It hardly needs to be said that the supply of irrigation water is a major issue for the industry and a major hint to production, and that there are economic and environmental dimensions to the debate about water, which is characterised more by rhetoric than fact. For example, we have heard. .... &quote;The cotton industry has a veracious appetite for water&quote; - &quote;You and I know 6Ml/ha is not enough to water a successful cotton crop&quote;. One assertion relates to the industry as a whole and the other to the operation of a farm, so providing a convenient introduction to two questions addressed in this paper. .. How much water does the industry actually use? and How much water does a cotton crop need?