the drought, especially over summer and in spring. "The crops that are grown here need water all year around, even in winter, but particularly in summer," Ms Wokes said.

Slow Food Earth Market Chairwoman Amorelle Dempster said all of the hard work the community had done over the past five years would be ruined if this rule was made law.

"It's devastating, everything we have worked for, everything we have all built as a community - this fantastic hub of fresh produce that is grown close to our homes - it will all be gone, just like that," she said.

"Where will our food come from? Where will the food we use to make meals for the most vulnerable come from? We need a thriving local food system here and if COVID has taught us anything with supply chains and product shortages it's that we need access to fresh food from our own local area."

The Mercury has launched a petition to NSW Parliament, which will signal a political debate on the issue after it is tabled. The Mercury has played a pivotal role in supporting the city's agriculture sector for decades, but especially in the past five years to help keep our local food bowl afloat.

The petition requires more than 10,000 signatures before it can be tabled in parliament.

Click on the images below to download a copy of the petition and related information.

Note: This list will be regularly updated as more businesses come on board.

Note: This list will be regularly updated as more businesses come on board.