4618.0 - Water Use on Australian Farms, 2016-17

Quality Declaration

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 21/05/2018

Page tools: Print

Print Page Print all pages in this product

Print All

KEY FIGURES

WATER USE ON AUSTRALIAN FARMS, year ended 30 June 2017

	Aust.	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	NT	ACT	MDB^a

AGRICULTURAL WATER USE

Agricultural businesses ('000)	88.1	26.2	21.9	18.5	9.7	8.9	2.4	0.4	0.0	36.1
Agricultural businesses irrigating ('000)	22.1	5.6	5.8	4.9	3.0	1.6	1.1	0.2	0.0	9.2
Total water use ('000 ML) (b)	9 969	4 020	1 947	2 664	611	364	267	95	1	6 663
Water applied for irrigation ('000 ML) (c)	9 104	3 815	1 755	2 423	544	275	240	np	np	6 377
Water applied for other agricultural purposes ('000 ML) (d) Change in total water use from 2015-16 (%)	865	206	192	242	67	89	28	np	np	285
	8.9	43.3	-7.1	0.7	-28.9	-2.4	-19.5	102.4	47.2	27.9

SOURCES OF AGRICULTURAL WATER
Irrigation channels or pipelines ('000 ML)	3 714	1 695	1 109	651	104	113	43	0	0	2 874
On-farm dams or tanks ('000 ML)	1 324	414	101	574	24	81	96	34	0	732
Rivers, creeks or lakes ('000 ML)	2 899	1 387	444	767	176	17	105	4	0	2 282
Groundwater ('000 ML)	1 820	486	234	612	270	140	20	57	0	713
Recycled/re-used from off-farm ('000 ML)	137	21	43	57	12	1	3	0	0	51
Town or country reticulated mains supply ('000 ML)	72	16	13	4	25	13	1	0	0	11
Other water sources ('000 ML)	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

np not published
(a) Murray Darling Basin (MDB)
(b) Includes water applied for irrigation and other agricultural purposes
(c) Includes water applied to pastures and crops
(d) Includes livestock drinking water, dairy or piggery cleaning etc.

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

Footnote(s): (a) Includes water applied for irrigation and other agricultural purposes;(b) Includes water applied to pastures and crops;(c) Includes livestock drinking water, dairy or piggery cleaning etc.

Source(s): Water Use on Australian Farms, 2016-17

Graph Image for Sources of Agricultural Water

Annotation(s): MDB=Murray-Darling Basin

Source(s): Water Use on Australian Farms, 2016-17

KEY POINTS

Above average rainfall was recorded in most states contributing to record yields and production in 2016-17 and total volume of water applied for irrigation increased 9% to 9.1 million megalitres.
Total water sourced increased 9% in 2016-17, driven by a 43% increase in New South Wales where cotton and rice farmers took advantage of the favourable seasonal conditions and access to water.
Water sourced from irrigation channels increased by 20% in 2016-17 to 3.7 million megalitres. Water sourced from rivers creeks and lakes also increase 20% (to 2.9 million megalitres) and water sourced from on-farm dams was up 35% to 1.3 million megalitres. Nationally, the majority of water continues to be was taken from irrigation channels and rivers, creeks and lakes, at 37% and 29% of the national total respectively in 2016-17. Falls in water sourced were seen in Victoria and South Australia, down 7% and 29% respectively. This is attributed to the average to above average rain fall seen in 2016-17 compared to the below average falls in 2015-16.
The number of businesses reporting water use increased by 3% in 2016-17, driven by a 7% increase in Victoria (to 20,400 business), a 7% increase in Western Australia (to 7,700 businesses) and a small increase in New South Wales, up1% (to 24,300 businesses).