The future of Moreton Bay looks brighter and healthier after Healthy Land & Water secured funding to reduce the amount of mud and soil entering the renowned marine park.

Recently, the Queensland Government announced it had allocated $1.4 million over three years to Healthy Land & Water’s Healthy Catchments program, which is responsible for on-ground projects that improve the resilience and health of South East Queensland’s waterways.

Recently the QLD Government announced it had allocated $1.4 million over three years to Healthy Land & Water's Healthy Catchments Program, which is responsible for on-gound projects that improve the resilience and health of South East Queensland's waterways. 

The money will be used to fund land and waterway rehabilitation projects in the Lockyer and Bremer catchments, which are highly susceptible to erosion during intense rainfall events and are responsible for up to 80 percent of the mud and soil pollution in Moreton Bay.

During the catastrophic South East Queensland floods in 2011 and 2013, large sections of Laidley Creek in the Lockyer Valley were torn apart by raging floodwaters.

Riverbanks were washed away, and valuable topsoil flowed into the Brisbane River and ended up in Moreton Bay, where it smothered sea grasses and other important marine habitats.

Land and waterway rehabilitation projects' aim

The rehabilitation projects will aim to reduce pressure on Moreton Bay Marine Park, which is Queensland’s most popular park with over 12 million annual visits and is home to internationally recognised wetlands, rich mangrove and seagrass habitats, iconic dugongs, and turtle species.

To build resilience in the waterways, pile drives (short stumps dug into the creek bed) will be installed to reduce the flow of water and the movement of mud and soil downstream.

Native vegetation will also be planted along riverbanks to stabilise the edge of the waterways and reduce the riverbank’s susceptibility to erosion when the catchments are inundated with water.

The rehabilitation work will complement similar Healthy Catchment projects already underway in the region.

Healthy Catchments

The Healthy Catchments program was first launched in 2008 and has produced significant results for the environment in the past 10 years, including when floodwater caused by Cyclone Debbie inundated the Lockyer Valley in March 2017.

Sections of Laidley Creek previously rehabilitated as part of the Healthy Catchments program withstood the brunt of the floodwater and suffered only minor damage, and more mud and soil than expected were prevented from entering the waterway.

Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch said the new funding showcases the state government’s commitment to improving the health of South East Queensland’s waterways.

“The program will focus on the Lockyer and Bremer catchments to address the main source of sediment (mud and soil) entering waterways and reaching Moreton Bay.

“Two-thirds of sediment entering our rivers and Moreton Bay occurs through erosion in our catchments during intense rainfall events.

“This contributes disproportionately to the sediment or ‘mud’ loads polluting our waterways and Moreton Bay, while the level of nutrients and pesticides in the mud also threatens the environmental health of these areas.

Healthy Land & Water Chairman Stephen Robertson said the organisation was proud to work with the Queensland Government and community groups to curb sediment pollution in south-east Queensland waterways.

“We have invested significant time and money into the Healthy Catchments Program because the work being done on the ground is crucial for the overall strength of riverbanks and the health of our catchments,” Mr Robertson said.

“The breakdown of riverbanks causes more than 50,000 dump trucks worth of sediment entering the region’s waterways each year, wreaking a heavy toll on marine habitats and the marine life that relies upon them.”