Yowah Artesian Pools

Yowah is a remote opal-mining community in the Shire of Paroo, far western Queensland, small enough that its entire water supply — for drinking and bathing alike — comes from a single Great Artesian Basin bore. In August 2014, the local progress association built two adjoining artesian pools in the town centre, a cooler one running around 39°C and a hotter one around 43°C, giving residents and the opal-hunting visitors who pass through a communal soak after days spent fossicking in the surrounding claypans. There is no resort infrastructure here, no entry fee, and no bottled amenities — just a small-town response to living on top of one of the world's largest underground water reserves, built by the people who use it.