Irrigation - Queensland
Queensland
What type and area of culture is supported by irrigation in Queensland?
The predominant types of irrigated production in Queensland by area are sugar cane (34%), cotton (18%), pasture (10%), and other crops (22%).
| AWRC Basin | Pasture (ha) | Cereal (ha) | Other Crops (ha) | Vegetables (ha) | Sugar (ha) | Fruit (ha) | Grapes (ha) | Cotton (ha) | Rice (ha) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queensland | 47,749 | 30,754 | 23,399 | 22,535 | 822 | 106,252 | 89,385 | 0 | 172,268 |
| Archer River | 7 | 0 | 39 | 1 | no data | 3 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Baffle Creek | 272 | 11 | 5,812 | 384 | no data | 526 | 1 | 0 | no data |
| Barron River | 959 | 200 | 1,409 | 394 | no data | 633 | 3 | 0 | no data |
| Black River | 113 | 0 | 1,621 | 65 | no data | 549 | 1 | 0 | no data |
| Border Rivers (QLD) | 1,824 | 2,731 | 19,555 | 1,222 | no data | 1,980 | 122 | 20,829 | no data |
| Boyne River | 202 | 51 | 27 | 8 | no data | 149 | 3 | 0 | no data |
| Brisbane River | 8,419 | 3,028 | 3,920 | 7,453 | no data | 826 | 53 | 186 | no data |
| Bulloo River (Qld) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | no data | 1 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Burdekin River | 2,021 | 52 | 35,960 | 4,652 | no data | 638 | 27 | 247 | no data |
| Burnett River | 6,179 | 3,337 | 11,773 | 810 | no data | 2,612 | 169 | 178 | no data |
| Burrum River | 334 | 39 | 16,172 | 856 | no data | 746 | 23 | 0 | no data |
| Calliope River | 104 | 36 | 13 | 5 | no data | 88 | 2 | 0 | no data |
| Coleman River | 7 | 1 | 39 | 1 | no data | 3 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Condamine - Culgoa Rivers (QLD) | 5,063 | 11,852 | 41,986 | 1,394 | no data | 173 | 202 | 43,706 | no data |
| Cooper Creek (Qld) | 36 | 122 | 83 | 7 | no data | 3 | 2 | 16 | no data |
| Curtis Island | 7 | 10 | 1 | 1 | no data | 9 | 1 | 0 | no data |
| Daintree River | 1 | 0 | 95 | 1 | no data | 41 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Diamantina River (Qld) | 57 | 2 | 3 | 0 | no data | 0 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Don River | 268 | 3 | 4,434 | 848 | no data | 98 | 1 | 0 | no data |
| Ducie River | 4 | 0 | 23 | 1 | no data | 2 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Embley River | 3 | 0 | 14 | 1 | no data | 1 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Endeavour River | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | no data | 1 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Fitzroy River (Qld) | 4,602 | 7,057 | 23,746 | 402 | no data | 656 | 127 | 16,899 | no data |
| Flinders River | 61 | 11 | 66 | 1 | no data | 1 | 1 | 2 | no data |
| Fraser Island | 103 | 0 | 453 | 33 | no data | 21 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Georgina River (Qld) | 2 | 1 | 21 | 0 | no data | 0 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Gilbert River | 24 | 5 | 26 | 4 | no data | 107 | 1 | 2 | no data |
| Groote Eylandt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | no data | 0 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Haughton River | 308 | 0 | 29,108 | 552 | no data | 539 | 6 | 3 | no data |
| Hay River (Qld) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | no data | 0 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Herbert River | 250 | 84 | 2,757 | 201 | no data | 319 | 9 | 1 | no data |
| Hinchinbrook Island | 5 | 0 | 107 | 18 | no data | 310 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Holroyd River | 5 | 0 | 30 | 1 | no data | 2 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Jacky Jacky Creek | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 | no data | 1 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Jardine River | 2 | 0 | 10 | 1 | no data | 1 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Jeannie River | 2 | 0 | 13 | 1 | no data | 1 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Johnstone River | 983 | 1 | 208 | 101 | no data | 2,122 | 1 | 0 | no data |
| Kolan River | 517 | 31 | 12,642 | 636 | no data | 532 | 2 | 0 | no data |
| Lake Frome (Qld) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | no data | 0 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Leichhardt River | 0 | 2 | 12 | 0 | no data | 0 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Lockhart River | 2 | 0 | 11 | 1 | no data | 1 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Logan - Albert Rivers | 5,163 | 592 | 1,359 | 1,023 | no data | 129 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Maroochy River | 425 | 2 | 252 | 174 | no data | 914 | 1 | 0 | no data |
| Mary River (Qld) | 4,444 | 255 | 3,391 | 648 | no data | 1,414 | 3 | 0 | no data |
| Mitchell River (WA) | 392 | 339 | 3,031 | 262 | no data | 1,636 | 11 | 0 | no data |
| Moonie River (Qld) | 87 | 526 | 6,498 | 35 | no data | 10 | 31 | 7,326 | no data |
| Morning Inlet | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | no data | 0 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Mornington Island | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | no data | 0 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Mossman River | 1 | 1 | 24 | 1 | no data | 10 | 1 | 0 | no data |
| Mulgrave - Russell River | 524 | 1 | 1,288 | 20 | no data | 515 | 1 | 0 | no data |
| Murray River (Qld) | 12 | 0 | 171 | 48 | no data | 869 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Nicholson River (Qld) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | no data | 0 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Noosa River | 906 | 24 | 384 | 183 | no data | 761 | 1 | 0 | no data |
| Norman River | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | no data | 3 | 2 | 0 | no data |
| Normanby River | 14 | 0 | 85 | 1 | no data | 6 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| O'Connell River | 305 | 1 | 19,103 | 23 | no data | 24 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Olive / Pascoe Rivers | 3 | 0 | 15 | 1 | no data | 1 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Paroo River (Qld) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | no data | 1 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Pine River | 602 | 18 | 185 | 169 | no data | 150 | 1 | 0 | no data |
| Pioneer River | 156 | 5 | 7,693 | 3 | no data | 6 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Plane Creek | 232 | 9 | 9,069 | 11 | no data | 27 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Proserpine River | 83 | 1 | 7,671 | 110 | no data | 22 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Ross River | 257 | 0 | 1,007 | 48 | no data | 359 | 4 | 0 | no data |
| Settlement Creek (Qld) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | no data | 0 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Shoalwater Creek | 178 | 65 | 193 | 45 | no data | 84 | 11 | 0 | no data |
| South Coast | 947 | 31 | 365 | 16 | no data | 31 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Staaten River | 153 | 138 | 1,197 | 105 | no data | 660 | 5 | 0 | no data |
| Stewart River | 2 | 0 | 10 | 1 | no data | 1 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Stradbroke Island | 40 | 0 | 162 | 251 | no data | 51 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Styx River | 99 | 43 | 207 | 19 | no data | 35 | 5 | 0 | no data |
| Torres Strait Islands | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | no data | 0 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Tully River | 30 | 6 | 216 | 64 | no data | 999 | 1 | 0 | no data |
| Warrego River (Qld) | 82 | 2 | 1 | 0 | no data | 2 | 0 | 1 | no data |
| Water Park Creek | 90 | 33 | 98 | 23 | no data | 43 | 6 | 0 | no data |
| Watson River | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 | no data | 1 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Wenlock River | 5 | 0 | 26 | 1 | no data | 2 | 0 | 0 | no data |
| Whitsunday Island | 4 | 0 | 591 | 1 | no data | 2 | 0 | 0 | no data |
Source: ABS AgStats 1997
What is the trend in area under irrigated production in Queensland?
The change in area under irrigated production for the period 1982/83 to 1996/97 is shown in the following chart and table.
There are significant changes observed in the reported irrigated areas for cereals and pasture in both Western Australia and South Australia, and the Other Crop category in Queensland. These changes are likely to be the result of inconsistencies in data collection questionnaires in different years, or data errors.
| State / Territory | 83/84 (ha) | 86/87 (ha) | 89/90 (ha) | 90/91 (ha) | 91/92 (ha) | 92/93 (ha) | 93/94 (ha) | 96/97 (ha) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queensland | 254,431 | 275,484 | 312,184 | 357,936 | 366,920 | 386,741 | 241,167 | 403,775 |
| Pasture | 32,949 | 39,093 | 48,426 | 57,218 | 56,275 | 54,211 | 69,799 | 403,775 |
| Cereal | 34,248 | 37,858 | 36,073 | 41,164 | 40,149 | 46,510 | 45,319 | 30,753 |
| Other Crops | 157,522 | 164,536 | 12,380 | 215,637 | 223,564 | 81,259 | 73,035 | 106,252 |
| Vegetables | 20,165 | 22,344 | 25,367 | 26,685 | 27,249 | 28,135 | 27,480 | 23,398 |
| Sugar | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data | 172,267 |
| Fruit | 9,546 | 11,652 | 14,197 | 17,232 | 19,683 | 22,609 | 25,107 | 22,535 |
| Grapes | no data | no data | no data | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 822 |
| Cotton | 30,075 | 26,335 | 45,745 | 53,178 | 59,329 | 58,731 | 47,537 | 89,385 |
| Rice | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data | 0 |
ABS AgStats 97, 93 & 84 (concorded to 1996/97 SLA boundaries by BRS)
ABS AgStats 97, 93 & 84 (concorded to 1996/97 SLA boundaries by BRS)
Source: ABS AgStats 1997
Further information
- ABS Website
- Agriculture, Australia ABS publication
- ABARE Website
- BRS Website
- ANCID Website
- National Program for Sustainable Irrigation
- Australian Water Resources Assessment 2000
- Australian Dryland Salinity Assessment 2000
Link to Map maker to make a map using this information.
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