Rock chutes have been put through their paces on cattle properties in the Herbert River catchment – and they’ve been given the ‘thumbs-up’ as solutions to gully erosion and topsoil losses.

The first La Nina wet season sent floodwaters down chutes and through other rock structures that were built over the last three years on properties in the Mt Garnet and Innot Hot Springs area, and monitoring work was recently completed.

Terrain NRM project manager Jen Mackenzie said rainfall over the past five months had given the engineered structures a solid testing period.

Four rock chutes have been constructed on cattle stations, along with bund walls, and different rock structures were installed at tailings dams from historical mining ventures on cattle properties.

The annual monitoring also includes inspections of native grasses, planted at these sites as part of the projects.

“It’s all about improving the land for graziers, as well as the quality of water flowing through the Herbert catchment and out to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon,’’ Ms Mackenzie said.

Together, the four rock chutes will each year prevent an estimated 1,200 tonnes of sediment – the equivalent to 50 semi-trailer loads – from reaching the Great Barrier Reef.

Chutes range from 20 metres to 100 metres long.

The Mossman and Murray river catchments are on course to meet their reef water quality targets with a new $5.6 million investment announced by Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley.

‘Mobilising the Murray and Mossman’ will build on previous water quality initiatives supporting farmers with land management practice changes to reduce runoff of nutrients, sediment and pesticides. The new project will focus on helping sugarcane growers to minimise the loss of excess nutrients by matching fertiliser applications to crop requirements.

Stewart Christie, CEO at Terrain NRM, welcomed the additional investment and said the project was targeting win-win solutions for farming businesses and water quality.

“These catchments have already made really good progress towards the current catchment targets within Australia’s Reef 2050 Plan, with farmers adopting best management practices for water quality and implementing a variety of changes,” he said.

“This initiative is a boost to help reach targets, in both water quality and productivity.”

Funded by the Australian Government’s Reef Trust, the project is being delivered by Terrain NRM, Mossman Agricultural Services and Canegrowers Tully. Agricultural extension officers and agribusiness providers will work with cane farmers to identify factors inhibiting the uptake of fertiliser by plants.

Peter Lucy, Manager at Canegrowers Tully, said constraints included compacted soils, sandy soils, weeds and poor drainage.

“The more we can help farmers address these constraints to their crop yields, the more we can prevent excess fertiliser losses running off into waterways,” he said. “The solution is different for every farm so it’s important to provide one-on-one support to farmers to identify and address their individual crop constraints.

“The Tully Extension Network has been providing extension support to sugarcane growers for several years now and this project will help us to continue supporting growers to refine their land management practices.”

Graziers from Ravenshoe to Ingham are part of a new $3.2 million project to clean up the water flowing down the Herbert River and out to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.

Terrain NRM will work with landholders changing their grazing management practices in a project focused on reducing the amount of fine sediment in the Herbert River catchment’s waterways.

Terrain’s Jen Mackenzie said the team would also repair major gully and streambank erosion on two properties through rock chutes and pile fields, and would support a number of graziers to fence off waterways and install off-stream watering systems for cattle.

The Upper Herbert Sediment Reduction Project is funded by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.

“We are really looking forward to this – we’ll also be working with the Mulloon Institute for the first time, helping landholders to prevent further erosion on their land, and with visiting grazing and soil health specialists who already work successfully with landholders in this region,” Ms Mackenzie said.

The new project will complement a Herbert Gully and Grazing Program that has been running for the past three years, funded by the Australian Government and delivered by Terrain NRM. The project has led to reductions in sediment loads through gully erosion remediation work and changes to grazing management practices.

“These projects are benefitting the land, the Reef and graziers with their soil health and natural grazing practices focus,’’ Ms Mackenzie said. “The engineered works – from rock chutes and bund walls to whoay boys on roads – are significant for sediment reduction. But it’s the changes to the way we manage the land that will lead to long-term and ongoing improvements.

“The new Upper Herbert Sediment Reduction Project will build on the success of our existing project and expand our reach of support for landholders in the Herbert catchment.”

We’re doing the rounds asking Wet Tropics residents their top priorities for natural resource management – and people in the Upper Herbert region were the first to speak up.

Thanks to everyone who got involved. The top-three priorities in the Upper Herbert are:

• Managing erosion to improve water quality.
• Using grazing best management practices to improve productivity and landscape health.
• Managing weeds and pests.

An all-of-region update is part of our review of the Wet Tropics Plan for People and Country. We’ll have results from the Southern Tablelands soon and we’ll be working across the Wet Tropics in coming months, so stay tuned and get involved.

The full list of Upper Herbert priorities identified by the community is online here and the community’s plan is available here.

The Wet Tropics Plan for People and Country will undergo a major review every five years.

The Plan includes priority actions for each area in the Wet Tropics region, which includes Ingham, the Cassowary Coast, Tablelands, Upper Herbert, Cairns and Mossman-Port Douglas. It’s the basis for decision-making at all levels – from land managers and community groups to investors and government.

Terrain NRM is custodian of the natural resource management plan, which is community-driven and supported by scientific and technical information. It is online at www.wettropicsplan.org.au