Water and the Murray-Darling Basin - A Statistical Profile draws together data from ABS and other sources to paint a picture about the region.

The Murray-Darling Basin contains Australia's three longest rivers (the Darling, the Murray and the Murrumbidgee), and it is home to 10pc of Australia's population.

Most (83pc) of the water used in the Murray-Darling Basin is by agriculture.

This represents around 65pc of Australia's total agricultural water use.

Other key findings include:

• The highest agricultural water users in the basin have been cotton (20pc), dairy farming (17pc), pasture for other livestock (17pc) and rice (16pc).

• The Murray-Darling Basin has generated $15 billion, or 39pc of Australia's agricultural production.

• The Murray-Darling Basin has contained 65pc of Australia's irrigated land.

• Over a third (38pc) of Australia's farmers reside in the Basin.

• 13pc of water consumption in the Murray-Darling Basin has been by the water supply industry (mostly lost in delivery systems), 2pc by households, 1pc by manufacturing and 2pc by other industries.