National Water Week: Water Connects Everything

Why this week matters to irrigation

Australia is the driest inhabited continent on Earth, so every litre used on a farm, a golf course or a council oval has to be stored, moved and applied with care. That's the work Irrigation Australia's members do every day: designing, installing, maintaining and managing the systems that make water go further.

Better design, scheduling and technology mean more is grown with every megalitre, and the cotton figure below is one example. National Water Week is a chance to recognise the people behind that progress.

Water Week on our channels

We're sharing one post a day on our social channels throughout the week.

• Monday 19 October: 80%. Around 80% of Australia gets less than 600 mm of rain a year. Source: Bureau of Meteorology
• Tuesday 20 October: 70%. About 70% of Australia's irrigated land sits in one river system, the Murray-Darling Basin. Source: Bureau of Meteorology
• Wednesday 21 October: 52%. Australian cotton growers now use 52% less water to grow a bale than they did in 1997. Source: CRDC, using NSW DPI data
• Thursday 22 October: Water Night. Households and schools are asked to turn off the taps from 5pm to 10pm.
• Friday 23 October: thank you. To the people who keep water moving: designers, installers, technicians, trainers, water managers, researchers and growers.

Where's Gary?

Meet Gary, our irrigation robot. He's built entirely from poly pipe, elbows, tees, couplings and tank fittings, the same parts our members install every day, and he first joined us on our stand at the Greenscapes Landscaping Expo in Brisbane.

This Water Week, Gary is hiding. Each weekday from Monday 19 October we'll post a photo on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram with Gary tucked away somewhere in it, from irrigation systems in the field to our training rooms. Spot him and tell us where he is in the comments, and we'll post the answer the next day. Bonus points if you can name the fittings he's made from.

LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

Water Week quiz

Test what you know with our ten-question Water Week quiz on water and irrigation. Answer all ten correctly to earn one CPD point, for all Irrigation Australia certifications including Waterwise.

Take the Water Week quiz

Water Night: Thursday 22 October

On Water Night, households and schools across Australia are asked to turn off the taps from 5pm to 10pm. It's a simple way to notice how much water we rely on every evening.

It's also a good time to check the garden. Finding leaks, fixing damaged sprinkler heads and setting a smart controller all add up over a season. If you'd like a hand, a Certified Irrigation Installer can help.

Find a certified irrigation professional near you

Thank you

This week we want to thank:

• Our members: the businesses and people who design, install, supply and manage irrigation across Australia.
• Our learners: everyone who trained or certified with us this year.
• Our trainers and team: the people behind every course, event and publication.
• Our Irrigation Futures sponsors: whose support, often equipment and facilities for our students, makes this work possible.

Platinum sponsors: Brown Brothers Engineers, Hunter, Nelson Irrigation, Philmac, Plasson and Valley.

Gold sponsors: Iplex, Netafim, Rivulis, Rodney Industries and Vinidex.

Foundation sponsor: Grundfos.

Learn more about our supporters

Send us the job that saved the most water

We'd like to hear about the water you've saved. Tell us about one job from the past year where your work made a difference, such as a system redesign, a pump upgrade, a smart controller, a leak found and fixed, or a schedule changed after a soil moisture reading.

Send us:

• the type of site (farm, council oval, golf course, sports ground or home garden)
• what you changed
• the result, in litres, megalitres or %, if you measured it
• a photo, if you have one.

Your job could feature in the e-News and on our social channels during Water Week, with your business named. You'll see the wording before anything is published.

Email your job to jasmine.lelievreadams@irrigation.org.au with "Water Week" in the subject line by Wednesday 21 October 2026.

Get involved

If your business, council or regional committee is doing something for National Water Week, tell us and we'll help share it. Email info@irrigation.org.au with "Water Week" in the subject line.

National Water Week is coordinated nationally by the Australian Water Association. You can find more at nationalwaterweek.org.