NESP TWQ Round 2 - Project 2.1.4 - Demonstration and evaluation of gully remediation on downstream water quality and agricultural production in GBR rangelands

This project established baseline sites for evaluating the cost, effectiveness and biophysical processes of gully remediation options in the Burdekin Region. Sub-surface soil erosion is the major source of anthropogenic sediment delivered to the Great Barrier Reef and must be addressed to help meet Reef water quality targets. The Reef Trust Gully Erosion Control Programme is the first to focus on gully remediation. This study evaluated the impact of gully remediation options to underpin future investor, stakeholder and public confidence in the impact of erosion control programmes on

1. water quality
2. project cost-effectiveness and
3. agricultural production.

This project established 5 paired Control/Treatment gully sites on commercial grazing properties in the Bowen, Upper Burdekin catchments. These sites compared a range of gully erosion mitigation interventions (treatments) against nearby control gullies. At each site the erosion rates of the gully and the quality of the water runoff was monitored to establish the effectiveness of each treatment.

The monitoring of these sites was extended as part of NESP TWQ Project 5.9 to better evaluate the effectiveness of the treatments over a longer period of time.

The reports for this project can be found at the NESP TWQ Project 2.1.4 Hub website.