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. [...]