![EubertaCentrePivotIrrigation](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/EubertaCentrePivotIrrigation.jpg)
Irrigation is a widespread practice required in many areas of Australia, the driest inhabited continent, to supplement low
rainfall
Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...
with water from other sources to assist in growing
crops
A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydroponi ...
and
pasture
Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or sw ...
.
Overuse or poor management of irrigation is held responsible by some for
environmental problems such as
soil salinity
Soil salinity is the salt (chemistry), salt content in the soil; the process of increasing the salt content is known as salinization. Salts occur naturally within soils and water. Salination can be caused by natural processes such as mineral wea ...
and loss of habitat for native flora and fauna.
Irrigation differs from
dryland farming
Dryland farming and dry farming encompass specific agricultural techniques for the non-irrigated cultivation of crops. Dryland farming is associated with drylands, areas characterized by a cool wet season (which charges the soil with virtua ...
(farming relying on rainfall) in Australia in its level of
intensity and
production. Common crops produced using irrigation include rice, cotton,
canola
Close-up of canola blooms
Canola flower
Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae. Historically, ...
, sugar, various fruits and other tree crops and pasture, hay and grain for use in beef and dairy production. Surface irrigation is the most common irrigation method in Australia, with drip and center pivot also utilised. All rights to use and control water are vested in the state, which issues conditional entitlements for water use.
The first large-scale irrigation schemes in Australia were introduced during the 1880s, partially in response to drought. In 1915 the
River Murray
The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...
Waters Agreement was signed, setting out basic conditions for the river's water use which remain in force today. Towards the end of the 20th century, environmental problems in the basin became serious as diversions for irrigation approached or exceeded the capacity of natural flows. Following negotiations beginning in 1985, the
Murray–Darling Basin Agreement was signed in 1987. The more comprehensive
National Water Initiative was adopted in 2004.
Water sources
![Diesel pump irrigation](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Diesel_pump_irrigation.jpg)
In general, water for irrigation comes from two main sources,
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...
systems and underground
aquifer
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials ( gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characte ...
s. Major river systems used for irrigation in Australia include the
Murray-Darling system, the
Ord River in the
Kimberley region of Western Australia and many rivers along the east coast of Australia. This includes the
Burdekin River Irrigation Area in
North Queensland
North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...
where irrigation is used during the dry season for
double-cropping
In agriculture, multiple cropping or multicropping is the practice of growing two or more crops in the same piece of land during one year, instead of just one crop. When multiple crops are grown simultaneously, this is also known as intercropping ...
.
A major source of
ground water
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...
in Australia is the
Great Artesian Basin
The Great Artesian Basin (GAB), located in Australia, is the largest and deepest artesian basin in the world, stretching over , with measured water temperatures ranging from . The basin provides the only source of fresh water through much of ...
.
Although the
Murray-Darling Basin receives only 6% of Australia's annual rainfall, over 70% of Australia's irrigation resources are concentrated there, which makes up around 90% of the resources in the basin. It contains 42% of the nation's farmland and produces 40% of the nation's food.
History
![SLNSW 920634 Series 09 Irrigation ca 19211924](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/SLNSW_920634_Series_09_Irrigation_ca_19211924.jpg)
The first schemes for irrigation commenced in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
Goulburn Weir
Goulburn Weir is a weir built between 1887 and early 1891 across the Goulburn River near Nagambie, Victoria, Australia. It was the first major diversion structure built for irrigation development in Australia. The weir also forms Lake Nagambie ...
, constructed from 1887 to 1891, was the first major diversion structure built for irrigation development in Australia.
![TullakoolMemorial](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/TullakoolMemorial.JPG)
A major
drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
in Victoria from 1877 to 1884 prompted
Alfred Deakin
Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was an Australian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Australia. He was a leader of the movement for Federation, which occurred in 1901. During his three terms as prime ministe ...
, then a minister in the
State Government
A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...
and chairman of a
Royal Commission on water supply to visit the irrigation areas of California. There he met the Canadian brothers
George and
William Chaffey
William Benjamin Chaffey, CMG (21 October 1856 – 4 June 1926) was a Canadian engineer and irrigation planner who with his older brother George Chaffey developed what became the cities of Etiwanda, California, Ontario, California, and Upla ...
who had worked on irrigation schemes in California.
In 1886 the Chaffey brothers came to Australia and selected a derelict sheep station covering at
Mildura
Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area h ...
as the site for their first irrigation settlement.
They signed an agreement with the Victorian government to spend at least
A£300,000 on permanent improvements at Mildura in the next twenty years. Also in 1886/87, the Chaffey brothers were invited by
John Downer, the
Premier of South Australia
The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is ...
, to commence a settlement at
Renmark, South Australia.
The
Dethridge wheel, used for measuring flow of water delivered to individual farms was developed in 1910.
![StateLibQld 2 212324 Artesian bore near Barcaldine, Queensland, 1924](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/StateLibQld_2_212324_Artesian_bore_near_Barcaldine%2C_Queensland%2C_1924.jpg)
Irrigation in the Murrumbidgee valley began in with the irrigation experiments of agricultural pioneer,
Samuel McCaughey
Sir Samuel McCaughey (1 July 1835 – 25 July 1919) was an Irish-born pastoralist, politician and philanthropist in Australia.
Early life
McCaughey was born on 1 July 1835 at Tullynewey, near Ballymena, Ireland, the son of Francis McCaughey, ...
at North Yanco station in 1900. This private scheme involved the construction of around 320 kilometres of channels to irrigate about of land.
McCaughey's success appeared to have encouraged the New South Wales government to commence large scale irrigation. This process began in 1906 with the proclamation of the ''
Barren Jack and Murrumbidgee Canals Construction Act 1906'' (Cth).
Burrinjuck Dam on the Murrumbidgee River near Tumut was commenced in 1907, work commenced on the channels and the first farms were established soon after.
In 1907, the Victorian government invited American
Elwood Mead to become chairman of the newly formed
State Rivers and Water Supply Commission of Victoria. The high hopes for government-controlled irrigation in Victoria owed much to Deakin's earlier efforts, who now as Prime Minister, expected Mead to advise at both national and state levels. Mead was not content with proposing only higher water-rates in attempting to recover maintenance, management and construction costs, he also insisted on the logical extension which demanded higher-yielding uses of water and land. The Water Act of 1909 was passed despite the fierce opposition of large landowners, and Mead's influence on rural development was greatly increased by his assumption of overriding control in the planning of closer settlement in Victoria's irrigation districts. Mead claimed much credit for the hierarchical arrangement of allotment sizes which characterized these designs, but his impact was rather in the very scale and complexity of the commission's operations, in Mead's salesmanship, and in the bureaucratic web in which the new settlers became enmeshed. Mead worked in Australia full-time for four years, but his involvement would continue until his resignation became effective in May 1915; this professional experience consolidated Mead's international reputation. In 1923, Mead's four-month Australia advisory tour was punctuated by disputes with
Joseph Carruthers and leading irrigation authorities in New South Wales over the selection and use of land in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. Mead rejected plans for further fruit planting, advocating larger dairy farms and an improved co-ordination of grazing and irrigation enterprises which would favour stock fattening and the intensive production of
lucerne
Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label= Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital o ...
.
In Western Australia the state's first controlled irrigation scheme, the
Harvey Irrigation Scheme, was officially started in 1916. It was further developed during the latter part of the 1930s depression to take unemployed workers to dig and build the extensive irrigation channels in the district.
Policy
The management of irrigation, particularly with relation to the problems of the Murray-Darling Basin has long been a politically contentious issue in Australia.
The River Murray Waters Agreement
Regulation of the Murray River system was one of the first issues addressed after Federation. A period of drought beginning in 1895 culminated in the 'Federation drought' of 1901–2. One result was a non-government conference held in Corowa in 1902, which called for government action to manage the waters of the Murray River.
A prolonged period of negotiation followed, during which the states claimed property rights over the waters of the Murray and its tributaries.
The upstream states, Victoria and New South Wales, favoured the
riparian doctrine, under which landowners are free to take water from streams flowing through their property. As the 'Premier State', New South Wales, claimed riparian rights not only over its own rivers, but over the entire main stream of the Murray. South Australia relied on provisions of the newly enacted
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these pr ...
under which the Commonwealth government had authority over navigation along the Murray River and an implied obligation to preserve flows in the South Australian section of the river.
Negotiations were finally concluded in 1915.
The River Murray Waters Agreement, to which the Commonwealth and the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia were parties, set out the basic conditions which remain in force today:
* flow at
Albury
Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – t ...
is shared equally between New South Wales and Victoria
* Victoria and New South Wales retain control of their tributaries below Albury
* Victoria and New South Wales supply South Australia with a guaranteed minimum quantity of water or "entitlement".
The agreement also provided for construction of dams, weirs and locks on the main stream of the Murray to be managed by the River Murray Commission, which was established in 1917.
Although it was an important example of cooperative federalism, the River Murray Waters Agreement was limited to the management of water for irrigation and navigation.
The Murray–Darling Basin Agreement
As diversions for irrigation approached or exceeded the capacity of the Murray–Darling river system, and environmental problems became more serious, the need for a coordinated approach to management of the Basin as a whole became more evident. Following negotiations beginning in 1985 the Murray–Darling Basin Agreement was signed in 1987. In its initial form, it was as an amendment to the River Murray Waters Agreement. Five years later, in 1992, a totally new Murray–Darling Basin Agreement was signed, replacing the River Murray Waters Agreement. The Agreement was given full legal status by the Murray–Darling Basin Act 1993 which was passed by all the contracting governments. Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory later joined the agreement.
The stated purpose of the Murray–Darling Basin Agreement was 'to promote and coordinate effective planning and management for the equitable, efficient and sustainable use of the water, land and other environmental resources of the Murray–Darling Basin'
To achieve this, the Agreement established new institutions at the political, bureaucratic and community levels. These were:
* the Murray–Darling Basin Ministerial Council (MDBMC);
* the Murray–Darling Basin Commission (MDBC); and
* the Community Advisory Committee (CAC).
The National Water Initiative
The lack of satisfactory progress under the Murray–Darling Basin Agreement and the emergence of a variety of water policy problems elsewhere in Australia led to the adoption of the National Water Initiative in 2004. Key elements of the Initiative included promotion of
water trading and a commitment to restore at least 500 gigalitres of environmental flows to the Murray Darling Basin
Production
![Impact(Knocker)IrrigationCloseUp](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Impact%28Knocker%29IrrigationCloseUp.jpg)
Water consumption by the
agriculture industry was in 2012-13, accounting for 65% of total water consumption in Australia during that period. Irrigation/rural water providers were the main suppliers of distributed water in 2004-05 accounting for or 59% of Australia's total distributed water supply.
Since 2005 climatic conditions and reduced allocations have caused the total water consumed to decline by 30% from the 2004-2005 figure down to in 2006-2007
and further to in 2008-2009.
The total gross value of irrigated agricultural production in 2012-13 was A$13,431 million
up from A$9,076 million in 2004-05 and A$9,618 million in 2000-01.
The gross value of irrigated agricultural production represents around a quarter (23%) of the gross value of agricultural commodities produced in Australia in 2004-05, on less than 1% of agricultural land.
[ABS Media Release November 2006 "Drought drives down water consumption"](_blank)
/ref>
Common crops produced using irrigation include rice
Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...
, cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...
, canola
Close-up of canola blooms
Canola flower
Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae. Historically, ...
, sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or do ...
, various fruits and other tree crops and pasture, hay and grain for use in beef and dairy production.
Cotton
Major cotton growing areas in Australia are:
*New South Wales - Mungindi, Gwydir River
Gwydir River (locally wɑe̯də, a major inland perennial river of the Barwon catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Northern Tablelands, North West Slopes, and Orana districts of New South Wales, Australia.
Th ...
, Walgett, Bourke, the Lower and Upper Namoi River
The Namoi River, a major perennial river that is part of the Barwon catchment of the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Northern Tablelands and North West Slopes districts of New South Wales, Australia.
The Namoi River rises on the we ...
, Macquarie River, Menindee
Menindee (frequently but erroneously spelled "Menindie"
) is a small town in the far west of New South Wales, Australia, in Central Darling Shire, on the banks of the Darling River, with a sign-posted population of 980 and a population of 551 ...
, Lachlan River and Murrumbidgee River
*Queensland - Central Highlands, Dawson Valley, Biloela
Biloela ( ) is a rural town and locality in Shire of Banana, Central Queensland, Australia. It is situated inland from the port city of Gladstone at the junction of the Burnett and Dawson highways. Biloela is the administrative centre of Ban ...
, Darling Downs
The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was general ...
, Dirranbandi
Dirranbandi is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Balonne, Queensland, Australia. The locality is on the border of Queensland with New South Wales. In the , Dirranbandi had a population of 640 people.
Geography
Dirranbandi is on the ...
, St George
Saint George ( Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...
, Macintyre Valley
In 2001/02 crop size was producing 3,041,000 bales. Estimates for 2006/07 were for producing cotton, a 66% reduction, producing a forecast crop of bales, a 61% reduction. The total gross value of irrigated agricultural production in the cotton industry in 2004-05 was A$908 million compared to A$1,222 million in 2000-01. While demand skyrocketed, actual water use by the cotton industry fell by 37% between 2000/01 and 2004/05, due mainly to drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
. The cotton industry used in 2000/01, in 2004/05 and in 2008/09.
Rice
Irrigated areas in the Riverina produces the vast majority of rice grown in Australia, particularly in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA), but also the Murray Irrigation Area around Finley, Coleambally
Coleambally () is a small town in the Riverina of New South Wales, Australia, in Murrumbidgee Local Government Area.
Coleambally is one of the newest towns in the state of New South Wales, officially opened in June 1968, with the Post Office o ...
and Deniliquin areas.
Today, more than one million tonnes of Australian rice is produced each year and exported to over 70 countries, generating A$500 million in export income and supporting 63 towns in the Riverina and northern Victoria. Major rice mills are located in Leeton, Coleambally and the largest rice mill in the southern hemisphere in Deniliquin.
The total gross value of irrigated agricultural production in the rice industry in 2004-05 was A$102 million compared to A$350 million in 2000-01. Water use by the rice industry fell between 2000/01 and 2004/05, due mainly to smaller planted areas during the drought; the rice industry used in 2000/01, in 2004/05 and in 2008/09.
Grapes
Wine, dried and table grapes are grown commercially in all States and Territories. Grape production is the fifth largest fruit industry in Australia. Of that production wine grape production at over per annum is almost nine times the production of dried grapes and 14 times the production of table grapes.
A comparison with other grape producing countries throughout the world shows that Australia was the fourteenth largest producer of grapes in 1997.
Towards sustaining that production much of Australia’s viticulture is located in irrigable areas where water supply is reliable and well managed, with many new vineyards relying upon the availability of water pumped from rivers and streams.
The Australian grape industry used a total of in 2006/07, equating to approximately 4.3 ML/ha.
Major grape growing areas of Australia are:
*Western Australia – Carnarvon, Swan Valley, and Margaret River, Western Australia
Margaret River is a town in the South West of Western Australia, located in the valley of the eponymous Margaret River, south of Perth, the state capital. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River.
Margaret River's coas ...
*Northern Territory – Ti-Tree
*South Australia – Clare Valley
The Clare Valley is a valley located in South Australia about north of Adelaide in the Clare and Gilbert Valleys council area. It is the river valley formed by the Hutt River but is also strongly associated with the roughly parallel Hill Riv ...
, Barossa Valley
The Barossa Valley (Barossa German: ''Barossa Tal'') is a valley in South Australia located northeast of Adelaide city centre. The valley is formed by the North Para River. It is notable as a major wine-producing region and tourist destina ...
, the Riverland, the Adelaide Hills and the South East area of the State
*Queensland – Mareeba, Rockhampton
Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of t ...
, Charters Towers
Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits unde ...
, Mundubbera
Mundubbera ( ) is a town and a locality in the North Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Mundubbera had a population of 1261 people.
Mundubbera is the self-proclaimed "Citrus Capital of Queensland", although this is disputed by the n ...
, Stanthorpe
Stanthorpe is a rural town and locality in the Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Stanthorpe had a population of 5,406 people.
The area surrounding the town is known as the Granite Belt.
Geography
Stanthorpe lies on the New ...
, Emerald
Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr. and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991) ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York, p ...
, and St George
Saint George ( Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...
*New South Wales – Hunter Region
The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...
and Riverina
The Riverina
is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...
*Victoria – Sunraysia
Sunraysia is an illdefined district, sometimes incorrectly referred to as an economic region, located in northwestern Victoria and southwestern New South Wales in Australia. The region is renowned for its sunshine, intensive horticulture inclu ...
, Swan Hill
Swan Hill is a city in the northwest of Victoria, Australia on the Murray Valley Highway and on the south bank of the Murray River, downstream from the junction of the Loddon River. At , Swan Hill had a population of 11,508.
Indigenous Peopl ...
and Yarra Valley
The Yarra Valley is the region surrounding the Yarra River in Victoria, Australia. The river originates approximately east of the Melbourne central business district and flows towards it and out into Port Phillip Bay. The name Yarra Valley ...
*Tasmania – Launceston
Water trading
In Australia, all rights to use and control water are vested in the states. Users are then issued various conditional entitlements to use water and some of these entitlements can, in limited circumstances, be traded.
Entitlements vary state by state and according to the use, source, legal form, level of devolution, security and transferability among others. There has been a move across all states in recent years to move from older forms of water entitlement to more secure and transferable entitlements. Key parts of this move has been the separation of water entitlements from ties to particular parcels of land and the specification of entitlements with specific volumes and reliability.
Where an entitlement is able to be traded, the transaction may take several forms including temporary transfer of a seasonal water assignment, a permanent transfer of all or part of a water entitlement or a lease over a set period of years. All transfers require approval from the various regulatory bodies to ensure it complies with trading rules designed to meet environmental and in some cases socio-economic objectives. Such rules may include approving trades only within a set zone or the exchange rate of trades between zones to reflect water losses in delivery or differences in reliability.
Methods
Irrigation methods in Australia have improved over many years allowing for more efficient production per megalitre
The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3). ...
of water used. Current methods include systems such as centre pivot irrigation, impact (knocker) sprinklers, butterfly sprinklers, drip
Drip or DRIP may refer to:
* Mesomycetozoea, a class of eukaryotes also known as the DRIP clade
* Drip gas, natural gas condensate
* Drip irrigation, in agriculture and gardening
* Dripping liquid
* Drip email (campaign), the process of automati ...
and surface irrigation
Surface irrigation is where water is applied and distributed over the soil surface by gravity. It is by far the most common form of irrigation throughout the world and has been practiced in many areas virtually unchanged for thousands of years.
S ...
. Surface irrigation remains the most common irrigation technique accounting for 58.6% of the total area irrigated in 2013/14 compared to 10.8% for drip, 13.2% for centre pivot and lateral move machines and 4.4% for microspray systems. These values may change from season to season due to water availability and commodity prices.
Furrow irrigation
Surface irrigation is where water is applied and distributed over the soil surface by gravity. It is by far the most common form of irrigation throughout the world and has been practiced in many areas virtually unchanged for thousands of years.
S ...
is the typical choice for row crops such as cotton, sugar-cane and grains. Border-Check irrigation is the dominant technique for irrigating pasture. Centre pivots and lateral move machines are also used within row cropping and pasture/fodder crops and offer higher levels of control than furrow irrigation. Smaller scale sprinkler systems such as solid set systems with impact sprinklers are commonly used to grow vegetables and turf. Drip systems are found within most of the high value perennial horticultural crops such as grapes and fruit trees.
Centre pivot irrigation is often used for crops where the water can be distributed over a considerable period of time. In other crops where moisture stress is a complex concern, for example during the growing of cauliflower, water is required to be distributed quickly two or three specific times per day at a rate of about 140% the evaporation replacement rate and for this impact sprinklers set every 12 square metres or butterfly sprinklers set every 6 square metres are required.WA Agriculture Bulletin
Drip sprinklers can be used on many spaced planting locations but typically will be found as gravity fed systems on vineyards.
Most if not all farms employ earthworks such as
laser levelling
In surveying and construction, the laser level is a control tool consisting of a rotating laser beam projector that can be affixed to a tripod. The tool is leveled according to the accuracy of the device and projects a fixed red or green beam ...
to facilitate drainage and improve water use efficiency and uniformity.
water is very scarce so take care of it...
Environment
![Salinity from irrigation](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Salinity_from_irrigation.png)
Overuse and poor irrigation practices have led to increased
salt content in the soil, reducing the productivity of the land. Irrigation salinity is caused by water soaking through the soil level adding to the ground water below. This causes the
water table
The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated.
T ...
to rise, bringing dissolved salts to the surface. As the irrigated area dries, the salt remains.
At
Wakool
Wakool is a town in the western Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Wakool is in the Murray River Council local government area, south west of the state capital, Sydney and north-west of Melbourne. At the , Wakool had a population ...
in the
Riverina
The Riverina
is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...
region of
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, irrigation salinity is mitigated through a salt interception scheme that pumps saline ground water into
evaporation
Evaporation is a type of vaporization that occurs on the surface of a liquid as it changes into the gas phase. High concentration of the evaporating substance in the surrounding gas significantly slows down evaporation, such as when humidi ...
basins, protecting approximately 50,000
hectare
The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...
s of farmland in the area from high water tables and salinity. The subsequent salt has various uses including as an animal feed supplement. The program has returned to production over 2,000 hectares of previously barren farmland and encouraged the regeneration of native
eucalypt
Eucalypt is a descriptive name for woody plants with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australasia:
''Eucalyptus'', '' Corymbia'', '' Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...
s.
See also
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List of dams and reservoirs in Australia
Dams and reservoirs in Australia is a link page for any dam or reservoir in Australia.
Australian Capital Territory
There are three key water storage facilities located in the Australian Capital Territory. The fourth source of water for Canbe ...
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Water security in Australia
Water security in Australia became a major concern in Australia in the late 20th and early 21st century as a result of population growth, recurring severe droughts, effects of climate change on Australia, environmental degradation from reduced ...
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Water supply and sanitation in Australia
Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a s ...
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Irrigation in viticulture
Irrigation in viticulture is the process of applying extra water in the cultivation of grapevines. It is considered both controversial and essential to wine production. In the physiology of the grapevine, the amount of available water affects phot ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Irrigation in Australia
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...