“We need a cooperative approach to protect springs,” Rod says.

"The greatest threats to the survival of these springs are excavation, ponded pastures, feral pigs, and reduced water pressure in the aquifer.

“Perhaps a local nature conservation agreement, a nature refuge, would be appropriate. If we can build some creative conservation measures into lease agreements that bind current and subsequent landowners, we’ve covered the local aspect of spring preservation.

"If such a measure translates into reduced market value for the property there will need to be some form of incentive for the landholder to participate.

“The other aspect of spring preservation is to continue the rehabilitation of the Great Artesian Basin bores to halt declining water pressure and prevent the continuing extinction of the springs along with their associated flora and fauna.

“These isolated and ancient, yet permanent sources of water in an arid landscape have allowed the evolution of a range of unique plants, fish and invertebrates found nowhere else on the face of the planet. Indeed, some are found in only a single spring.”

Artesian springs are the natural vents or release valves of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB). They occur mainly around the extremities of the GAB where the aquifer is close to the surface or where a fault line provides an escape through the overlying rock.

Since the discovery of this great resource in 1878, thousands of bores have been drilled into the GAB to access the life-giving water for pastoralism. Many of them flow uncontrolled, at phenomenal rates – McDill’s Bore in the Northern Territory gushes more than 500,000 litres (approximately 4 to 5 suburban swimming pools) per hour. Total daily discharge from the GAB’s bores is in the order of 1,200 million litres.

Up to 95% of this is wasted through evaporation and soakage from the inefficient, traditional open bore-drain method of running water to stock. This unsustainable large-scale use has caused pressures throughout the GAB to drop to the point where many bores have stopped flowing, as have many of the springs.

The GAB capping and piping project has seen bore-head control valves and polythene piping installed. This elimination of wastage has resulted in a rise in local water pressures with some springs at least reaping the benefit with increasing flow.