Spring monitoring in the Great Artesian Basin

The Great Artesian Basin (GAB) is the one of the largest groundwater basin complexes in the world, providing groundwater flows to thousands of natural springs in Queensland. These springs are of great cultural and ecological importance, supporting a range of rare and endangered plants and animals.

Since 1900, the number of GAB springs has fallen owing to a range of factors, including the increased number of bores being drilled into the GAB, weather, land use and damage by feral and pest animals.

The Queensland Herbarium has undertaken projects to monitor the health of the GAB springs since 1995. Data from this program is available from the Queensland spring database.

Great Artesian Basin spring, March 2011
Photo of a Great Artesian Basin spring, March 2011
Photo: Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS)
Same spring in July 2011 after damage by a wild pig
Photo of the same spring in July 2011 after damage by a wild pig.
Photo: Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS)