4618.0 - Water Use on Australian Farms, 2011-12 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 31/05/2013   
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Image: River mouth IRRIGATION ACTIVITY BY MURRAY-DARLING BASIN

  • In 2011-12, the total agricultural area irrigated in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) was 1.4 million hectares, which represented 66% of all irrigated land in Australia.
  • The Murray-Darling Basin Authority reported that both the northern MDB and the southern MDB experienced exceptionally heavy rainfall, resulting in flooding but also in unusually high water storage levels. For more information on water levels please visit the Murray-Darling Basin Authority homepage.
  • 59% of the total irrigation water used in the MBD was in the NSW MDB area (3,451 gigalitres).
  • The application rate of irrigation in the MDB was 4.2 ML/ha, whereas the application rate for the Non-MDB was 3.2 ML/ha. The highest application rate in the MDB was in the South Australian MDB area at 5.2 ML/ha, whereas the lowest was in the ACT MDB area at 2.1 ML/ha.
Graph Image for Irrigation Activity, MDB

Annotation(s): MDB=Murray-Darling Basin;MDB=Murray-Darling Basin

Source(s): Water Use on Australian Farms (cat. no. 4618.0)