National Water Account 2018

Burdekin: Key findings

Water reports for the period 1 July 2017–30 June 2018

  • Total wet season rainfall was below average across the region.
  • High rainfall in February–March 2018 over the northern part of the region contributed to very high streamflows in the Burdekin River during March and April.
  • Total surface water use increased from last year, particularly for irrigation.

Climate and water

Rainfall

Rainfall icon

522 mm

below the average of 643 mm

Streamflow

Streamflow iconarrowpointingdown

below average

less than last year

Storage

Storage icon

93% full

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3% less than last year   

Water use

Water sourced

Graph showing breakdown of water sources used in the Burdekin region. A total of 954,342 ML of water was used in the region in 2017–18. Surface water made up 84% of total water use; groundwater made up 16% of the use.

groundwater

16%

surface water

84%

Water supplied

Graph showing breakdown of water users in the Burdekin region. A total of 954,342 ML of water was supplied to users in 2017–18. 59% of total water supply was for irrigation schemes; 37% was for individual users, 3% was transferred inter-region and the remaining 1% supplied the urban system.

954,342 ML

individual users

37%

urban system

1%

inter-region

3%

irrigation scheme

59%

Water status

Allocations

1,210 GL

total surface water and groundwater allocations

Water assets

2,059 GL

water assets at 30 June 2018

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14 GL more than last year

Outlook

Decrease

in storage expected during the 2018–19 year