{"id":905336,"date":"2026-09-25T19:56:55","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:56:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/905336\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T19:56:55","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:56:55","slug":"mary-river-proves-australias-most-degraded-catchments-can-be-restored","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/905336\/","title":{"rendered":"Mary River proves Australia’s most degraded catchments can be restored"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the 1980s, Peter and Elke Watson stood out when, instead of cutting down trees, they started planting thousands of them on their land beside south-east Queensland’s degraded Mary River.<\/p>\n

People were puzzled when they fenced cattle off erosion-prone river and creek banks, installing off-stream water troughs to stop cows fouling waterways with their excrement.<\/p>\n

“We were considered the weird greenies \u2026 there were hardly any trees here,” Ms Watson recalled.<\/p>\n

\"Black<\/p>\n

The Watsons have carefully considered how they manage their dairy. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)<\/p>\n

The dairy farmers at Cambroon, near Kenilworth in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, joined the frontline of a quiet revolution in attitudes, working to repair past mistakes and restore the environment.<\/p>\n

When the Watsons attended the first management meeting of the Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee (MRCCC) 31 years ago, the 9,595-square-kilometre catchment was in strife.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The creek bank next door to the Gilberts is severely eroded. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)<\/p>\n

“The Mary was described, I think it was post-1990, as one of the most degraded rivers on the east coast of Australia,” MRCCC chairman Ian Mackay said.<\/p>\n

During floods, the 310-kilometre-long river churns brown with soil and nutrients washed in from its catchment, originating in the Conondale range.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The flood plume from the Mary River heading into the Great Sandy Strait at River Heads, February 2022. (Supplied: Jess Dean, MRCCC)<\/p>\n

It discharges into the Great Sandy Strait, the southernmost section of the world-heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef.<\/p>\n

In 2022, during the second-worst flood on record, plumes of sediment smothered seagrass meadows vital to fish, turtles and dugongs.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

The flood sediment plume looking east from Hervey Bay, 2022. (Supplied: Jess Dean, MRCCC)<\/p>\n

An estimated 66 per cent of it came from stream bank erosion; hundreds of hectares of farmland were sliced away.<\/p>\n

The MRCCC has built relationships with landholders on more than 850 projects to improve riparian and water health.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Ian Mackay is excited by the success of the pile fields. (ABC News: Cameron Lang)<\/p>\n

New pile field technology has transformed eroded stream banks that the MRCCC once feared could not be fixed.<\/p>\n

“We just really didn’t know what to do with bad bits like this, and the pile field technology has changed all of that, and it’s so exciting,” Mr Mackay said.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

MRCCC officers check erosion at the Watsons after a flood in 2013. (Supplied: Mary River Catchmen Coordinating Committee)<\/p>\n

The Watsons lost 4 hectares of land to one flood in 2013.<\/p>\n

They have one of the 16 pile fields installed in the catchment’s most challenging sites, with help from the MRCCC, the Burnett Mary Regional Group and Alluvium Consulting.<\/p>\n

\"Rows<\/p>\n

The Watsons’ eroded riverbank was repaired with a pile field project. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)<\/p>\n

Eroded creeks and riverbanks have been reshaped, with rows of untreated hardwood poles driven into the earth and native vegetation replanted.<\/p>\n

Three years ago, the worst section of Vern and Maxine Gilbert’s creek bank at Kidaman Creek looked more like the cliff their neighbour is still dealing with.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

The MRCCC’s Becky Watson looking at Maxine and Vern Gilbert’s neighbour’s erosion. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)<\/p>\n

A pile field has stopped them losing land with every flood.<\/p>\n

“It’s really improved to no end. Floods don’t worry us like they were,” Mr Gilbert said.<\/p>\n

The MRCCC’s Becky Watson said the pile fields were preventing 27,000 tonnes a year of fine sediment from reaching the reef.<\/p>\n

“It’s a huge contribution to water quality,” Ms Watson said.\"A<\/p>\n

Graziers Leslie and Craig Hanson volunteer for the MRCCC’s Waterwatch program. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)<\/p>\n

To help the MRCCC keep track of progress, volunteers in a Waterwatch program regularly test water for temperature, pH, salinity, E.coli, dissolved oxygen and turbidity.<\/p>\n

The federal and Queensland governments have committed $2 billion to improving reef water quality between 2014 and 2031.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Before and after erosion control work at Kenilworth to tackle sediment run-off. (Supplied: Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee)<\/p>\n

Restoration extends underwater<\/p>\n

The catchment is home to the vulnerable Australian lungfish, critically endangered white-throated snapping turtle, bum-breathing Mary River turtle and the endangered Mary River cod.<\/p>\n

In 2009, federal environment minister Peter Garrett scuttled the controversial Traveston Crossing dam proposal to save their habitat.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

An endangered Mary River cod using a “cod-log”. (Supplied: Nathaniel Larsen, MRCCC)<\/p>\n

Restoring Mary River cod stocks is a priority as they were fished to near extinction.<\/p>\n

To protect the fish and their eggs during breeding season, line fishing is banned between August and October upstream of Gympie.<\/p>\n

Cod logs\"A<\/p>\n

Nathaniel Larsen used to work creating habitat for birds and mammals. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)<\/p>\n

The MRCCC’s Nathaniel Larsen pioneered the use of hollow tree trunks to provide habitat for the endangered cod.<\/p>\n

Kabi Kabi and Jinibara rangers are helping him install ethically sourced “cod logs” as nesting sites.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Rolling a cod log downstream to fix it in place for habitat. (ABC News: Cameron Lang)<\/p>\n

Collaborating with Griffith University, Mr Larsen was elated when they filmed proof that the fish would lay their eggs in them.<\/p>\n

“We were stoked. It was spectacular,” he said.\"A<\/p>\n

This video of a male Mary River cod guarding eggs was exciting for researchers. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)<\/p>\n

Work continues<\/p>\n

Bulk water authority Seqwater has become a major financial backer to improve the quality of drinking water its treatment plants pump from the river.<\/p>\n

It is tackling invasive madeira and cat’s claw creeper vines, which strangle and kill trees along waterways.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Julian O’Mara says Seqwater has committed another $9 million to the MRCCC. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)<\/p>\n

As part of the Upper Mary Rivercare program, Seqwater is working with the MRCCC and dairy farmers to upgrade their effluent systems, manage nutrient and sediment run-off and restore riparian corridors.<\/p>\n

The goal is to stop nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and E. coli flowing into the river and onto the southern barrier reef.<\/p>\n

“There’s a whole lot of momentum that’s gaining as people learn and hear about others around them who have been involved in the program,” MRCCC project officer Alana Ebert said.<\/p>\n

\"Brown<\/p>\n

The Watsons collect effluent from their dairy and spray it on the paddocks. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)<\/p>\n

Effluent upgrades<\/p>\n

Twice a day, the Watsons collect hundreds of litres of effluent including spilt milk, faeces, urine and wash-down water from their dairy.<\/p>\n

This once-wasted resource helps reduce fertiliser bills; their dairy manager sprays the effluent back onto pasture, which is rested for several weeks.<\/p>\n

A wetland on the farm is being restored to filter out excess nutrients.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Brad Wedlock has overseen projects that are making a big impact. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)<\/p>\n

MRCCC operations manager Brad Wedlock said the multi-pronged approach had been incredibly effective.<\/p>\n

“We could see through a couple of flood events that the nutrients from up there to down here dropped by 1,000-fold,” Mr Wedlock said.<\/p>\n

Peter and Elke Watson say their work on catchment care has helped their business survive floods, droughts, dairy deregulation and the devastating impacts of $1-per-litre supermarket milk.<\/p>\n

\"Four<\/p>\n

Peter and Elke Watson inspect their trees with Brad Wedlock and Alana Ebert. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)<\/p>\n

“We went through some of those really tough times and pride ourselves on having some of the lowest pasture costs in the dairy industry,” Ms Watson said.<\/p>\n

“It’s also created an environment that you’re happy to work in and live in,” Mr Watson said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Trees stabilize creek banks and cool the water. (ABC News: Cameron Lang)<\/p>\n

MRCCC chairman Ian Mackay said that decades of work lie ahead, but he hoped that progress in the catchment would inspire other country communities.<\/p>\n

“It’s a win-win-win on so many different fronts,” Mr Mackay said.<\/p>\n

“Fish breeding down in the estuary, bank stabilisation, water quality, it’s endless.”<\/p>\n

Watch ABC TV’s Landline at 12:30pm AEST on Sunday or stream anytime on ABC iview<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the 1980s, Peter and Elke Watson stood out when, instead of cutting down trees, they started planting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":905337,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[6634,64,63,473293,75,17710,31367,473291,44,449276,32540,11942,473292],"class_list":["post-905336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-agriculture","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cod-logs","tag-environment","tag-erosion","tag-farm","tag-mary-river-catchment-coordinating-committee","tag-news","tag-river-restoration","tag-sediment","tag-sunshine-coast","tag-water-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=905336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/905337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=905336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=905336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=905336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}