New funding to reduce sediment runoff to the Reef

NEW $31M INVESTMENT TO REDUCE SEDIMENT RUNOFF IN THE WET TROPICS

OCTOBER 2024

A new $31 million project will reduce sediment runoff to the Great Barrier Reef from the Wet Tropics region. The six-year project is targeting eroding streambanks, gullies and hillslopes, and will prioritise and design solutions for erosion sites identified as the highest risk for water quality.

The ‘Reef 2035 Sediment Reduction Project’ is being funded by the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and managed by Far North Queensland natural resource management organisation Terrain NRM.

Terrain CEO Stewart Christie said the project is the start of the next phase of investment for reef water quality programs.

“Over the last 15 years there has been a strong focus on reducing land-based runoff, and landholders across the region have been working hard to change land management practices,’’ he said. “As a result, there has been good progress towards Australia’s Reef Water Quality 2050 targets. But there is still more work to be done.”

Mr Christie said the new program would begin with streambank and gully survey work to identify and prioritise erosion hotspots across the region, with a focus on improving the land and reducing fine sediment loads in our waterways and on the Great Barrier Reef. This would be followed by the design of engineered solutions and then the on-ground works.

“Keeping topsoil on the land is vitally important for production. Likewise, good water quality is vitally important for healthy waterways and for the Reef – it affects everything from microscopic plants to corals and barramundi,’’ he said.

“This project will focus on runoff that leads to fine sediment in our waterways, because it’s the fine sediment that reduces the amount of sunlight penetrating the water and that’s a problem for things like seagrass and corals which rely on sunlight to generate energy. Then there’s a trickle-down effect to all sea life relying on the corals and seagrass for food and shelter.”

Terrain NRM Project Manager Lana Hepburn said streambank erosion is the biggest source of fine sediment impacting the Reef from the Wet Tropics.

“Fine sediment includes small particles of silt and clay – one of the main pollutants impacting the health of the Reef. Our on-ground work will be a combination of hard and soft engineering solutions, including rock walls and pile fields,” she said.

“Longer-term solutions for erosion are changing land management practices and keeping vegetated buffer zones along creeks and rivers to stabilise the banks. Fixing these sites is also a win for landholders who stand to lose valuable topsoil and production land.”

BENEFITS 

  • Prevent further loss of productive land.
  • Shore up sites from future heavy rainfall events.
  • Prevent channelling.
  • Improved water quality flowing to the Reef.
  • Revegetated riparian zones.
  • Improved landscape connectivity and habitat for fish and wildlife.

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