A dripping tap in the city is an annoyance

But in the dry season in the outback, a single leak from a bore can keep 1000 cane toads alive until the next big wet.

Stop a drip from an irrigation pipe, and cane toads will perish within three days in the dry, says Professor Ben Phillips, a specialist in population biology and invasive species at Curtin University who is leading an $18 million project to stop the spread of cane toads in Western Australia.

Words by @julie_power_smh_journo and photography by @tamati_the_yamaji for the @sydneymorningherald