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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MEDIA RELEASE
31 May 2013
Embargoed: 11.30 am (Canberra time)
96/2013

Good rainfall means more water available for the agricultural sector

Australian farms used a total of 9,007 gigalitres of water in 2011-12, a 19 per cent increase on the previous year. 8,174 gigalitres (91 per cent) of this was for irrigation. The area irrigated increased by 9 per cent, to 2.1 million hectares.

Cotton accounted for 25 per cent of all irrigation water used, and 19 per cent of the area irrigated in Australia.

72 per cent of irrigation in Australia occurred within the Murray Darling Basin in 2011-12. Consecutive years of good seasonal rainfall resulted in an increase in water availability for agriculture in the Basin.

Across Australia, most agricultural water was sourced from irrigation channels.
Graph Water Use on Australian Farms



More details are available in Water Use on Australian Farms (cat. no. 4618.0).

Media note:
When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.