The Burdekin Delta

The Burdekin delta is a major irrigation area with more than 35,000 ha of irrigated sugarcane and other crops. This system is unique because it overlies major groundwater supplies, is close to environmentally sensitive wetlands, waterways, estuaries, and the Great Barrier Reef, and employs water management practices that have evolved over the last few decades in response to local needs. These practices include the use of riverbed sand dams, extraction of river water to distribution channels, natural waterways and large recharge pits to assist with artificial replenishment of the groundwater systems. Farm water practices such as ‘recycling’, 'water spreading', and direct pumping from recharge channels have also evolved to play an integral role in the management of the groundwater systems. 

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