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Water used for irrigation falls 21% in 2019-20: Australia
Above average temperatures and drought across much of the country resulted in a 21 per cent fall in the volume of water used for irrigation in 2019-20, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
ABS Director of Agriculture Statistics, Sarah Kiely, said: “The volume of water used for irrigation in 2019-20 dropped to 5.7 million megalitres (ML). The total area of crops and pastures irrigated also fell, down 22 per cent to 1.5 million hectares.”
Ms Kiely said farmers’ crop selection and water use decisions were influenced by the prevailing conditions of high temperatures, below average rainfall and reduced water availability through the 2019-20 financial year.