Australia is dry, hot, unimaginably infertile and the most inhospitable of all inhabited continents.
Even the world largest freshwater lake, Lake Baikal, is 2.7 times smaller than the Great Artesian Basin.
It extends 2,400 km from Cape York in the north to Dubbo in the south.
At its widest it is 1,800 km from the Darling Downs to west of Coober Pedy.
A mound spring fed by an artesian well in South Australia.
During this period the deposition of sediments formed alternating layers of permeable sandstone and impermeable siltstones and mudstones.
Over time the accumulated water became a vast underground reserve.
There was also a geothermal power station at Birdsville in Queensland, until its closure in 2018.
This occur mostly in the southern part of the basin where the water is close to the surface.
Some of these springs feature in Aboriginal myths and hold significant spiritual and cultural beliefs of indigenous communities.
Beel’s Bore, Hariman Park near Cunnamulla.
Many bores were soon drilled and by 1915 over 1,500 flowing artesian bores had been drilled throughout the Basin.
Even towns and cities sprang up around artesian bores.
Many bores are unregulated or abandoned, resulting in considerable water wastage.
Conserving and sustaining the Great Artesian Basin is thus a priority for the Australian Government.
Hot water bore hole into the Great Artesian Basin in Thargomindah.
Artesian water baths in Lightning Ridge.
