Monitoring and maintenance of 25 gullies helped ratify lessons learnt around repair
This month the Gully Maintenance and Monitoring project will wrap up.
Between 2017 and 2020, the Burdekin Major Integrated Project (Landholders Driving Change) completed 25 gully remediation projects (five large-scale and 20 small-scale sites).
These gully works treated more than 11,000 linear metres of gullies across 54 gully heads, preventing an estimated 10,500 tonnes of fine sediment from reaching the Great Barrier Reef each year.
Treatments ranged from minor, landholder-led interventions to large-scale engineered solutions using heavy earthworks.
The Queensland Government, through the Queensland Reef Water Quality Program, provided more than $500,000 (including underspend from the initial works) to support long-term monitoring and maintenance.
From June 2022 to April 2025, monitoring and maintenance activities were undertaken across three wet seasons as part of the Burdekin Major Integrated Project Gully Maintenance and Monitoring project.
The project responded to the need for better understanding of cost-effective gully remediation, focusing on how long treatments last, the level and frequency of maintenance required, and whether sediment reductions were sustained.
Its aims were to monitor gully stability, undertake critical maintenance to support confidence in investment outcomes, and generate practical insights into long-term maintenance timeframes and costs.
We would like to thank the graziers and landholders who have supported the Landholders Driving Change and Gully Monitoring and Maintenance projects over many years. Their willingness to provide ongoing access to gully sites for monitoring, along with their commitment to maintaining repaired sites through activities such as weed control and minor in-kind repairs, has been invaluable in building our understanding of gully rehabilitation, monitoring, and long-term maintenance.
This project is funded by permission of the Queensland Government, through the Queensland Reef Water Quality Program combining an underspend with additional funding.
Read the technical report
Watch the video
Check out the case studies
Four case studies (below ) capture the stories of landholders addressing gully erosion to restore country. They highlight what’s worked, as well as the challenges faced along the way, and the practical lessons learnt.
