Water Sources
In general, water for irrigation comes from two main sources, river systems and underground aquifers. 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 where irrigation is used during the dry season for double-cropping. A major source of ground water in Australia is the Great Artesian Basin.
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. It can be seen that, in Australia as a whole, over 70% of water is devoted to irrigation.
Read more about this topic: Irrigation In Australia
Famous quotes containing the words water and/or sources:
“People always ask us, “Are things better or worse today?” Well, some things are better and some things are worse.... But there are a lot of problems in the world today that no one dreamed of when we were young. For instance, this business about the environment. Why, clean water was just something you took for granted.”
—Sarah Delany (b. 1890)
“The American grips himself, at the very sources of his consciousness, in a grip of care: and then, to so much of the rest of life, is indifferent. Whereas, the European hasn’t got so much care in him, so he cares much more for life and living.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)