Additional funding provided to repair uncontrolled bores

The Great Artesian Basin is Australia’s most significant underground water resource, directly supporting more than 180,000 people in more than 120 towns and 7,600 enterprises in regional and remote Australia. This week the Federal Government announced funding of $15.9 million to extend the Great Artesian Basin Sustainability Initiative (GABSI) for a further 3 years. Since 1999, the Federal Government has invested close to $115 million to repair 650 uncontrolled artesian bores, that has saved approx 200 billion litres of water each year. The GABSI program provides funding support to repair uncontrolled bores that threaten the long-term viability of the Great Artesian Basin. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, Warren Truss said “uncontrolled bores continue to threaten secure access to water across a range of communities, pastoralists, irrigators, and mining and extractive industries, as well as the health of important groundwater dependent ecosystems”.