Accelerating efforts to support healthy waterways and a healthy reef
Strong investments and on-ground action by farmers, landholders, Traditional Owners and other partners continue to support the health of waterways flowing from the catchments to the Great Barrier Reef.
The Reef Trust is the Australian Government’s investment program for the Reef. It funds programs that address key threats and support the Reef’s resilience, including programs that have helped improve the quality of water flowing to the Reef.
Improving Reef water quality remains a government priority. The Australian and Queensland governments have committed more than $2 billion between 2014 and 2030 to improve Reef water quality. This funding has supported many programs in the Fitzroy region.
The Fitzroy Water Quality Program ran from 2018 to 2024 and was funded by the Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. It was coordinated by FBA.
The program worked with land managers to improve grazing practices and landscape function. It also remediated degraded land through gully and streambank rehabilitation.
This work has prevented 56 kilotonnes of fine sediment from the Fitzroy region from reaching the Reef each year. It has also increased land productivity and sustainability and restored habitat for threatened species.
As part of the $200 million Landscape Repair Program, the Reef Trust is also funding an FBA-led project in the Fitzroy region that aims to prevent 28.5 kilotonnes of fine sediment from reaching the Reef each year. The project is working with land managers to remediate and repair waterways to reduce sediment loss.
Looking ahead, new Reef Trust-funded programs will build on past efforts and deliver targeted funding to accelerate action to improve the quality of water flowing to the Reef.
New programs are underway to better address water quality risks associated with farmland and urban areas in priority catchments, while also supporting the health of habitats that are critical for water quality. This work is being delivered through the Reefwise Farming, Reefwise Urban and Reefwise Wetlands programs.
The new Great Barrier Reef Traditional Owner-Led Water Quality Improvement Program will draw on traditional knowledge and the success of the Reef Trust Partnership to improve Reef water quality. The program will be delivered in partnership with Traditional Owners and align with the Reef 2050 Traditional Owner Implementation Plan. Phase One of the Traditional Owner-Led Water Quality Improvement Program has commenced, with the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance Ltd (NAILSMA) engaged to establish a Traditional Owner-Led Reef Water Quality Advisory Group and Working Group. These groups will help build capacity, support participation, and inform the design and delivery of Phase Two.
Phase Two will provide grants for on-ground projects that improve Reef water quality and strengthen Traditional Owner-led stewardship of Country.
Managing water quality across the Reef’s 424,000 km² catchment is a significant, complex and long-term task. The Reef also receives run-off from 35 major catchments across the region.
The outcomes of Australia’s water quality programs will take time, but they are making a difference now. They are delivering benefits for the land, habitats, waterways and the resilience of the Reef.
This work has prevented 56 kilotonnes of fine sediment from reaching the Reef each year.
Photo credits: FBA, Ocean Image Bank, Katerina Katopis