NQ Dry Tropics’ Landholders Driving Change Senior Field Officer Brendan Smith said the hydraulic capacity of each flow diversion bank was assessed individually. He said through the Australian Government Reef Trust-funded Point Source Sediment Management in the Burdekin Dry Tropics project, NQ Dry Tropics was working with landholders including Mr Watts, to reduce sediment runoff by trialling a range of cost-effective gully remediation techniques.“ The work that has been completed on Sonoma Station is an excellent example of what graziers can do to make a gully productive again,” Mr Smith said.
“ The main benefit is that we’ ve stopped water running down a gully and therefore have stopped sediment going out to the Great Barrier Reef- and have turned unproductive land into a productive landscape.“ The work will be used as a site for showcasing and trialling innovative techniques, to facilitate engagement with local landholders,“ Mr Smith said. Other works being trialled by Mr Watts includes the installation of whoa boys, silt trap banks, a silt trap dam and exclusion fencing. For further information on gully remediation, contact our office on 4799 3500.
Above:( from left) Shane Watts, of Sonoma Station, Landholders Driving Change Senior Grazing Support Officer Brendan Smith and NQ Dry Tropics Soil Conservation Officer Neil Cupples pictured at one of the diversion banks.
P32 | ISSUE 1, April, 2018