National Water Account 2018

Ord: Key findings

For the water account period 1 July 2017–30 June 2018

  • Below-average annual rainfall contributed to low streamflow across the region.
  • End of year storage dropped by 24% from last year after being over 100% for much of 2016–17.
  • Irrigation development continued with a cotton crop being planted in the region for the first time since 2011.

Climate and water

Rainfall

Rainfall icon

609 mm

below the average of 658 mm

Streamflow

Streamflow iconarrowpointingdown

below average

less than last year

Storage

Storage icon

82% full

arrowpointingdown

24% less than last year   

Water use

Water sourced

Graph showing breakdown of water sources used in the Ord region. A total of 246,441 ML of water was used in the region in 2017–18. Surface water made up 97% of total water use; groundwater made up 3% of the use.

groundwater

3%

surface water

97%

Water supplied

Graph showing breakdown of water users in the Ord region. A total of 246,441 ML of water was supplied to users in 2017–18. 84% of total water supply was for the irrigation scheme; 15% was for individual users; and 1% was for the urban system.

246,441 ML

irrigation scheme

84%

individual users

15%

urban system

1%

Water status

Allocations

341 GL

total surface water and groundwater allocations

Water assets

8,990 GL

water assets at 30 June 2018

2,843 GL less than last year

Outlook

Decrease

in storage expected during the 2018–19 year