Millions flow for three Daintree creek restoration projects
Shire environment
About $2.7m will be spent on helping restore a trio of Daintree-region creeks following flooding during March and April.
Sections of Martins Creek, Cassowary Creek and Saltwater Creek, which feed into the Daintree River, will be upgraded as part of the restoration effort funded by the joint Federal and State Government Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
Far North Queensland land management organisation Terrain NRM, landholders, Douglas Shire Council, Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation and engineers Neilly Group will work together on the project.
Terrain NRM project manager Max Brownlow said work would take place at a series of erosion sites along an about 1.2km section of Martins Creek.
Multiple rows of wood piles will be driven up to 7m into the ground to help secure the creek banks, which have severely eroded since Tropical Cyclone Jasper hit in December 2023.
Large rocks will also be brought in and trees planted to strengthen the banks.
Saltwater Creek has also seen “dramatic erosion” and land loss since Jasper, he said.
“Floodwater has been coming over the top of the bank and cutting a channel behind it and where the banks are continuing to collapse and recede,” Mr Brownlow said.
Cassowary Creek is a smaller creek but has high flows during flood times.
“One side of the creek has receded 3m since the start of this year alone, and almost 30m of creek bank has been lost since 2011.”
At Saltwater and Cassowary creeks the banks will be battered down as part of the project, while more trees will be planted.
The planting will be funded through the Federal Government Reef Trust Landscape Repair Program.
Work is scheduled to begin this month.
