Activities
Australians in the central part of our country rely heavily on the Great Artesian Basin, not only for their survival, but for the money the basin brings in. The GAB is a key water supplier for the activities in the area, such as: livestock, mines, industries and townships. If the Great Artesian Basin disappeared overnight, our industries would lose $1B a year, and there would be a lot of us hungry. Many of mines would have to shut down, leaving Australia short another 3 billion dollars a year. Many people would also be out of work.
livestock
Many farmers used to have dredges that they filled with bore water for their cattle. Dredging wasn't the best alternative, as many animals got stuck and had to be pulled out. Dredging also cost a lot, not just because it was hard on the tractors that made the trough but because farmers were wasting hundreds of litre of water to evaporation before the cattle even got to it.
mines
Water bored from the Great Artesian Basin is used to mine gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper, uranium, oil, coal and gas.
Industries
Our beef, wool and sheep industries rely on the Great Artesian Basin. Before people realised that the Great Artesian basin was there, they sent their fleece overseas dirty. Washing their fleece saved them hundreds of dollar on transportation.