Installing New High Frequency Monitoring Station

A new high-frequency water-quality monitoring station has recently been installed at Corduroy Creek south of Tully. It’s the eleventh for the Tully-Innisfail region and it’s in one of 50+ locations where water monitoring has been happening in paddocks, drains, creeks and rivers across the Tully, Murray and Johnstone River catchments.

Why do we do it and how does it help farmers?

We’re helping farmers to sustainably manage their land. The data is giving all of us a better understanding of how human activities, including land management practices, impact waterways and the Great Barrier Reef. We design water monitoring programs to answer landholders’ questions about water quality. The data is shared with participating landholders and industry bodies. It has led to changes in the way farmers use pesticides and fertiliser, and manage ground cover. Having more knowledge and understanding = good decision making.

Why Corduroy Creek?

Cane growers in this area asked for data. So this creek has been monitored for more than six years now, initially through a project run by Sugar Research Australia and then through two Terrain NRM projects. We chose the same monitoring sites so we can look at trends over time. With long-term datasets, we can track changes in water quality following changes to land management practices. This helps us all to see the effects of different practices and the way changes can make a positive difference to water quality.

How do high-frequency water monitoring stations work?

These stations fill in the gaps between monthly water sampling results. Every half hour, a nitrate sensor takes a measurement. By measuring stream flow as well, we can see changes in nitrate concentrations and we can also calculate the nitrate load moving down the creek (in kilograms) during a single rain event, during the first big flush of the wet season or for an entire year. The new station at Corduroy Creek also has a rain gauge, to help us relate the stream flows and nitrate concentrations to rainfalls, given how localised rain can be.