Australian Natural Resources Atlas

Natural Resource Topics

Extent of Irrigation in the Murray Darling Basin

The Murray Darling Basin accounts for over 70 % of irrigation in Australia

Irrigation in the Murray Darling Basin - an overview

The Murray-Darling Basin produces the highest value and largest volume of irrigated enterprises in Australia. The total area of crops and pastures irritated in the basin in 1996/97 is estimated at 1,309,755 ha, which represents 64% of Australia's total area of irrigated crops and pastures. The irrigation industry dominates water use in the Basin, with 95% of the diversion of the Basin's water resources for consumptive purposes used for irrigation. This represents 75% of the all water used in irrigation in Australia which, in turn, accounts for just over half of all water used in Australia.

The main irrigated enterprises in the Basin include rice, cotton, dairy, horticulture and viticulture. Specific figures on the value and extent of individual enterprises are unable to be calculated from current data sources. Best estimates are that the value of irrigated agricultural output is between $3 and $4 billion.

The resource degradation issues associated with irrigation in the Basin include:
• Rising groundwater: Over 500,000 ha (Irrigated Regions Sub-Program Strategic Plan, MDBC) of land within the Basin have watertables within two metres of the surface, resulting in waterlogging and salinisation of productive land;
• Salinisation: Over 100,000 ha (Irrigated Regions Sub-Program Strategic Plan, MDBC) of land in the Basin is affected by salinity, which causes damage built infrastructure, agricultural production and the environment. It also impacts on environmental values for rivers and wetlands.
• Water quality degradation: Both salinity and nutrient influx from farmland cause water quality degradation in the Basin. With high dependence on the river systems for consumptive use, strategies have been in place to address both of these factors;
• River health deterioration: River regulation and irrigation diversions result in a large reduction in river flows and flow regime inversions. These changes to the natural flow in rivers impact on aquatic ecosystems. The introduction of the Cap on diversions in the Murray-Darling Basin effective from 1 July 1997 goes some way towards addressing this issue.

Irrigation challenges

Reference: (NPIRD Phase 3 (1999-2002) Action Plan and Schedule) .

Key irrigation messages

• The efficiency associated with the storage, distribution and use of the irrigated water in Australia is low, with an estimated 30% to 50% of harvested water being currently used to produce dry matter under irrigation. The total consumption of water for irrigation represents 95% of total water use in the Murray Darling Basin. Therefore small improvements in water use efficiency provide opportunities to either greatly increase production or provide for an enhancement of environmental flows or both. The efficient and effective use of the water resource in irrigation regions is central to the long-term sustainability of irrigated regions in the Basin.
• the promotion and delivery of best management practices is required to reduce the degradation of both land and water resources within the Basin.
• Despite the scale of irrigation activity in the Basin there is lack of reliable data available to assist with the characterisation of the extent, location, value and efficiency gains in irrigation management. As a result, irrigation industries are not able to adequately assess the improvements that have been made in such areas as irrigation practices and environmental management. To address this the MDB Commission has initiated a project that aims to establish and implement an Irrigation Management Information and Reporting System (IMIRS) for irrigation in the Basin.

The key objective of the IMIRS system is to consolidate and then build on the current data collection networks that have been established within the Basin; and to support the development of these programs by facilitating a basin-wide data collection, storage, analysis and retrieval system. This system will provide a framework for stakeholders and data collectors so that consistent. Repeatable and reliable data will be collected in the future.

Reporting scales

While the normal reporting scale of the MDB is catchment management areas , irrigation data is not collected at this scale. Irrigation data is available at several scales, depending on the data source. For example the ABS collected irrigated area data at the statistical local area (SLA) scale, while ANCID collects all of its data at the irrigation water provider scale. There are also several different years that data has been collected for, therefore care must be taken when comparing values from different data sources.

For the purposes of this atlas, the majority of the data is presented at its original scale, with exceptions being the irrigated area data, which has been collated from SLA scale to AWRC Basin scale and State and National summaries have been produced for all data sources.

What is the area irrigated in the Murray Darling Basin?

Irrigation occurs in 227 out of 249 of the Statistical Local Areas that comprise the Murray Darling Basin. The largest irrigated areas are in the NSW Murray and Murrumbidgee river basins.

The extent of irrigation in the Basin has increased from 1,089,600 ha in 1983/84 to 1,309,800 ha in 1996/97, an increase of 20%.

Table: Change in Total Irrigated Area (1984 - 1993 - 1997) and Irrigated Water Use in the Murray Darling Basin - Aggregation of SLA to AWRC River Basin

State / Basin

1983/84
(1) Area Irrigated(ha)
(2) Water Use(ML)

1992/93
(1) Area Irrigated(ha)
(2) Water Use(ML)

1996/97
(1) Area Irrigated(ha)
(2) Water Use(ML)

1992/93 to 1996/97
(1) Growth in Area Irrigated %
(2) Growth in Water Use%

MDB

(1) 1,167,082
(2) 12,391,380 

(1) 1,470,923
(2)N/A 

(1) 1,450,854
(2) 6,853,215  

(1) -1
(2) N/A 

ACT

(1)225
(2)1,919,800 

(1)254 
(2) N/A 

(1)158
(2)5,240 

(1) -37 
(2) N/A 

Murrumbidgee River (ACT)

(1)225
(2)1,919,800 

(1)254 
(2) N/A 

(1)158
(2)5,240 

-37.87

(2) N/A 

NSW

(1)611,585
(2) 4,585,510

(1)866,228 
(2) N/A 

(1)851,913
(2)2,156,074  

(1) -1 
(2) N/A 

Gwydir River

(1)31,074
(2)no data 

(1)47,766 
(2) N/A 

(1)59,079
(2)no data 

(1) 23.68
 
(2) N/A 

Namoi River

(1)37,806
(2)no data 

(1)53,812 
(2) N/A 

(1)67,646
(2)no data 

(1) 25.71
 
(2) N/A 

Darling River

(1)8,388
(2)no data 

(1)9,094 
(2) N/A 

(1)14,218
(2)no data 

(1) 56.34
 
(2) N/A 

Upper Murray River (NSW Part Only)

(1)563
(2)3,270 

(1)1,724 
(2) N/A 

(1)896
(2)no data 

(1) -48.02
 
(2) N/A 

Murray (NSW)

(1)146,747
(2)1,816,200 

(1)173,714 
(2) N/A 

(1)159,350
(2)1,964,444 

(1) -8.27
 
(2) N/A 

Murrumbidgee River (NSW)

(1)264,502
(2)1,919,800 

(1)340,769 
(2) N/A 

(1)348,692
(2)no data 

(1) 2.32
 
(2) N/A 

Lake George

(1)37
(2)100 

(1)377 
(2) N/A 

(1)35
(2)no data 

(1) -90.76
 
(2) N/A 

Lachlan River

(1)45,704
(2)118,300 

(1)91,423 
(2) N/A 

(1)78,122
(2)no data 

(1) -14.55
 
(2) N/A 

Benanee

(1)6,335
(2)73,900 

(1)5,955 
(2) N/A 

(1)4,528
(2)no data 

(1) -23.96
 
(2) N/A 

Border Rivers (NSW)

(1)22,594
(2)69,740 

(1)35,734 
(2) N/A 

(1)39,597
(2)no data 

(1) 10.81
 
(2) N/A 

Moonie River (NSW)

(1)94
(2)0 

(1)186 
(2) N/A 

(1)442
(2)no data 

(1) 137.72
 
(2) N/A 

Castlereagh River

(1)900
(2)2,900 

(1)2,997 
(2) N/A 

(1)1,869
(2)no data 

(1) -37.66
 
(2) N/A 

Macquarie River

(1)37,608
(2)203,100 

(1)82,433 
(2) N/A 

(1)55,075
(2)no data 

(1) -33.19
 
(2) N/A 

Condamine - Culgoa Rivers (NSW Part Only)

(1)2,432
(2)129,580 

(1)10,415 
(2) N/A 

(1)8,878
(2)no data 

(1) -14.76
 
(2) N/A 

Warrego River (NSW Part Only)

(1)968
(2)200 

(1)1,852 
(2) N/A 

(1)1,925
(2)no data 

(1) 3.98
 
(2) N/A 

Paroo River (NSW Part Only)

(1)3,260
(2)0 

(1)4,039 
(2) N/A 

(1)6,443
(2)no data 

(1) 59.52
 
(2) N/A 

Lower Murray River (NSW Part Only)

(1)857
(2)248,420 

(1)724 
(2) N/A 

(1)953
(2)no data 

(1) 31.79
 
(2) N/A 

Barwon Darling Management Area

(1)1,725
(2)no data 

(1)3,221 
(2) N/A 

(1)4,173
(2)191,630 

(1) 29.54
 
(2) N/A 

QLD

(1)48,486
(2)199,520 

(1)87,424 
(2) N/A 

(1)95,372
(2)775,891  

(1) 10 
(2) N/A 

Border Rivers (QLD)

(1)11,538
(2)69,740 

(1)25,821 
(2) N/A 

(1)27,431
(2)93,888 

(1) 6.24
 
(2) N/A 

Moonie River (Qld)

(1)2,520
(2)0 

(1)4,949 
(2) N/A 

(1)7,185
(2)650 

(1) 45.18
 
(2) N/A 

Condamine - Culgoa Rivers (QLD)

(1)34,406
(2)129,580 

(1)56,617 
(2) N/A 

(1)60,666
(2)572,920 

(1) 7.15
 
(2) N/A 

Warrego River (Qld)

(1)14
(2)200 

(1)28 
(2) N/A 

(1)85
(2)108,229 

(1) 202.76
 
(2) N/A 

Paroo River (Qld)

(1)9
(2)0 

(1)11 
(2) N/A 

(1)6
(2)204 

(1) -45.15
 
(2) N/A 

SA

(1)40,768
(2)744,750

(1)43,536 
(2) N/A 

(1)44,102
(2)44,102  

(1) 2 
(2) N/A 

Mallee (SA)

(1)14,801
(2)496,330 

(1)18,839 
(2) N/A 

(1)17,661
(2)19,635 

(1) -6.25
 
(2) N/A 

Lower Murray River (SA)

(1)25,967
(2)248,420 

(1)24,697 
(2) N/A 

(1)26,441
(2)no data 

(1) 7.06
 
(2) N/A 

VIC

(1)466,020
(2)4,941,800

(1)473,484 
(2) N/A 

(1)459,310
(2)3,896,375 

(1) -2 

Upper Murray River (Vic)

(1)1,287
(2)3,270 

(1)2,122 
(2) N/A 

(1)2,824
(2)25,318 

(1) 33.13
 
(2) N/A 

Kiewa River

(1)784
(2)5,160 

(1)714 
(2) N/A 

(1)982
(2)7,440 

(1) 37.60
 
(2) N/A 

Ovens River

(1)7,886
(2)13,720 

(1)8,131 
(2) N/A 

(1)7,977
(2)30,940 

(1) -1.88
 
(2) N/A 

Broken River

(1)62,848
(2)618,170 

(1)63,369 
(2) N/A 

(1)64,895
(2)936,373 

(1) 2.41
 
(2) N/A 

Goulburn River

(1)103,698
(2)615,860 

(1)104,290 
(2) N/A 

(1)100,402
(2)924,572 

(1) -3.73
 
(2) N/A 

Campaspe River

(1)21,570
(2)221,050 

(1)21,269 
(2) N/A 

(1)20,477
(2)450,776 

(1) -3.72
 
(2) N/A 

Loddon River

(1)145,105
(2)1,108,880 

(1)141,804 
(2) N/A 

(1)134,759
(2)1,140,747 

(1) -4.97
 
(2) N/A 

Avoca River

(1)60,237
(2)19,280 

(1)60,217 
(2) N/A 

(1)60,567
(2)19,390 

(1) 0.58
 
(2) N/A 

Murray (VIC)

(1)42,295
(2)1,816,200 

(1)44,976 
(2) N/A 

(1)48,994
(2)0 

(1) 8.93
 
(2) N/A 

Mallee (Vic)

(1)12,723
(2)496,330 

(1)13,055 
(2) N/A 

(1)13,233
(2)326,031 

(1) 1.36
 
(2) N/A 

Wimmera - Avon Rivers

(1)7,590
(2)23,880 

(1)13,541 
(2) N/A 

(1)4,205
(2)34,788 

(1) -68.95
 
(2) N/A 

Source: ABS AgStats 1984, 1993 & 1997 (concorded to 1996/97 SLA boundaries by BRS) NLWRA 2000 

The charts below show the extent of crops irrigated across the Murray-Darling Basin and the total area irrigated in each State within the Basin, respectively.

The three largest irrigated crop types in the Basin include pasture, cereals and cotton representing 48%, 20% and 16% respectively.

New South Wales contains the largest are of irrigated land in the Basin, representing 54% of the total area.

Chart: Irrigated of Culture Types in hectares in the Murray Darling Basin as a proportion of the Basin total irrigated area for 1996/97

Chart of Irrigated of Culture Types in hectares in the Murray Darling Basin as a proportion of the Basin total irrigated area for 1996/97

Source: ABS AgStats 1997

Chart: Irriagted area in hectares for the Murray Darling Basin by State as a proportion of the Basin total irrigated area for 1996/97

Chart of Irriagted area in hectares for the Murray Darling Basin by State aas a proportion of the Basin total irrigated area for 1996/97

Source: ABS AgStats 1997

Murray Darling Basin irrigation systems - irrigated area

The irrigated area located within irrigation water supply regions have been collected and reported as part of the ANCID Benchmarking Report. The report presents results from 47 irrigation systems across Australia. The total area of an irrigation system is compared with the actual irrigated area in 1999/00. A ten-year average of irrigated area is also reported.

Table: Area Irrigated - Irrigation Systems in the Murray Darling Basin

Irrigation System

Area in the System 1999/2000 (1)(ha)

Actual Area Irrigated 1999/2000(ha)

Area Irrigated (10 Year Average)(ha)

Murray Darling Basin

2,550,553 

869,555 

967,171 

NSW

1,610,360 

262,816 

310,330 

Coleambally Irrigation Corporation 

95,153 

53,773 

90,000 

Jemalong Irrigation Limited 

19,300 

14,565 

16,000 

Murray Irrigation Limited 

799,577 

no data 

no data 

Murrumbidgee Irrigation Corporation 

480,000 

180,000 

180,000 

West Corurgan 

212,000 

10,148 

20,000 

Western Murray Irrigation Area 

4,330 

4,330 

4,330 

QLD

40,850 

20,900 

33,889 

St George Irrigation Area 

20,000 

13,400 

13,039 

Upper Condamine Irrigation Project 

20,850 

7,500 

20,850 

SA

16,279 

16,111 

12,036 

Central Irrigation Trust 

11,000 

11,000 

10,700 

Golden Heights Irrigation Trust Inc. 

807 

744 

618 

Lower Murray Swamps 

3,572 

3,572 

no data 

Sunlands Irrigation Trust Inc. 

900 

795 

718 

VIC

883,064 

569,728 

610,916 

First Mildura Irrigation Trust 

8,027 

6,673 

6,630 

Murray Valley Irrigation Area 

128,268 

81,410 

85,142 

Shepparton Irrigation Area 

82,460 

54,140 

54,816 

Central Goulburn Irrigation Area 

172,131 

119,592 

120,128 

Rochester - Campaspe Irrigation Area 

117,066 

66,730 

73,417 

Pyramid - Boort Irrigation Area 

186,481 

109,018 

122,089 

Torrumbarry Irrigation Area 

173,366 

120,000 

135,000 

Swan Hill Pumped Districts 

no data 

no data 

no data 

Diverters (supplied direct from streams) 

no data 

no data 

no data 

Sunraysia Rural Water Authority 

12,165 

12,165 

10,672 

Wimmera Mallee Water 

3,100 

0 

3,022 

Source: ANCID 2000(1) refers to the total area set aside for irrigation within a region

Further information

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