NEWS / BLOG

Fitzroy Partnership for River Health: Fitzroy Waterwatch - Part of the solution to a better water future Waterwatch is a network of citizen scientists monitoring waterways in the Fitzroy Basin. Fitzroy Partnership for River Health reinvigorated the Fitzroy Waterwatch program this year as an initiative to help us monitor and sustainably manage our most precious natural asset – fresh water. We’re part of a nation-wide effort to understand and care for waterway ecosystems. Waterwatch programs support communities to monitor the health of waterways, learn through hands on environmental experience, and to participate in natural resource management. Being a citizen scientist allows individuals to actively contribute to the advancement of knowledge as well as practice stewardship over their local waterways. Fitzroy Waterwatch is made up of individuals, community groups, and school groups who monitor the chemistry, biology and ecology of their local waterways. Using a new and improved online platform it is easy and accessible to record and use the information they collect. Making the data accessible and transparent for citizen scientists and the community is an important aspect of the Fitzroy Waterwatch [...]

CQG Consulting: Merging scientific and cultural insights for waterway health Monitoring waterways and ecological health of the Fitzroy Basin is an important task and a key focus for the Partnership. A local team of scientists from one of FPRH founding members, CQG Consulting has been conducting water quality testing, delivering environmental monitoring programs and ecological surveys across the catchment for over 20 years. In 2019, the CQG team formed Tunuba, a company with the Darumbal People to collaboratively deliver a comprehensive approach for clients, through a merging of scientific skills underpinned by tens of thousands of years of cultural knowledge. As part of this collaboration and a two-way knowledge sharing, CQG’s scientists have been training Tunuba Rangers to undertake water quality monitoring, treat weeds and to capture and protect fauna. CQG’s Founder and Director, Patrice Brown said scientists can learn a lot about natural environments and the relationships between waters and land by working with Traditional Owners and listening to the stories told by the elders. Our scientists have an enormous respect for First Nations People and are fortunate to regularly learn [...]

Anglo American: projects target freshwater reductions Two Anglo American sustainability projects are returning 2,200 million litres of freshwater a year to the Fitzroy Basin for the benefit of the community and environment. Anglo American embarked on a plan to reduce its water footprint globally, setting ambitious targets to increase re-use and recycling of water to 85% of total use and cut its freshwater use by 50% by 2030. Playing its part in this global plan, Anglo American’s five steelmaking coal operations in Central Queensland, both underground and open cut mines, have invested in a series of major projects that aim to deliver on these targets. A reverse osmosis plant (ROP) has been commissioned for the Capcoal operations at Middlemount to replace freshwater imports with recycled mine water, saving 1,200 million litres per year of freshwater. In May 2024, a new mine water supply control system on the Dawson River, which supplies freshwater to the Dawson Mine and the community around Moura, will act to reduce freshwater imports into the Dawson Mine itself by 90%, saving up to 1,000 million litres per year. [...]

Peabody Engergy: Burton Mine on track for sustainable rehabilitation Peabody’s Australian operations continue working towards certification under the Minerals Council of Australia’s Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) protocol. These efforts are driving performance, transparency and excellence in key areas of our environmental and social programs. The TSM Water Stewardship Protocol recognises that water is a precious shared resource with high social, cultural, environmental and economic value. Access to water by the community has been recognised as a right; integral to wellbeing, livelihoods and the spiritual and cultural practices of community members. It’s also essential to the healthy functioning of ecosystems and the services they provide. Through Peabody’s risk management framework, each of our mines aligns its water management strategy with the specific challenges of its region and regularly monitors performance to meet environmental and social values. Peabody’s Burton Mine is currently progressing through the mine closure phase. By the end of 2024, the Burton team will have completed a total of 1,479 hectares of rehabilitation, including all closure works, three years ahead of schedule. This achievement will significantly reduce sediment runoff and erosion. [...]

Fitzroy Basin Association: Building a circular economy and changing Fitzroy's water future one weed at a time As central Queensland’s Natural Resource Management organisation, Fitzroy Basin Association (FBA) is leading the way in building a sustainable and profitable future for the region. FBA’s innovative work on improving the health of the region’s waterways is a perfect example of this, with a new program set to remove 500 tonnes of an invasive, fast spreading weed from the Murray Lagoon near Rockhampton. The Hyacinth Recovery and Reuse Pilot project is part of the Rockhampton Regional Council’s “Making Water Work” Program and is managed by FBA. The project aims to remove 500 tonnes of hyacinth from the lagoon, turn it into mulch or compost, and trial it for improving soil nutrition and microbe activity at three properties in the region. FBA Adoption Manager Daniel Boshoff said the Hyacinth Recovery and Reuse Pilot program is about water stewardship through community collaboration and working towards a circular economy. “By turning a waste into a commercial product while reducing weed infestation and impacts on the river and wildlife,” [...]

Queensland Government: Fitzroy graziers reduce sediment run-off to the Reef thanks to GRASS A projected 9,280 tonnes of sediment is being prevented from reaching the Great Barrier Reef each year thanks to the efforts of Fitzroy graziers and the Queensland Government’s Grazing Resilience and Sustainable Solutions (GRASS) program. GRASS is funded through the Queensland Reef Water Quality Program and delivered by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Fitzroy Basin Association, Burnett Mary Regional Group, and NQ Dry Tropics. Phase one of GRASS which included an investment of $6.8 million worked with graziers across the Fitzroy, Burdekin and Burnett Mary regions to improve land condition. Tailor-made action plans for land management were developed to assist graziers to enhance production, provide business benefits, achieve environmental outcomes and to meet the Reef protection regulations. Over three years, 222 action plans for land management (APLM) were developed covering 878,001 hectares of grazing land in the Fitzroy region. Almost a third of the businesses that completed an APLM went on to receive incentive funding to carry out on-ground works identified in the plan. Sixty-seven incentive projects were [...]