Balancing Consumptive and Environmental Water Use –An Australian Perspective - Water and Agriculture: Sustainability, Markets and Policies - page 174

Australian rivers have the least amount of water in the world and have the second highest
flow variability (DAFF, 2004). It is justifiably named, by one pioneering Australian poet,
a “sunburnt country”.
In Australia, the development of water resources in regional areas has made a
significant contribution to national wealth, underpinning the development of primary
industries as well as cities and towns. Settlement and economic growth have relied upon
the manipulation of natural water courses to satisfy production and domestic demands.
Despite being the driest inhabited continent, Australians and Australian industries
consume a lot of water. Australia's rate of water consumption is the highest per capita in
the world, surpassing North America (Parliament of Australia, 2005). In 2000-01 a total
of 24,909 gigalitres (GL) was consumed in the Australian economy. The three highest
consumption sectors were agriculture, electricity and gas supply and households (ABS,
2004).
In light of Australia's climatic characteristics and the water-demanding nature of
some of its primary industries, it is not surprising that water is a key natural resource
management concern in Australia. However, in the past, concerns raised by water
shortages focused on the needs for human consumption and driving economic growth.
The heavy reliance on large-scale damming, diversion, pumping and drainage of surface
waters, reclamation and loss of wetlands and extraction of groundwater for irrigation,
stock, domestic and industrial use has meant that many of Australia's waters and water-
dependent ecosystems have suffered degradation. This includes declining water quality,
salinisation, habitat loss and loss of biodiversity.
Balancing the needs of the environment — including the flows required to maintain
and restore healthy rivers — with water allocation for consumptive users is a major task
facing Australian governments and communities. While this paper provides a snapshot of
the forms of degradation facing Australian waters and water-dependent ecosystems, its
focus is a reflection on the co-operative, intergovernmental responses in Australia to
increase the efficiency of water use and improve the sustainability and productivity of the
agricultural sector, whilst promoting the health of river and groundwater systems. Case
studies from the Murray-Darling Basin and Great Barrier Reef catchment illustrate
approaches taken by Australian policymakers for policy setting and programme delivery
to achieve these multiple objectives, and identify the common elements for success.
2. The agriculture-water relationship at a glance
Australia is a renowned agricultural producer, representing 3 per cent of world
agricultural exports. In 2002-2003, the gross value of farm production was
AUD 31.8 billion and farm exports AUD 27 billion (DAFF, 2004). In 2001-02, the
agricultural sector contributed 4.2 per cent of the Australian Gross Domestic Product and
2.9 per cent in 2000-03 (ABS, 2005).
However, the sector's economic contribution is not proportional to its water demands.
The agriculture industry is by far the major water user in the Australian economy.
Estimates in Water Account Australia 2000-2001 , compiled by the Australian Bureau of
Statistics (ABS), the premier statistical organisation in Australia, show that agriculture
accounted for 67 per cent of water consumption in 2000-01 (ABS, 2004) (Figure 1).