4610.0 - Water Account, Australia, 2009-10 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 29/11/2011   
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Contents >> Agriculture >> Agriculture industry

 
AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY

Water consumption
Water source
Reuse water and Origin of water


Water Consumption

Water consumption by the Agriculture industry was 6,987 GL in 2009–10 (table below), accounting for 52% of total water consumption in Australia during that period. Water consumption varied between crops and between States and Territories. New South Wales had the highest water consumption for the Agriculture industry in 2009–10, with 2,127 GL or 30% of total agricultural water consumption (graph below), followed by Queensland (1,928 GL or 28%) and Victoria (1,553 GL or 22%).

WATER CONSUMPTION (a), Agriculture industry—2008–09 and 2009–10



 
In 2009–10, the Sheep, beef cattle and grain farming industry group had the highest water consumption within the Agriculture industry, with 2,649 GL (or 38%). This was followed by Other crop growing (1,409 GL or 20%), Dairy cattle farming (1,216 GL or 17%) and Fruit and tree nut growing (1,116 GL or 16%) (see table below).

The largest decrease in water consumption between 2008–09 and 2009–10 within these industry groups was for Other crop growing (a 26% decrease, from 1,901 GL to 1,409 GL), while the largest increase in consumption was for Sheep, beef cattle and grain farming (a 22% increase, from 2,177 GL to 2,649 GL).
 

WATER CONSUMPTION, Agriculture industry—2008–09 and 2009–10

AUSTRALIA
STATE AND TERRITORY 2009–10
2008–09
2009–10
NSW
Vic.
Qld
SA
WA
Tas.
NT
ACT
ML
ML
ML
ML
ML
ML
ML
ML
ML
ML

Nursery and floriculture production
58 490
60 555
16 735
12 699
16 296
2 967
9 690
1 238
864
66
Mushroom and vegetable growing
431 782
439 059
98 362
80 150
92 014
73 070
58 600
35 089
1 750
25
Fruit and tree nut growing
1 047 610
1 115 883
238 944
378 705
181 918
256 013
41 965
8 361
9 907
68
Sheep, beef cattle and grain farming
2 176 863
2 648 630
1 163 551
323 975
586 785
252 709
145 763
139 724
35 911
213
Other crop growing
1 900 863
1 409 189
401 034
13 888
961 241
9 853
18 728
3 699
623
123
Dairy cattle farming
1 262 879
1 215 678
177 386
724 256
64 189
115 086
39 924
94 835
-
3
Poultry farming
23 940
16 644
7 568
4 567
1 846
1 149
1 110
400
-
4
Deer farming
630
574
169
102
24
82
193
3
-
-
Other livestock farming
92 724
81 122
23 606
14 207
23 430
9 423
7 809
2 411
232
3
Total
6 995 781
6 987 334
2 127 355
1 552 549
1 927 744
720 351
323 782
285 761
49 288
504

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)


  
Water Source

The majority of the water consumed by the Agriculture industry in 2009–10 was distributed water (3,647 GL or 52%) and self-extracted water (3,215 GL or 46%), with reuse water (126 GL or 2%) accounting for the remainder.

The highest self-extracted water consumption within the Agriculture industry in 2009–10 was by Sheep, beef cattle and grain farming (1,339 GL) and in Other crop growing (631 GL) (graph and table below). The industry groups that consumed more distributed water than self-extracted water included Nursery and floriculture production, Fruit and tree nut growing, Other crop growing, Dairy cattle farming and Deer farming.

WATER CONSUMPTION, Agriculture industry (a), by water type (b)— 2009–10

WATER CONSUMPTION, Agriculture industry - by water type (a)—2009–10

Self-extracted
Distributed
Reuse
Total
ML
ML
ML
ML

Nursery and floriculture production
23 333
32 838
4 385
60 555
Mushroom and vegetable growing
283 952
139 746
15 361
439 059
Fruit and tree nut growing
327 075
777 709
11 098
1 115 883
Sheep, beef cattle and grain farming
1 339 271
1 255 805
53 553
2 648 630
Other crop growing
630 587
759 299
19 303
1 409 189
Dairy cattle farming
551 353
644 096
20 229
1 215 678
Poultry farming
np
9 703
np
16 644
Deer farming
np
350
                np
574
Other livestock farming
51 984
26 966
2 172
81 122
Total
3 214 660
3 646 514
126 160
6 987 334

(a) Excludes water consumption by businesses conducting agricultural activities where agriculture is not the business’ main activity.
See Explanatory Note 27 for more details.
np Not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated.

 
Distributed water consumption (3,647 GL) was slightly higher than self-extracted water consumption (3,215 GL) for the Agriculture industry in Australia in 2009–10. New South Wales had the highest distributed consumption (1,213 GL) of any state, followed by Victoria (1,161 GL) and Queensland (1,002 GL) (graph below).

Queensland (915 GL) had the highest self-extracted water consumption, followed by New South Wales (860 GL) and South Australia (563 GL) (see table below).

WATER CONSUMPTION, Agriculture industry (a), by water type—2009–10

 

WATER CONSUMPTION (a), Agriculture industry - by water type—2008–09 and 2009–10

AUSTRALIA
STATE AND TERRITORY 2009–10
2008–09
2009–10
NSW
Vic.
Qld
SA
WA
Tas.
NT
ACT
ML
ML
ML
ML
ML
ML
ML
ML
ML
ML

Self-extracted
3 625 895
3 214 660
859 646
357 370
915 351
563 338
206 613
263 164
48 785
393
Distributed
3 267 240
3 646 514
1 213 159
1 161 164
1 002 336
135 745
112 237
21 286
497
91
Reuse
102 645
126 160
54 550
34 015
10 056
21 269
4 932
1 311
7
21
Total
6 995 781
6 987 334
2 127 355
1 552 549
1 927 744
720 351
323 782
285 761
49 288
504

(a) Excludes water consumption by businesses conducting agricultural activities where agriculture is not the business’ main activity. See Explanatory Note 27 for more details.

Reuse Water

Reuse water consumption by the Agriculture industry in 2009–10 was 126 GL or 1.8% of total water consumption by the industry (table above). This was an increase of 23% from the amount of reuse water consumed by the industry in 2008–09. This increase was driven by increases in New South Wales (from 33 GL to 55 GL, or 67%) and Victoria (from 29 GL to 34 GL or 17%). These two states consumed more reuse water than any other state in 2009–10. The Australian Capital Territory (4%) and South Australia (3%) had the highest reuse consumption as a proportion of their respective total water consumption. Note that consumption of reuse water by the Agriculture industry includes water from regional reuse schemes, but does not include on-farm reuse or recycling.

The highest consumption of reuse water within the Agriculture industry in 2009–10 was by Sheep, beef cattle and grain farming (54 GL), Dairy cattle farming (20 GL), Other crop growing (19 GL) and Mushroom and vegetable growing (15 GL) (see graph below). The largest increase in the consumption of reuse water within these industry groups from 2008–09 to 2009–10 was in the Sheep, beef cattle and grain farming group (from 24 GL to 54 GL).

REUSE WATER CONSUMPTION, Agriculture industry (a)— 2008–09 and 2009–10

 
 
Origin of Water

The majority of water consumption by the Agriculture industry in 2009–10 originated from surface water (65%), while groundwater accounted for 33% (table below). The States and Territories with the largest percentage of water consumption extracted from groundwater sources were Northern Territory (65%), South Australia (60%) and Western Australia (44%). Surface water accounted for a large percentage of agricultural water consumption in Tasmania (89%), Victoria (74%), the Australian Capital Territory (72%) and Queensland (72%).
 
ORIGIN OF AGRICULTURAL WATER—2009–10

Surface water
Groundwater
Reuse
Total all sources(a)
%
%
%
ML

NSW
62.1
35.3
2.6
2 127 355
Vic.
74.5
23.3
2.2
1 552 549
Qld
71.7
27.7
0.5
1 927 744
SA
37.1
59.9
3.0
720 351
WA
54.9
43.6
1.5
323 782
Tas.
89.3
10.2
0.5
285 761
NT
34.8
65.2
-
49 288
ACT
71.7
24.2
4.1
504
Aust.
65.5
32.7
1.8
6 987 334

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Excludes water use by businesses conducting agricultural activities where agriculture is not the business’ main activity. See Explanatory Note 27 for more details.

 

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