Groundwater and the Great Artesian Basin

Turn on a bore tap in the middle of outback Queensland and water can come gushing out under its own pressure, with no pump in sight, sometimes water that fell as rain before the pyramids were built. This episode explains how aquifers actually work, what makes water "artesian," and tells the story of the Great Artesian Basin, one of the largest groundwater systems on Earth, sitting beneath a fifth of the Australian continent, along with the century-long effort to stop it from being wasted away.

You'll come away understanding how water moves and is stored underground, the difference between confined and unconfined aquifers, why some bores flow without pumping and others don't, how old artesian water really is, why so many bores were capped over the past few decades, what over-extraction and subsidence mean for groundwater systems, and why certain desert springs fed by this water are irreplaceable pockets of life.

Talking Science is sponsored by Kinsoft. Visit www.kinsoft.com.au

Further reading: Geoscience Australia – Great Artesian Basin overview and groundwater resources; Bureau of Meteorology – Australian groundwater explorer and national water accounts; CSIRO – groundwater and aquifer research; Queensland Government Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water – Great Artesian Basin Sustainability Initiative reporting.