The ACKMA conference was hosted last week by the amazing team at Wellington Caves in New South Wales, Australia. I had the fortune to present to regional cave and karst experts, mangers and cave guides. And a unique invite to co-lead cave tours through Cathedral Cave.
I first presented to this audience in 2010 at the same venue. So I decided to provide a 15 year update on the UNSW cave hydrology and groundwater research at the caves. In particular, why we hadn’t published a record of groundwater recharge from the caves yet. Spoiler alert: there haven’t been enough recharge events.
Many thanks to Bec Pedemont for inviting me to jointly lead the Cathedral Cave delegate tours with her. Over two days, the delegates got to hear about the cave history and its management from Bec, and from me, about how caves can be used as observatories of groundwater recharge and the links between rainfall, climate and groundwater rellenishment.
Many thanks to ACKMA for organising the conference and Dubbo Regional Council for hosting the ACKMA 2025 Conference. And special mention to Connor Gilmore, UNSW alumnus, who took time off from work to present his Honours research on the relationship between tourist visits and cave temperature at Cathedral Cave.
Andy Baker 
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