During the 2022 fiscal year, approximately 79 million megaliters of water were consumed by industry, while around 1.8 million megaliters were consumed by households across Australia. Overall, consumption of water had increased compared to the previous year.

Water usage in Australia As most of the water supplied in Australia comes from surface water, such as rivers and lakes, ongoing drought has led to issues revolving around water security. Around three quarters of the country’s water usage was used for irrigation and industrial purposes. Agriculture was the largest water-consuming industry in general. While the Northern Territory had the highest per household consumption, water consumption varied significantly from region to region.

Drought in Australia

As Australia’s water demand continues to rise, the threat of water shortages has also increased. Australia has faced periods of drought throughout history and the more recent droughts have affected many regions across the country. The effects of drought can be linked to other catastrophic environmental events. The environmental and economic losses from the recent bushfires in Australia were particularly devastating.

Water withdrawals per capita in Turkmenistan amount to 2,740 cubic meters per inhabitant, according to the latest available data from 2021. This is a far higher volume than in many other countries, such as China, where per capita water withdrawals were 398.7 cubic meters as of 2021. Global water withdrawals Countries around the world withdraw huge volumes of water each year from sources such as rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and groundwater. China has some of the largest annual total water withdrawals across the globe, at 581.3 billion cubic meters per year. In comparison, Mexico withdrew almost 90 billion cubic meters of water in 2021. Water scarcity Although roughly 70 percent of Earth's surface is covered with water, less than one percent of the planet's total water resources can be classified as accessible freshwater resources. Growing populations, increased demand, and climate change are increasingly putting pressure on these precious resources. This is expected to lead to global water shortages around the world. In the United States, the megadrought in the west has seen water levels of major reservoirs that provide water to millions of people plummet to record lows. In order to prevent severe droughts in water-stressed areas today and in the future, a more efficient use of water is essential.

Over a quarter of the world's population faces extremely high levels of baseline water stress due to irrigated agriculture, industry, and municipal withdrawals on the available water supply. Many countries with the highest risk of water stress are in the Middle East, such as Kuwait and Qatar, which both had water stress scores of five out of a possible five in 2020. Singapore is also one of the most water stressed countries in the world due to a lack of natural water resources, and has long relied on supplies from neighboring Malaysia. However, in a bid to become water independent, Singapore has developed an advanced system that turns sewage into clean, drinkable water that can meet 40 percent of demand.