In central Australia, the maintenance and restoration of waterbodies are often listed as the highest management priority by local Aboriginal Traditional Owners and rangers, often because these waterbodies have high cultural value as sacred sites and support local plant and animal species. For the past decade we have documented the severe degradation of central Australian waterbodies by large feral animals, mainly camels and horses. These waterbodies, large and small, have also suffered from a lack of active management by Traditional Owners and custodians, who historically cleaned out and protected these sites. During the recently completed Australian Feral Camel Management Project, we quantified the impact of camels on water quality, aquatic invertebrates and native wildlife. Current efforts are on restoring a sub-set of sites from the Tanami Desert in the north, to the Petermann Ranges in the south. Restoration efforts, which in most cases involve local Aboriginal ranger groups, employ a multifaceted approach. These efforts include providing alternative water sources, weed control of buffel grass and bulrushes, the installation of data loggers to record change over time, and restoring hydrological connectivity. The restoration of water sites in central Australia will provide both environment and cultural benefits, and is essential if aquatic biodiversity is to be restored and maintained in this arid region.