Scientists have proposed using recycled water as a means of maintaining sustainable levels of groundwater resources in Sydney.
Amid one of Australia's worst droughts, the understanding and efficient management of groundwater supplies and their use has taken on a new urgency.
Although groundwater is out of sight beneath the earth, many plants and animals that live on the surface depend on it for their existence.
This drought, like no other, has exposed the fundamental weakness of Australia's water management.