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Projects and partnerships aimed at reducing and managing gully erosion in the Burdekin.
Gully erosion in the Burdekin catchment, particularly in the Upper Burdekin and Bowen sub-catchments, poses a significant environmental challenge.
Gullies are created by flowing water and leads to the rapid removal of soil from the landscape, affecting local water quality.
The Burdekin catchment stands out as the largest contributor of anthropogenic fine sediment among the 35 eastern catchments flowing into the Great Barrier Reef.
Historically, it has delivered annually an astounding average of 3.3 million tonnes of sediment, more than double the amount produced by any other catchment.
NQ Dry Tropics is working with the whole community — landholders, scientists, engineers and others — to strengthen our knowledge of the causes of erosion and to develop affordable techniques to help prevent it or tackle the task of repairing it. Sedimentation degrades water quality in local waterways and threatens the health of the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem.
Increased sediment loads can smother coral reefs and reduce light penetration, vital for photosynthetic organisms.
Addressing gully erosion improves marine environments. By repairing an eroding gully, the sediment delivered by that gully is removed from the system.
By implementing effective management strategies it is possible to mitigate the amount of sediment reaching the Great Barrier Reef lagoon, helping to preserve the natural beauty, ecological integrity and productivity of the region.
“Badlands” at Mt Wickham Station before and after intervention.
Erosion can OCCUR to:
No two gullies are the same. Different approaches are needed to manage different types of erosion in different soil types in different situations.
When reparing gullies and for hillslope and streambank eroision, first actions are to control stock access and restore vegetation cover.
Gully management involves restoring vegetation cover and controlling upslope runoff. This leads to improved soil structure, increased infiltration, sediment trapped before it reaches streams and eventually the development of new topsoil.
This is the difference a Natural Resource Management group can make in partnership with Neilly Group Engineering. One of two large-scale gullies repaired on Glen Bowen Station, it shows a moonscape before work and a safe, productive area, delivering no sediment to local waterways after the work.
Understanding the erosion processes is key to implementing targeted, effective management strategies. NQ Dry Tropics addresses large-scale gully remediation with technical experts and engineering solutions and small erosion features by providing cost-effective designs for landholders.
Gully remediation is challenging due to the vast, sparsely populated landscape, limited locally-available services, and a climate that features intense rainfall during the wet season (November to April), with an average annual rainfall of 715mm and significant year-to-year variability.
The narrow window for large-scale earthworks and limited water availability for revegetation add to the complexity. Each gully requires a tailored remediation plan.
The goal of these efforts is to reduce sediment runoff, enhance land condition, and support sustainable land management practices across the Burdekin catchment.
NQ Dry Tropics, in collaboration, has carried out several large-scale gully and streambank remediation projects such as this site on Station Creek, on Havilah Station and worked with landholders to remediate small erosion features.
