Australian Natural Resources Atlas

Natural Resource Topics

Irrigation - Queensland

Queensland

Location map of 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%).

Table: Irrigated Area 1996/97 : Type of Culture
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.

Table: Change In Irrigated Area (1983/84 - 1996/97)
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)

Area of main irrigated culture : State irrigated area, 8 years: 1983/84 - 1996/97

ABS AgStats 97, 93 & 84 (concorded to 1996/97 SLA boundaries by BRS)

% Area of Irrigated Crop Types in Queensland : Total Irrigated Area 1996/97

Source: ABS AgStats 1997

Further information

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