Streambank stabilisation through revegetation offers several benefits:
Soil stabilisation: The roots of native plants bind the soil, reducing erosion and preventing land loss.
Water quality improvement: Vegetated streambanks act as buffers, trapping sediment and nutrient pollutants before they enter the water, thereby enhancing water quality.
Habitat restoration: Revegetation provides critical habitat and food sources for wildlife and fish, supporting biodiversity.
RIGHT: Managing Director of Strathdickie Plant Hire, Glenn Croxford led the revegetation of two kilometres of remediated streambank on Station Creek.
Restoring vegetation crucial in gully remediation
The Station Creek gully remediation site on Havilah Station, near Collinsville, was a big project, almost 2km long and covering an area of more than 25,000m².
It’s taken a lot of work to restore the vegetation, including installing more than 13km of irrigation pipe, two huge water tanks, solar pumps, planting more than 2850 native plants, and involving countless hours of labour.
The goal of this project was to fix two sections of eroding streambank. By doing this, it’s expected to prevent 15,262 tonnes of sediment from entering local waterways each year and reduce the amount of fine sediment reaching the coast by 9,920 tonnes annually.
Strathdickie Plant Hire was subcontracted to Neilly Group Engineering to complete the revegetation work. Managing Director of Strathdickie Plant Hire Glenn Croxford, said it took four and a half weeks to finish the job.
Glenn said they used native plants commonly found in the area to revegetate the site. This would help with sustainable land management, and provide shelter and habitat for native wildlife.
The revegetation process involved walking and marking out the site (a four-wheeler was only used once) to lay down 13km of irrigation pipe to minimise impact to the fragile system). Close to 3000 holes were hand-drilled with an auger, and filled with natural water crystals and fertiliser, and tube stock hand planted.
Matting, cut by hand, was placed around each plant, along with a water dripper. This was supported by a pressure equalising water system to help maintain water pressure. The system includes two solar pump stations and water tanks. Plants are watered every other day to help them establish strong root systems. Once established, this will be eased.
The site is checked twice a week, with a walk-through to inspect every plant. Glenn said the site was also checked for signs of feral animals like pigs, and other fauna like kangaroos, wallabies and birds, that might mess with the irrigation system.
If there are issues as a result of animal interference, infrastructure is fixed. Water pumps are also regularly checked to ensure they’re working properly.
Glenn emphasised the importance of keeping the water infrastructure in good shape to maintain all the hard work that went into fixing up the site. The site has been fenced to exclude stock while vegetation is being established.
Neilly Group Engineering was contracted to design the on ground works of the Station Creek remediation site. Local contractors carried out the work.
The Station Creek project focused on stabilising the streambanks at two sites to prevent land loss and minimise the downstream impacts of sediment caused by erosion.
Read more about the project here.
SITE 1
SITE 2
This project is part of the Landholders Driving Change Program funded by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
