4610.0.55.007 - Water and the Murray-Darling Basin - A Statistical Profile, 2000-01 to 2005-06  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 15/08/2008  First Issue
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All  

IRRIGATION PRACTICES

The following section describes a variety of irrigation management practices that irrigators in the MDB employed in 2004-05, using data from the ABS Natural Resource Management Survey. For further detail on MDB NRM regions, refer to Chapter 5, and map 5.1.

Irrigation occurred on approximately one-third (16,600) of farms within MDB Natural Resource Management (NRM) regions in 2004-05 (table 3.28). Most irrigated farms in the MDB were located in the Goulburn Broken, South Australia (SA) Murray Darling Basin, Murrumbidgee, North Central, Mallee, and Murray NRM regions (map 3.29). Each region contained more than 1,500 irrigated farms. More than 70% of MDB irrigated farms were located within those regions.

More than 50% of farms in the Lower Murray Darling, Mallee, Goulburn Broken and SA Murray Darling Basin NRM regions were irrigated. There were very few irrigated farms in the Australian Capital Territory, South West (QLD), Western, Maranoa Balonne and Wimmera regions.

3.28 Irrigated and non-irrigated farms, by NRM region—Murray-Darling Basin—2004-05

Irrigated farms
Proportion of total farms
Non-irrigated farms
Proportion of total farms
Total farms(a)
No.
%
No.
%
No.

Border rivers/Gwydir
300
13
2 200
87
2 600
Central West
700
13
4 700
87
5 500
Lachlan
500
9
5 000
91
5 500
Lower Murray Darling
400
62
300
38
700
Murray
1 500
48
1 600
52
3 000
Murrumbidgee
1 900
35
3 600
65
5 500
Namoi
500
19
2 300
81
2 900
Western
100
9
700
91
800
Goulburn Broken
2 700
53
2 400
47
5 000
Mallee
1 700
61
1 100
39
2 900
North Central
1 900
41
2 700
59
4 500
North East
700
33
1 500
67
2 200
Wimmera
200
7
2 100
93
2 300
Border rivers
400
41
600
59
1 000
Condamine
800
24
2 600
76
3 400
Maranoa Balonne
100
7
1 300
93
1 400
South West
-
4
500
96
500
SA Murray Darling Basin
2 200
53
1 900
47
4 100
ACT
-
15
100
85
100
Murray-Darling Basin(a)
16 600
31
37 300
69
53 900

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Components may not add to total due to rounding.
Source: ABS data available on request, Natural Resource Management Survey 2004-05

3.29 Location of irrigated farms, by NRM region—Murray-Darling Basin—2004-05
Diagram: 4.28 Location of irrigated farms, by NRM region—Murray-Darling Basin—2004–05


Irrigation management practices are the subject of strong interest for policy makers and water resource managers in the MDB (see Appendix). Improvements to on-farm water savings is a central part of the 2007 National Plan for Water Security (DEWHA 2007b). Through Drought assistance and Exceptional Circumstances support programs (see Chapter 4), several measures are available for farmers located within the MDB (DAFF 2007a). These included grants for activities related to:
  • improving on-farm water management practices to increase water use efficiency;
  • mitigating the affect of reduced water allocations; and
  • maximising production from the water that is available.

It should be noted when analysing the data outlined below that several factors could affect these results. For example, water availability or drought could affect various regions of the MDB differently, thereby influencing irrigation practices. Further, the trade of water may be more feasible in some irrigation areas than others due to infrastructure or regulations. Also, the targeting of NRM funding may have been more intense in some regions compared to others, affecting the uptake of more efficient water use technologies by irrigators. Finally, by their nature, some water management practices might be implemented less frequently than others. Therefore, if irrigators implemented some practices before the reference period, the change to that practice would not have been reported for that year.

Approximately two-thirds of irrigators in the MDB changed their water management practices during 2004-05 (table 3.30). In 2004-05, the most common changes to irrigation practices in the MDB (as a proportion of total MDB irrigated farms) were:
  • adopting more efficient irrigation techniques (35%);
  • undertaking more efficient irrigation scheduling (27%);
  • reducing area under irrigation (20%);
  • laser levelling (17%); and
  • purchasing extra irrigation water (16%).

The least commonly adopted irrigation management practices included: improving the quality of water run-off (3% of irrigated farms) and installing piping or covering open channels (7%).

3.30 Changes to irrigation practices, by irrigated farms—Murray-Darling Basin—2004-05

Number of irrigated farms
Proportion of total irrigated farms
no.
%

Did not change practices
5 900
36
Changed
10 700
64
Reduced the area under irrigation
3 300
20
Increased the area under irrigation
1 300
8
Adopted more efficient irrigation techniques
5 800
35
Adopted more efficient irrigation scheduling
4 500
27
Purchased extra irrigation water
2 700
16
Sold irrigation water
1 300
8
Installed piping and/or covered open channels to reduce water loss
1 200
7
Laser levelled areas to improve water management
2 800
17
Introduced reused or recycled irrigation water
1 800
11
Improved quality of water runoff
600
3
Installed soil moisture sensors
1 500
9
Other
500
3
Total irrigated farms(a)
16 600
100

(a) Total irrigators who changed practices does not equal the sum of the types of changes made, as farmers could report more than one type of change.
Source: ABS data available on request, Natural Resource Management Survey 2004–05


The following maps show the proportion of farms undertaking a range of irrigation practices for 2004-05. As there were significantly more irrigated farms (>1,500) in the Goulburn Broken, SA Murray Darling Basin, Murrumbidgee, North Central, Mallee and Murray NRM regions (table 3.28 above), the majority of this analysis will focus on these six NRM regions. Due to data quality and confidentiality concerns, the data have been presented in ranges, and as a proportion of the total irrigated farms in NRM regions.

In 2004–05, of the NRM regions with more than 1,500 irrigators, 36% or more of the total irrigated farms in the Murray, Murrumbidgee, SA Murray Darling Basin NRM regions changed to more efficient irrigation techniques (map 3.31). These techniques were less commonly adopted by farms in Goulburn Broken, North Central and Mallee NRM regions.

3.31 Farms that changed to more efficient irrigation techniques, by NRM region—Murray-Darling Basin—2004-05
Diagram: 4.30 Farms that changed to more efficient irrigation techniques, by NRM region—Murray-Darling Basin—2004–05


In 2004-05, of the NRM regions with more than 1,500 irrigated farms, SA Murray Darling Basin had a higher proportion of farms that changed to more efficient irrigation scheduling (30 to 42%) than in the other five NRM regions (map 3.32).

3.32 Farms that changed to more efficient irrigation scheduling, by NRM region—Murray-Darling Basin—2004-05
Diagram: 4.31 Farms that changed to more efficient irrigation scheduling, by NRM region—Murray-Darling Basin—2004–05


In 2004-05, of the NRM regions with more than 1,500 irrigated farms, the reduction of irrigation area was more commonly undertaken by irrigated farms in the Murray, North Central and Murrumbidgee NRM regions (between 40% and 60% of total irrigated farms). This change to irrigation practices was less commonly carried out in SA Murray Darling Basin and Goulburn Broken, and least in the Mallee (map 3.33).

3.33 Farms that reduced the area under irrigation, by NRM region—Murray-Darling Basin—2004-05
Diagram: 4.32 Farms that reduced the area under irrigation, by NRM region—Murray-Darling Basin—2004–05


In 2004-05, a higher proportion of irrigated farms (32% or more) in the Murray NRM region changed their irrigation practices by laser levelling than the other NRM regions with more than 1,500 irrigated farms: Murrumbidgee, Goulburn Broken, North Central and SA Murray Darling Basin (map 3.34).

3.34 Farms that changed laser levelling practices, by NRM region—Murray-Darling Basin—2004-05
Diagram: 4.33 Farms that changed laser levelling practices, by NRM region—Murray-Darling Basin—2004–05


In 2004-05, of the NRM regions with more than 1,500 irrigated farms, purchasing additional irrigation water was more commonly undertaken (15% to 35%) in the south east of the MDB in the Murray, Murrumbidgee, North Central and Goulburn Broken NRM regions. Relatively few irrigated farms (1% to 15%) purchased extra water in the south west MDB - within the SA Murray Darling Basin and Mallee NRM regions (map 3.35).

3.35 Farms that purchased additional irrigation water, by NRM region—Murray-Darling Basin—2004-05
Diagram: 4.34 Farms that purchased additional irrigation water, by NRM region—Murray-Darling Basin—2004–05





Previous PageNext Page