Quantifying the effectiveness of gully rehabilitation on water quality: Results from demonstration sites in the Burdekin

Gully erosion contributes ~40% of the excess fine sediment to the Great Barrier Reef from just ~0.1% of the catchment area, however, the approaches for reducing this erosion source were not well tested in the Burdekin Region. This study evaluated the water quality improvements following the implementation of a range of gully remediation options. The selection and design of sites were managed by NQ Dry Tropics as part of the Landholders Driving Change (LDC) Program. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the remediation in terms of improved vegetation, terrain and water quality response was undertaken by a collaborative team from the CSIRO and Queensland Government.

The monitoring sites allowed the LDC Program to (i) evaluate the performance of the remediation options and provide quantitative evidence of which techniques improved land condition and water quality; (ii) improve our understanding of erosion and remediation processes to support future site selection and the likely effectiveness of treatments (relative to other options); and (iii) help engage local landholders and provide accessible field sites, that were collecting real-time data, to demonstrate the benefits of the remediation efforts. The benefits of this multiple- partnership approach were that specialist groups were bought together to tackle previously intractable problems.