INTRODUCTION
This chapter provides an overview of water use by major industries and households. It includes a more detailed analysis of water use by the Agriculture industry - the main water user in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). The statistics presented in this section are mainly from ABS Agricultural Surveys and Censuses conducted from 2000–01 to 2005–06.
Water is an essential input for the operation of Australia's businesses and households, and is critical to maintain ecosystem health within the environment. The most recent assessment of water use across industries and households was conducted for 2004–05 and presented in Water Account, Australia 2004–05 (cat. no. 4610.0) and Australian Water Resources 2005 (NWC 2007).