Talk:Great Artesian Basin

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[edit] Comments

8.7 million cubic metres of water sound way too low Gtoomey 01:21, 2 September 2005 (UTC)

Quote: It is the source of most of the water used in these areas. The basin is an important source of water for cattle raising. Whilst unsuitable for irrigation, it is adequate for stock and domestic usage (with treatment) and is thus vital to human activity. To tap it, bores are drilled down to a suitable rock layer, where the pressure of the water forces it up, mostly without pumping. Additionally, water at 98°C (208°F) from the basin is used to power a small 150 kW generator in Birdsville.

In 1983 there were close to 18 000 bores providing 1575 million litres of water. This included just under 2000 freely flowing bores and more than 9000 that required mechanical power to bring water to the surface.

I guess this means that of 11000 bores, 2000 don't use a pump and 9000 do use a pump. But the whole lot is unsourced anyway so who'se counting? 05:39, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

I disagree with the assertion that "nothing has been done". More than half the free flowing bores have been capped in recent years, and all should be capped and piped within the next ten years. This has cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Limitations on new drilling have been in place for decades. In general it appears the contributors to this article have no idea about what they are talking about when it comes to the management of the GAB, and also have little idea about the realities of sustainable groundwater management. If this were not the case, it would be reasonable to expect that there would be more than a simple one liner asserting that nothing has been done!