{"id":8781,"date":"2024-08-06T03:28:34","date_gmt":"2024-08-06T03:28:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/restoring-lower-daintree-wetlands-copy\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T22:52:42","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T22:52:42","slug":"monitoringfarmwetlands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/monitoringfarmwetlands\/","title":{"rendered":"Farm wetlands improving water quality"},"content":{"rendered":"[mk_page_section bg_image=”https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/aerialreef4.jpg” bg_position=”center center” bg_repeat=”no-repeat” bg_stretch=”true” enable_3d=”true” min_height=”500″ js_vertical_centered=”true” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” section_id=”donate” el_class=”donate-1″ sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”70px”][mk_fancy_title font_family=”none” align=”center”]IMPROVING WATER QUALITY[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_padding_divider size=”67″][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][mk_page_section section_id=”great-1″ sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1563789112768{padding-right: 36px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}” el_class=”great_header_left”][mk_padding_divider size=”100″ visibility=”hidden-nb”][mk_padding_divider size=”15″ visibility=”visible-sm”][mk_padding_divider visibility=”visible-tl”][mk_fancy_title size=”28″ letter_spacing=”4″ margin_bottom=”0″ font_family=”none” el_class=”terrain-title-2″]FARM WETLAND LEARNINGS[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_padding_divider size=”60″ visibility=”hidden-nb”][mk_padding_divider size=”20″ visibility=”visible-nb”][vc_column_text el_class=”sub-head” css=”.vc_custom_1722915170955{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]AUGUST 2024[\/vc_column_text][mk_padding_divider size=”5″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1722999690888{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]A water monitoring program at wetlands on farms is helping scientists and landholders to learn more about how wetlands work as treatment systems for nutrient and sediment runoff.<\/p>\n

Water samples have been collected from two constructed wetlands in the Innisfail and Tully region of Far North Queensland over the past five years, both on a regular basis and during large rainfall events.<\/p>\n

Terrain NRM\u2019s project officer Maria Ribbeck said the data was providing valuable insights into the way wetlands function and their extensive capacity to filter pollutants and improve water quality.<\/p>\n

Learning the best wetland conditions for nitrogen removal<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is also helping us to learn the best conditions for wetlands to optimise removal of nitrogen from the water cycle,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the two constructed wetlands is on eight hectares of low-lying land on a farm managed by Tully Sugar Limited. The data has shown us it\u2019s a high-performing site, with capacity to remove an over 1000 kg of nitrogen a year from the water passing through the wetland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greg Shannon, Cane Productivity and Development Manager at Tully Sugar Limited, said the project was raising awareness of wetlands and their usefulness in the farming landscape.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last year\u2019s findings were recently presented to us,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cThis project has helped us understand how wetlands work and how we can optimise their ability to treat water. The longer this wetland is monitored, the more data we can get, and this will make the findings more and more useful for our decision-making in terms of wetland maintenance and management as time goes by.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt probably should be noted that not everyone can have a wetland like this on their farm, but we had a piece of cattle grazing land with a natural depression in it already, so it was possible to develop it into a wetland with help from Terrain NRM and the Wet Tropics Major Integrated Project.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monitoring at two constructed wetlands<\/strong><\/p>\n

The two constructed wetlands have been monitored for the last year through the Tully Johnstone Wetlands Monitoring Project, funded by the partnership between the Australian Government\u2019s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. \u00a0Terrain NRM has worked with James Cook University, Griffith University and the Queensland Government\u2019s departments of Environment and Science and Agriculture and Fisheries on the project.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1563789122720{padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 34px !important;}” el_class=”great_header_right”][mk_padding_divider size=”206″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_padding_divider size=”50″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_padding_divider size=”50″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_padding_divider size=”5″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1722915593186{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]\"\"<\/p>\n

Terrain NRM\u2019s Maria Ribbeck said the most recent wet season, with significant rain and automated, high-resolution data gathering, gave the team much clearer insights into how the wetland is functioning.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we are working with Tully Sugar to optimise this wetland\u2019s performance. Thanks to the data, we are focusing on how to remove oxidised nitrogen without generating as much ammonia, and it looks like that just comes down to better wetland vegetation management by making sure there is more open water to improve flow and to reduce pockets of extremely low dissolved oxygen,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project is a model of successful collaboration between industry and research that\u2019s paving the way for ongoing water quality improvement.\u2019\u2019[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][mk_page_section el_class=”grean-btn-sec” sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][mk_padding_divider size=”47″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_button dimension=”outline” url=”https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/what-we-do\/waterway-health\/murray-and-mossman\/” align=”right” el_class=”green-btn” outline_skin=”custom” outline_active_color=”#175137″ outline_active_text_color=”#ffffff” outline_hover_bg_color=”#175137″ outline_hover_color=”#ffffff”]Read More[\/mk_button][mk_padding_divider size=”100″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][mk_page_section section_id=”great-1-blog” sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][mk_padding_divider size=”105″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_fancy_title size=”28″ letter_spacing=”4″ margin_bottom=”0″ font_family=”none” align=”right” el_class=”terrain-title”]RELATED NEWS[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_padding_divider visibility=”hidden-sm”][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][vc_row fullwidth=”true” fullwidth_content=”false” id=”post_grid_filter_1″][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”grid_greate_3″ css=”.vc_custom_1743746794079{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]\n

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