FOCUS ON : GULLY EROSION ON GRAZING LANDS
Gully erosion covers just 0.1 per cent of the catchment area draining to the Great Barrier Reef ( GBR ) but has been shown to supply ~ 40 % of the fine sediment exported from river basins to the GBR lagoon . 1 Fine sediment from erosion increases water turbidity and reduces available light that corals and seagrasses need to thrive .
Our work alongside graziers to address this issue looks at the bigger picture by combining gully remediation with improved land management practices . The aim is to reduce runoff while increasing pasture production – a win win for the grazier and the environment !
1 Wilkinson et al ., 2015a Wilkinson , S . N ., Bartley , R ., Hairsine , P . B ., Bui , E . N ., Gregory , L . and Henderson , A . E ., 2015a . Managing gully erosion as an efficient approach to improving water quality in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon , CSIRO , Report to the Department of the Environment ( Reef Program ).
REDUCING SEDIMENT RUNOFF ON WORONA
With support from NQ Dry Tropics and the Mulloon Institute , grazier Chris LeFeuvre combined landscape rehydration with high-density grazing to rehabilitate severely eroded gullies and reinstate pasture on surrounding areas at Worona Station , Reid River .
This work was delivered through the Growing a Great Barrier Reef project , funded by the Australian Government ' s Reef Trust .
“ We put up contour banks to take water away from the head of the gullies and spread it out across the flood plain . The aim was to slow the water down and take the energy out of it , catch the sediment , infiltrate it into the soil , grow grass , and stop the erosion ," Chris said .
“ We then came through with the cattle and locked them into little sections of about 40 acres for a day . They grazed and layed down manure and urine all the way through .”
Chris LeFeuvre
Drone photo showing contour banks constructed to redirect water from a major gully system . The trenches created when the contour bank was formed have captured rainfall .
“ It ’ s amazing how things can change in one season – it ' s a phenomenal change .”
Worona Station grazier Chris LeFeuvre
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