Water Use on Australian Farms

This is not the latest release View the latest release

Final estimates of agricultural water use, irrigation water sources and expenditure. Estimates are presented at Australia, state & territories levels

Reference period

2017-18 financial year

Released

30/04/2019

View all releases

Water used on Australian farms

10.5 million megalitres of water were used by Australian farming businesses in 2017-18.

2.3 million hectares of agricultural land was irrigated (up 2%)
9.7 million megalitres (ML) of water was used to irrigate crops and pastures (up 7%)
22 thousand farms applied water to their land (up 2%)

Water used to irrigate crops and pastures

Pastures and crops accounted for most of the water used on Australian farms in 2017-18. Irrigated cotton production and pastures for grazing were key contributors with increases in both area irrigated and volume of water applied.

7.2 million megalitres were applied to Crops (69% of all water applied)

cotton: 2.8 million ML (up 7%) was applied to 359 thousand hectares (up 10%)
sugar cane: 1.0 million ML (up 4%) was applied to 212 thousand hectares (down 0.1%)
rice: 733 thousand ML (down 22%) was applied to 61 thousand hectares (down 26%)
fruit, nut, plantation and berry fruit: 939 thousand ML (up 12%) was applied to 156 thousand hectares (up 10%)
grapevines: 474 thousand ML (up 9%) was applied to 124 thousand hectares (up 1%)
vegetables: 399 thousand ML (up 3%) was applied to 99 thousand hectares (up 1%)

2.5 million megalitres were applied to Pastures (24% of all water applied)

pastures and cereals fed off: 1.8 million ML (up 18%) was applied to 604 thousand hectares (up 1%)
pastures and cereals cut for hay: 478 thousand ML (up 4%) was applied to 134 thousand hectares (down 13%)
pastures cut for silage:194 thousand ML (up 8%) was applied to 71 thousand hectares (up 5%)

Water application rate for selected crops and pastures
	2013-14 (ML/ha)	2014-15 (ML/ha)	2015-16 (ML/ha)	2016-17 (ML/ha)	2017-18 (ML/ha)
Rice	12.3	12.7	12.1	11.4	12.0
Cotton	8.1	7.4	6.8	7.8	7.7
Sugarcane	5.0	5.3	5.6	4.6	4.8
Fruit and nuts	6.9	5.8	6.5	5.9	6.0
Grapevines	3.8	4.0	4.1	3.6	3.8
Vegetables	4.0	4.1	4.0	3.9	4.0
Pastures and cereals fed off	3.3	3.4	2.9	2.6	3.0

Water application rate for selected crops and pastures

["","2013-14","2014-15","2015-16","2016-17","2017-18"]

[["Rice","Cotton","Sugarcane","Fruit and nuts","Grapevines","Vegetables","Pastures and cereals fed off"],[[12.300000000000001],[8.0999999999999996],[5],[6.9000000000000004],[3.7999999999999998],[4],[3.2999999999999998]],[[12.699999999999999],[7.4000000000000004],[5.2999999999999998],[5.7999999999999998],[4],[4.0999999999999996],[3.3999999999999999]],[[12.1],[6.7999999999999998],[5.5999999999999996],[6.5],[4.0999999999999996],[4],[2.8999999999999999]],[[11.4],[7.7999999999999998],[4.5999999999999996],[5.9000000000000004],[3.6000000000000001],[3.8999999999999999],[2.6000000000000001]],[[12],[7.7000000000000002],[4.7999999999999998],[6],[3.7999999999999998],[4],[3]]]

[]

[{"axis_id":"0","tick_interval":"","axis_min":"","axis_max":"","axis_title":"","precision":-1,"axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

[{"axis_id":"0","tick_interval":"2","axis_min":"0","axis_max":"","axis_title":"ML\/ha","precision":"1","table_units":"(ML\/ha)","tooltip_units":"(ML\/ha)","axis_units":"","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

Murray Darling Basin

More than two thirds (70%) of all Australian agricultural water use was within the Murray Darling Basin region in 2017-18.

In 2017-18 in the Murray Darling Basin

1.5 million hectares of agricultural land was irrigated (up 8%)
6.8 million ML of water was applied (up 7%)

Cotton and Pastures for Grazing account for more than half of the water applied in this region.

cotton: 2.5 million ML (up 4%) was applied to 320 thousand hectares (up 4%)
pastures and cereals fed off: 1.2 million ML (up 26%) was applied to 395 thousand hectares (up 8%)
cereal crops for grain or seed (excluding rice): 527 thousand ML (up 32%) was applied to 293 thousand hectares (up 53%)

Agricultural water use in the Murray Darling Basin
	2013-14 (ML)	2014-15 (ML)	2015-16 (ML)	2016-17 (ML)	2017-18 (ML)
Area watered (ha)	1,487,154	1,310,247	1,238,107	1,353,611	1,460,054
Volume applied (ML)	7,363,329	5,680,489	4,938,382	6,377,014	6,797,678

Agricultural water use in the Murray Darling Basin

["","2013-14","2014-15","2015-16","2016-17","2017-18"]

[["Area watered (ha)","Volume applied (ML)"],[[1487154],[7363329]],[[1310247],[5680489]],[[1238107],[4938382]],[[1353611],[6377014]],[[1460054],[6797678]]]

[]

[{"axis_id":"0","tick_interval":"","axis_min":"","axis_max":"","axis_title":"","precision":-1,"axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

[{"axis_id":"0","tick_interval":"1000000","axis_min":"0","axis_max":"","axis_title":"","precision":"0","table_units":"(ML)","tooltip_units":"(ML)","axis_units":"","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

Water expenditure and sources

Irrigation expenditure

Extra irrigation water purchased on a temporary basis reached a record level in 2017-18 driven by increases in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. The volume of water purchased also increased in these states.

In 2017-18:

$201 million of extra water was purchased on a temporary basis (up 86%) amounting to 1.7 million ML (up 36%)
$57 million of extra water was purchased on a permanent basis (down 27%) amounting to 122 thousand ML (down 13%)
The total cost of annual irrigation charges remained steady at $243 million

Total cost of extra water purchased on a temporary basis by state (a)
	2013-14 ($'000)	2014-15 ($'000)	2015-16 ($'000)	2016-17 ($'000)	2017-18 ($'000)
NSW	52,894	53,339	60,674	46,168	100,730
VIC	42,510	60,884	108,411	42,012	73,933
QLD	4,604	4,570	8,055	9,344	10,449
SA	3,798	5,506	19,758	6,699	14,310
WA	0.0	288	920	3,511	0.0
TAS	0.0	1,080	2,370	582	1,413

Total cost of extra water purchased on a temporary basis by state (a)

["","2013-14","2014-15","2015-16","2016-17","2017-18"]

[["NSW","VIC","QLD","SA","WA","TAS"],[[52894.400000000001],[42510.400000000001],[4603.8000000000002],[3797.6999999999998],[0],[0]],[[53339.400000000001],[60884.300000000003],[4569.5],[5506.1999999999998],[288.10000000000002],[1080.2]],[[60674],[108410.7],[8054.8999999999996],[19757.900000000001],[920.29999999999995],[2369.5999999999999]],[[46167.599999999999],[42012],[9343.7000000000007],[6698.5],[3510.5999999999999],[582]],[[100730.39999999999],[73933.100000000006],[10449.200000000001],[14309.5],[0],[1412.5]]]

[]

[{"axis_id":"0","tick_interval":"","axis_min":"","axis_max":"","axis_title":"","precision":-1,"axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

[{"axis_id":"0","tick_interval":"20000","axis_min":"0","axis_max":"","axis_title":"$'000","precision":"0","table_units":"($'000)","tooltip_units":"('000)","axis_units":"","data_unit_prefix":"$","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

Data for some states has been supressed due to confidentiality. See Methodology page for more details.

Sources of water for agricultural production

Australian farms used a total of 10.5 million megalitres (up 5%) of water taken from various sources including:

3.9 million ML from irrigation channels or pipelines (up 6%)
3.0 million ML of water from rivers, creeks or lakes (up 4%)
2.2 million ML of groundwater (up 19%)
1.2 million ML from on farm dams or tanks (down 12%)
158 thousand ML from recycled or reused water from off farm sources (up 15%)
54 thousand ML from a town or country reticulated mains supply (down 25%)

Components of total water sourced
	Irrigation (ML)	Rivers, creeks, lakes - total (ML)	Groundwater (ML)	On-farm dams or tanks (ML)	Recycled (ML)	Reticulated mains (ML)
2013-14	4,272,023	2,917,525	2,002,850	1,581,138	142,560	78,999
2014-15	3,999,219	2,003,157	2,023,985	1,102,831	169,007	95,663
2015-16	3,096,193	2,412,456	2,357,164	980,133	161,044	126,477
2016-17	3,713,927	2,898,941	1,819,519	1,324,045	137,281	72,265
2017-18	3,949,492	3,005,302	2,156,385	1,165,687	157,680	54,163

Components of total water sourced

["","Irrigation","Rivers, creeks, lakes - total","Groundwater","On-farm dams or tanks","Recycled","Reticulated mains"]

[["2013-14","2014-15","2015-16","2016-17","2017-18"],[[4272023],[3999219],[3096193],[3713927],[3949492]],[[2917525],[2003157],[2412456],[2898941],[3005302]],[[2002850],[2023985],[2357164],[1819519],[2156385]],[[1581138],[1102831],[980133],[1324045],[1165687]],[[142560],[169007],[161044],[137281],[157680]],[[78999],[95663],[126477],[72265],[54163]]]

[]

[{"axis_id":"0","tick_interval":"","axis_min":"","axis_max":"","axis_title":"","precision":-1,"axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

[{"axis_id":"0","tick_interval":"10","axis_min":"0","axis_max":"","axis_title":"%","precision":"0","table_units":"(ML)","tooltip_units":"(ML)","axis_units":"","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

Data downloads