The Moreton Bay region is the apple of South East Queensland’s eye but the 294 km of coastline is under threat from the impacts of erosion and sediment.

A recent segment on ABC highlighted the significant impact of urban runoff from construction sites upstream in Brisbane on the Bay, as well as the effects of frequent flooding events on the delicate ecosystem of Moreton Bay.

Our Chief Science & Sustainability Officer, Dr Andrew O’Neill spoke with the ABC and shared how Healthy Land & Water’s programs are helping address these challenges and supporting ongoing compliance efforts to protect this important waterway.

How erosion is impacting Moreton Bay

It may be surprising to learn that sediment and silt from eroded agricultural land and construction sites hundreds of kilometres upstream ends up in Moreton Bay.

While erosion is a natural occurring process, activities including infrastructure development, storm surges and flooding can accelerate this process, sending large amounts of sediment and silt down waterways and into the Bay.

This activity can disrupt delicate ecosystems, damaging aquatic plants, and carrying harmful pollutants, also contributing to the risk of flooding upstream.
Moreton Bay is particularly vulnerable with the once-sandy sea floor now increasingly covered in mud, harming marine life and water quality.

Healthy Land & Water’s role in protecting the Bay

For over 24 years, Healthy Land & Water has been monitoring the health of SEQ waterways. We are actively addressing these erosion issues through several programs including our Water by Design initiative to protect the beautiful and biodiverse region of SEQ. The program is reducing the impact of sediment, nutrient, and litter pollution on waterways and communities in urban areas by delivering best practice knowledge regarding erosion and sediment control (ESC) and urban stormwater (USW).

Through our Erosion and Sediment Control (ESC) program, funded through the Queensland Government’s Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (DETSI), Healthy Land & Water also conduct regular audits of construction sites. Results from these audits have uncovered that 50,000 dump trucks worth of pollutants enter our waterways each year, having a significant impact on areas like Moreton Bay and downstream marine environments.

It's not all bad news though with our data showing that erosion and sediment controls are being taken more seriously on construction sites.

"While full compliance appears appallingly low at 15%, the really important part to look at is the partial compliance," Dr Andrew O’Neill says.

“Some great results are starting to be achieved with partial compliance nearly doubling. It lifted from just 21% in 2013 to 40% in 2022”.

In the current system, erosion and sediment control rules are set by state government but local councils enforce them. This brings its own layer of confusion with some developers willing to risk getting caught rather than complying with the full ESC requirements.

The more audits Healthy Land & Water can implement, the more awareness there is of the issue with an aim to see the reduction of soil runoff from building sites.

Fixing it at the source

In addition to this educational work, Healthy Land & Water is also taking proactive measures upstream to stop erosion at its source.

Through our Healthy Catchments Program, our teams are working with landholders in areas such as the Upper Warrill, Upper Bremer, and Upper Laidley catchments to implement erosion control practices to reduce sediment flow into local waterways.

This work provides many benefits including:

• Reducing flooding risks.
• Protecting productive agricultural land.
• Increasing bank stabilisation.
• Increasing rain infiltration.
• Reducing surface runoff.
• Providing a stable area for sediment deposition.
• Providing improved environmental outcomes for landholders.

These efforts are critical to ensuring the long-term health of this ecosystem.

Ongoing monitoring and training

Healthy Land & Water continue to monitor the health of SEQ waterways through our Report Card program as well as delivering ongoing training to councils and the construction industry through our ESC program.

Hear the full story from ABC News below.

Read the article: Along the Queensland coast, where the river meets the ocean, a once sandy sea floor is now covered in mud