CONTENTS
BBB Water Quality Program Overview 4 BBB Catchment 5 Landscape Remediation 6 Big effort, big impact: Healing the banks of Station Creek 6 Belmore Downs 8 Thorough assessments guide technical design process 8 Gully Maintenance 9 Gully maintenance at Havilah: Testing biodegradable mesh 9 Erosion control 10 Weetalaba landscape rehydration: intense rain storm leaads to maintenance 10 Small-scale gullies 11 Turning the tide: Erosion control on sodic soils 11 Halting a 50-year-old gully 14
Grazing Services 15 Boosting beef production and resilience to dry spells 16 Smarter grazing, healthier land 17 Improving grazing management at Flagstone Station 17 Win-win for the land and the Bowen River 19 Land in good hands: Building a future-ready grazing community 20 Grazing systems 22 Soil health 24 Herd management and livestock nutrition 25 Weed management 26 Property mapping 28 Landscape repair 29
Landscape Remediation 31 Land managers 31 NQ Gas – Worley Services 31 Strathmore – NQ Gas gully site: Working together to tackle erosion 32 Water Quality Sampling and Monitoring 33 Local monitoring, global impact: Shining at the SETAC conference 34 Tracking sediment, shaping solutions: Graziers in action 35 Governance 36
Front cover image: Pictured at Station Creek streambank remediation site from left, NQ Dry Tropics NRM Project Manager Helen McIntosh, Strathdickie Plant Hire Managing Director Glenn Croxford, Neilly Group Principal Environmental Engineer James Allen, NQ Dry Tropics Civil Works Coordinator Damian Flintham, Brad McDonald( from Colls Earthmoving, the local company contracted to carry out earthworks, including installing wooden piles), and Neilly Group Engineering Project Implementation Coordinator John Drysdale.
BBB Water Quality Program Overview
The five-year Bowen, Broken, and Bogie( BBB) Water Quality Program focused on reducing fine sediment runoff from the Bowen, Broken, and Bogie catchments— major sources of sediment impacting the Great Barrier Reef. Funded by the Reef Trust Partnership( RTP), the program aimed to meet Reef 2050 WQIP targets and improve water quality.
As part of the Water Quality Program, NQ Dry Tropics received $ 22.7 million across two projects( 2020 – 2025), focusing on:
• Landscape Remediation( gully and streambank repair),
• Grazing Services( sustainable practices),
• Landholder Engagement( including non-grazing properties).
The projects were built on Landholders Driving Change( LDC) and Burdekin Major Integrated Project( BMIP) successes, using a participatory approach and tracking outcomes via the Paddock to Reef Program. Governance was provided to the Foundation’ s Steering Committee and Technical Advisory Group, with input from the LDC Project Panel.
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