‘WOAH BOY’ – BALNGGARRAWARRA MELSONBY RANGERS REDUCING SEDIMENT IMPACT

Balnggarrawarra Melsonby Rangers are reducing sediment flows to the Great Barrier Reef from the Normanby River

^{Photo: © Queensland Museum, Gary Cranitch}

^{Story created in collaboration with Balnggarrawarra Melsonby Traditional Owners.}

Balnggarrawarra Melsonby Traditional Owners have strong cultural connections with their wetlands, creeks and the Normanby River in southeastern Cape York Peninsula. Their water is important for hunting and fishing, drinking and cultural purposes. The Balnggarrawarra Melsonby Rangers have been working for years to improve the water quality of their waterways through fire management, weed and feral animal management – and most importantly – through erosion control.

Melsonby Rangers — Balnggarrawarra Rangers worked with the Department of Environment and Science to conduct a wetland assessments before and after erosion control works. Image credit: Balnggarrawarra Rangers

The project had three focus areas: The first was wetland rehabilitation earthworks to remove sediment and sand that choked a wetland following a cyclone in 2018. The rangers also implemented best management practices to install, upgrade and maintain erosion control structures on Melsonby Station access tracks. These erosion and sediment control efforts were complemented with fire management, including controlled burns to reduce the risk of wildfires.

Balnggarrwarra Rangers, along with local scientist Jeff Shellberg, install data loggers in the Normanby River to monitor water quality. Image credit: Balnggarrawarra Rangers

The Balnggarrawarra Melsonby Ranger team have reported great success from their project. Their early dry season burning program reduced the risk of late season wildfire across their Country. A wetland assessment was followed by rehabilitation earthworks and revegetation during the wet season. Based on best practice advice on managing track erosion, the team also installed erosion control features such as ‘woah boys’ (an instalment to divert water off tracks without causing erosion while allowing vehicles to cross over them) and reshaped and rock lined creek crossings.

Overall, this work is reducing erosion and the impacts of sediment on their wetlands and creeks, the Normanby River, and the Great Barrier Reef.