The Stream

Cape York Water Partnership Network News

Summer 2024-2025

Munburra Track Erosion Control Project update

Advancing fire management: lessons learnt from three early dry seasons

Saving sediment, saving the Reef: the legacy of the Gully Control Project

The dirt on sediment loads

Cyclone Jasper Environmental Impacts Technical Investigation and Community Engagement Report is now available

Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements, Environmental Recovery Program – Tropical Cyclone Jasper

CYWP Annual General Meeting

ECYWQP Legacy Project

Appointment to Reef 2050 Independent Expert Panel

Eastern Cape York Water Quality Strategy

Above photos: Top: Healthy live coral cover at the outer reef (Day Reef), January 2025. Middle: A coral graveyard on the mid-shelf zone out from Cooktown (Marks Reef), January 2025Bottom: Christina collects water samples from a flood on the Annan River

Summer 2024-2025

The work continues, as the Eastern Cape York Water Quality Program (ECYWQP) begins to wrap up.

As always, the Water Partnership team and our partners on the ECYWQP have been busy over the past six months. As the Program nears the end, we've been finalising track and gully erosion control projects, producing and promoting erosion control BMPs, analysing water quality data, and reporting on the results from everyone's hard work. We've also been evaluating the achievements and lessons learned over the four years. But it's not over yet! We continue to monitor sediment loads and seagrass meadows this wet season, and will complete track erosion control works after the wet.

One year on and we continue to assess the impacts and recovery from Cyclone Jasper floods. I was happy to see some patches of seagrass south of the Bloomfield River during recent surveys with Jabalbina rangers and James Cook University. Sadly, the inshore and mid-shelf coral reefs near Cooktown remain devastated from Jasper floodwater and coral bleaching.

We are excited to have started a new study - fencing off freshwater wetlands and measuring the impacts of feral animals on biodiversity, carbon stocks and greenhouse gas emissions. This will help support the development of carbon and biodiversity market methods and ultimately, hopefully, payments to landholders for feral pig management.

In this newsletter, ECYWQP project teams provide updates from the past 6 months and reflect on what's been achieved since the program began.

We thank all our partners for your efforts and support and look forward to continuing the good work into 2025.

Dr Christina Howley

Water Quality Program Director

Cape York Water Partnership

christina@capeyorkwaterpartnership.org

The Eastern Cape York Water Quality Program is funded by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.

We acknowledge the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people on who's Country we at CYWP are based.

Above: Munburra track before (top) and after (bottom) erosion control measures

Munburra Track Erosion Control Project update

Primitive Track Erosion Control along Juunjuwarra Aboriginal Freehold and Cook Shire Council Road Reserve (Munburra) in the Starke Catchment.

Cape York Water Partnership Primitive Tracks Project

In September 2024, Cape York Water Partnership (CYWP) in partnership with Juunjuwarra Aboriginal Corporation and Traditional Owners engaged a local civil contractor to complete erosion control measures along the Munburra Track, an unmanaged road reserve (Cook Shire). The track was known for its access problems, periodic deep grading without use of Best Management Practises (BMPs), and erosion issues (gully and rill erosion in sodic dispersive soils) that polluted the Great Barrier Reef. It is primarily used as access to Country for fire, cattle and weed management, as well as access to a mining lease/s.

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A year of planning included mapping erosion hotspots, measuring baseline erosion rates with terrestrial laser scanning, conducting cultural heritage surveys, and applying for permits and permission from Queensland Government and Cook Shire Council. Locally sourced gravel came from three small ridge gravel pits. A crew camp was also established to efficiently complete the work over 10 days using an excavator, small bulldozer, and moxi (articulated dump truck).

Over five km of the nine km track were worked on using basic BMPs:

• 51 water diversion banks (Whoaboys) using 1475 tonnes of rock/gravel.

• 40 segments of rock sheeting of dispersible soils and batters using 2950 tonnes of rock.

• 5 rock chutes to reduce erosion down deep gullies, using 450 tonnes of rock.

The $80,000 project should produce significant improvement for access and reef water quality. Detailed motioning has been conducted using Terrestrial Laser Scanning before and after treatment, as well as Road Asset Condition Assessment System photo surveys before and after. These monitoring procedures will help with identifying the costs-benefits of changed practices and the cost effectiveness of erosion control measures ($/t/yr < 20 um to GBR). This important case study highlighting erosion control benefits should help Cape York organisations secure sustainable funding for primitive track maintenance in the future.

Advancing fire management: lessons learnt from three early dry seasons

South Cape York Catchment Fire Project

Over the past three years, Early Dry Season (EDS) burn activities have significantly advanced fire management practices across the diverse landscapes of eastern Cape York. These efforts have enhanced our understanding of the terrain, weather patterns, and areas requiring targeted intervention, ensuring effective Late Dry Season (LDS) fire prevention and improved water quality outcomes for the Great Barrier Reef. For the 2024 EDS we continued with the collaborative approach which has served us well in the past.

In the northern catchments of the Jeannie and Starcke Rivers, EDS operations commenced on schedule despite an extended wet season and poor accessibility, caused by Cyclone Jasper. Burns began in mid-May and concluded by mid-August, focusing heavily on roadside areas prone to arson. These strategic burns have proven crucial in halting the spread of Late Dry Season (LDS) fires, reflecting consistent priorities over successive seasons. Unplanned fires caused by arson tested the team’s EDS strategies which effectively mitigated numerous LDS fires over the drier months.

Above: Daarrba Traditional Owners conducting roadside burns to prempt arson attacks

Above: Junnjuwarra Ranger Emerson McGreen practicing mosaic burns on traditional homelands in the Starcke River catchment

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Traditional Owners (TOs) played a pivotal role in implementing these operations. They not only conducted burns but also educated new team members, demonstrating growing autonomy in fire management activities. Remarkably, despite the number of arson attacks, the northern scope saw an increase of 2,000 hectares of unburnt ground cover, signalling reduced sediment flows into waterways that connect to the Great Barrier Reef. Continued investment in capacity-building has empowered TO partners to expand their skills beyond fire management to include road and track erosion control and gully rehabilitation. These activities have sparked community discussions about land management, promoting broader water quality awareness.

The Annan catchment activities were driven by priorities set by stakeholders of the Cook Area Fire Management Group. A highlight was the successful hazard reduction burn on the 3,100-hectare Darnum grazing lease. This collaborative effort involved multiple agencies, synchronising burn schedules and sharing resources to achieve the desired outcomes of: risk reduction to life and property; capacity building for emergency response; ecosystem health and resilience. This hazard reduction burn has strengthened relationships with key stakeholders and landowners, by delivering tangible results that align with everyones aspirations. It also marks the completion of a three-year cycle initiated in 2022, showing the success of long-term planning and the strength of the relationships developed with all stakeholders.

The consistent success of EDS burns highlights their critical role in mitigating LDS fire risks. As new ranger programs and stronger governance structures emerge, TO partners are poised to take greater ownership of fire management. As we increase the skills of our local fire brigades there is greater emphasis on the proactive nature of EDS burns, unlike LDS fires, which demand extensive resources and pose higher risks to life, infrastructure, and ecosystems. This ongoing partnership model exemplifies the balance between cultural heritage, environmental conservation, and modern land management strategies which are driven by the local eastern Cape York community.

Saving sediment, saving the Reef: the legacy of the Gully Control Project

South Cape York Catchments Gully Project

Three years of gully control projects funded by GBRF have concluded. A total of six gullies were stabilised within the Annan and Endeavour River catchments. In total, 1000 tonnes per year of fine sediment (<20 um) was prevented from reaching the Great Barrier Reef, at an average program cost of $2,000 per tonne (planning, construction, maintenance, monitoring, reporting). Annan catchment anthropogenic fine sediment loads were reduced by 2.2% based on empirical load estimates from continuous measurements recorded at the Annan River Bridge. (2014-2024 average sediment load= 90,000 t/yr (< 20 um); estimated anthropogenic load= 45,000 t/yr).

Above: Large gully control works on Caloola Station before rock treatment

Above: After rock treatment, but before re-vegetation

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Gully works were tested by Cyclone Jasper, which brought 1025 mm of rainfall in seven days and 2405 mm for the whole of 2024. All previously completed gullies treated with rock survived the cyclone with minimal damage. However, one unfinished gully treated with organics, grass and polymer required moderate repairs to eroded batters. Follow-up maintenance was required to install rock batter chutes and reapply organic compost, grass seeding and surface polymer. Many thanks to SCYC staff and Indigenous Ranger teams that worked under the heat of the build-up. These results demonstrated that where early season coastal rainfall or intense thunderstorms are probable, rock treatment is a far more resistant solution for long-term protection.

The project has increased capacity for land management and earthmoving contractors in the region. It also sparked interest in continuing road gully management with the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) and Cook Shire Council. The project has helped all involved learn from practical experience what works and what doesn’t when it comes to gully control. The techniques and lessons learned during the project will serve as a model for future gully remediation efforts in the region. These projects were a partnership between private landowners, Bulgun Warra Traditional Owners, a local contractor with local Indigenous employees (Scott Earthmoving Group), and SCYC.

Above top: Annan River flood plume inundates Walker Bay seagrass meadows and Dawson ReefAbove bottom: Jeff Shellberg (CYWP) and Geoff Carlin (CSIRO) install ADCP and EXO2 sediment load monitoring equipment at the new permanent gauge site on the Endeavour wharf, October 2024

The dirt on sediment loads

Cape York Water Partnership Water Quality Monitoring project

Anyone in Cape York Peninsula during the wet season knows that the rivers turn brown after a big rain. Through the ECYWQP, Cape York Water Partnership, Yuku Baja Muliku rangers, and CSIRO have been working hard to measure just how much dirt (fine sediment) and freshwater is flowing out of the Annan and Endeavour river estuaries towards coastal seagrass meadows and coral reefs. Continuous turbidity and river velocity data are collected every 10 minutes from gauges in the estuaries. This data is then correlated to the data collected by boat on fine sediment concentrations and water discharge (volume).

How much dirt?

The monitoring results indicate that the loads of fine sediment flowing out of the Annan/Endeavour Rivers to the GBR lagoon during flood conditions are up to two times greater than State Paddock to Reef (P2R) models are predicting. On average 170,000 tonnes/year of fine sediment (< 20 um) flowed out of the Annan and Endeavour estuaries between 2015 and 2024. This compares to the earlier P2R 2022 modelled estimate of 81,000 t/yr for the two rivers combined (1986–2014). If Cyclone Jasper is excluded, then the average sediment load would be 110,000 t/yr, still 1.4 times higher than earlier estimates.

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Why are the models low?

CYWP data on sediment concentrations and turbidity in the lower rivers are much higher than assumed in past models calibrated using limited field data. The Annan/Endeavour models in the past also incorrectly assumed that hillslope erosion dominated sediment input. In reality, higher sediment concentrations are coming from widespread gully erosion, small stream banks, and road and track erosion. Wildfire and feral animals (pigs/cattle) impacts are also not considered in the models currently. Climate variability also plays a role.

Sediment Targets

Accurate sediment load measurements for Cape York rivers are important to guide State and Federal investments and targets for sediment load reduction from catchment management activities to protect the Great Barrier Reef. It is also important to know whether the loads are actually changing (for better or worse). Targets are currently decided based on modelled (computer generated) estimates of sediment loads, and assumptions on the percentage (%) of these loads caused by past and current human land use disturbances.

CYWP and our partners look forward to working with the State Paddock to Reef team to help improve the Annan/Endeavour models and WQ targets to match past and current conditions on the ground.

Cedar Bay landslide by air

Cyclone Jasper Environmental Impacts Technical Investigation and Community Engagement Report is now available

Cape York Water Partnership

In 2024 Cape York Water Partnership were contracted by Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (DETSI) to identify priority areas and actions for environmental recovery following the devastating impacts of Cyclone Jasper to south-eastern Cape York communities. The report was produced from the review of technical data collected and provided from local scientists and organisations, and informed by extensive community engagement, and showed that the community priorities closely aligned with the scientific priorities. It will be used by DETSI to inform the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) for Cyclone Jasper environmental projects.

View the report here.

Not all of these priorities will be supported through the DRFA funding, so CYWP will monitor and share other relevant funding opportunities as they arise. The following article, provided by DETSI, provides more information on the environment recovery funding, with most funding rounds yet to be announced.

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It has been wonderful to see community members and groups beginning their own projects, and planning for future ones. CYWP will collaborate with other organisations this year to conduct environmental DNA (eDNA) surveys of rivers within the Rossville region, to test for saltwater crocodile presence and vertebrate diversity.

We are extremely grateful to everyone who contributed their valuable time, knowledge and experiences to this report. A copy of the report can be found on the Cape York Water Partnership website, along with the post Jasper helicopter survey video and a science seminar video on the environmental impacts of Jasper.

Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements, Environmental Recovery Program – Tropical Cyclone Jasper

(Associated rainfall and flooding 13-28 Dec 2023)

An update from Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation

The Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (DETSI) has been successful in securing $42.98 Million joint State-Commonwealth funding through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) Environmental Recovery Program (ERP) for environmental recovery activities post the Tropical Cyclone (TC) Jasper event (associated rainfall and flooding 13-28 Dec 2023). The ERP aims to support environmental and cultural heritage stewards and communities that have been significantly impacted by Tropical Cyclone Jasper that have been significantly impacted by Tropical Cyclone Jasper and is jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland governments.

Activities funded through the ERP must be located within the following activated areas:

Cairns Regional Council

Cassowary Coast Regional Council

Cook Shire Council

Douglas Shire Council

Hope Vale Aboriginal Shire Council

Mareeba Shire Council

Tablelands Regional Council

Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire Council

Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council

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The ERP has been developed to provide extraordinary disaster assistance across the following Sub-programs for a range of activities including:

A. Environmental Investigations – to provide an understanding of the extent of environmental impacts across the region including surveys, research and stakeholder engagement. The outcomes of these investigations will enable recovery decisions to be made using the best available knowledge.

B. Healthy Waters and Clean Up – to support riverine and coastal recovery activities such as bank stabilisation, coastal beach nourishment and revegetation, as well as local conservation and clean-up activities such as removal and disposal of event-related debris from natural assets and support for environmental conservation activities to rehabilitate natural landscapes.

C. Biodiversity and Invasive Species Recovery – to support conservation projects that assist recovery of priority and threatened species, and to address pest and weed challenges as a result of the severe weather event.

D. National Park recovery – activities on park to support recovery from severe weather damage

E. Environmental and Cultural Asset Steward support – includes several sub-projects to support recovery on private protected areas, works on unallocated State land and World Heritage stewardship support; as well as the development of a Cultural Steward support program for First Nations groups to manage environmental recovery activities on country.

Eligible recipients will vary between Sub-programs, with groups including First Nations corporations and Indigenous Land and Sea Rangers, Natural Resource Management (NRM) bodies, River Improvement Trusts, conservation groups, Local and State Government, Private Protected Areas landholders, and tertiary education institutions.

The funding was announced by the Commonwealth early May 2024 and an agreement between the State and Commonwealth on the delivery guidelines for the ERP was finalised late September 2024 to approve the Program to begin. The ERP has a 3-year implementation period from 30 June 2024 to 30 June 2027.

Activities under the environmental investigations (Sub-program A) are now currently underway, which will inform the remaining Sub-programs. The environmental investigations comprise a variety of activities including community consultation to identify impacts that have affected the community, technical assessments (such as aerial imagery and LiDAR capture, spatial analysis to identify impacted areas and assets, and preparation of a riverine and floodplain management strategy to identify effective recovery options), and monitoring and research projects focussing on threatened species and supporting habitat. Activities under the environmental investigations sub-program are scheduled to be finalised by 30 June 2025.

Sub-program activities will be managed through either procurement or grant programs, are currently under development with many to be released early in the new year.

Further details on each of these sub-programs and when they will be released will be provided on DETSI website early in 2025.

Above: Cape York Water Partnership current management committee. From left - Gary Meredith (Deputy Chair), Alberta Hornsby (Chair), Christina Howley (Secretary) and Sue Marsh (Treasurer).

CYWP Annual General Meeting

Tuesday 11 February, arrive 5:15pm

5:30-6:30 meeting

6:30 – 7:30 dinner

Nature’s Powerhouse, Cooktown

Review of 2024 Achievements and Projects Underway for 2025
Discussion about Future Focus for CYWP as the ECYWQP comes to an end
Recognition of our Management Committee and Elections for 2025 Committee
After meeting catered dinner.

RSVP is essential for catering purposes. Please also advise of any dietary requirement. Contact Barb Rosendale barb@capeyorkwaterpartnership.org

Above: ECYWQP partners and technical experts at the second legacy workshop in Cooktown, October 2024

ECYWQP Legacy Project

Cape York Water Partnership

Over the past 18 months, ECYWQP partners have been reviewing the work of the program and working on a number of reports which will provide direction to the partners for future projects and priorities.

Our Legacy Project will produce four reports:

Lessons Learnt report looks in to machinations of the ECYWQP. It presents key learnings about the design of the program, how the partnerships worked, and how the projects were implemented and supported.
ECYWQP Integration Strategy provides strategies for how the results of the projects and the overall program could be embedded to inform policy, decision-making and future programs
ECYWQP Priorities Report recommends where future investments and projects should focus to get the best results for improved water quality in eastern Cape York
The Future Funding report gives insights into funding that is, or will become, available to support future water quality related projects.

The reports will be finalised by the end of May.

Appointment to Reef 2050 Independent Expert Panel

Cape York Water Partnership's Program Director, Dr Christina Howley was recently appointed to the Reef 2050 Independent Expert Panel (IEP).

The IEP advise the Federal and State Ministers for the Environment on policy and management decisions relating to the Great Barrier Reef.

Christina will bring her knowledge of Cape York environmental issues directly to the people who are making decisions that influence our region.

Read the article here.

Eastern Cape York Water Quality Strategy

Cape York Water Partnership (CYWP) has been contracted by Cape York Natural Resource Management to write a Water Quality Strategy for eastern Cape York as part of the Federal Government’s Landscape Repair Program (LRP).

As part of the LRP, the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water have requested that NRM regions along the Great Barrier Reef coast produces a Water Quality Strategy to guide future investments. Cape York is usually considered a low priority for government investments in water quality protection, and activities funded are not always aligned with what locals believe should be priorities for Cape York. Therefore, we hope by producing a Water Quality Strategy for this region, Cape York scientists, Traditional Owners, and land managers will have a direct opportunity to guide future investments in catchment management activities.

Find out more here.

The Eastern Cape York Water Quality Program is funded by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.

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