Could we refill the Great Artesian Basin with floodwater? If we
can tap the Artesian Basin to take water out, why can't we pump
water back into it in times of flood ? If we can tap the
Artesian Basin to take water out, why can't we pump water back
into it in times of flood? It's a temptingly simple idea that in
times of flood we can inject surplus water back into the Great
Artesian Basin. But while reinjection is technically feasible,
the trick is to collect that water and inject it into the right
locations, and the sheer size of the artesian basin makes that
difficult, says Dr Vincent Post, from the National Centre for
Groundwater Research and Training. The Great Artesian Basin
underlies 22 per cent of the continent stretching across
Queensland to the south east corner of the Northern Territory,
north east corner of South Australia and northern New South
Wales. But it is not just one big underground lake. The water is
confined and pressurised within a massive geological formation
of porous sandstone, known a