$1 million for work on the Don

MARCH 3, 2016: CLOSE to $1 million in Federal Liberal National Government funding will be directed towards the issue of gully erosion and the resulting sand build-up in the Don River.This announcement today by Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt is a big win for Bowen, as the issue of clearing the Don has been a concern for a number of years.The $962,550 of funding, under the Reef Trust Gully Erosion Control Programme, is a targeted investment that addresses the considerable challenge that gully erosion presents to the Great Barrier Reef.Two sites have been selected that are representative of the gully systems in the upper Don River catchment and these will be used as ongoing demonstration and monitoring sites.The work involved will all be done by local contractors, which means money flowing back into the Bowen community.The work will be undertaken under a partnership approach addressing two high risk hotspots in the Don catchment. Partners in the project include the Don River Improvement Trust and the Bowen and Collinsville Landcare Inc.A range of stakeholders within the Bowen region will participate, including local property owners.Sediment erosion causes the highest amounts of fine sediment runoff to the Great Barrier Reef, which directly affects seagrass and corals.The Programme will build on the knowledge and practices developed in other reef programmes, and will pilot a range of approaches to managing gully erosion to reduce the level of sediment lost into the reef.The Don River catchment work is one of five projects to be undertaken to address gully erosion in Great Barrier Reef catchments, with a total investment of $4.86 million.In addition to funding from the Federal Government, projects have identified significant in-kind contributions, including labour (such as fencing, stock removal and revegetation), materials and machinery from landholders, to deliver cost-effective and long-term reductions in sediment runoff entering the waters of the Great Barrier Reef.This programme is being delivered through the $140 million Reef Trust, a key commitment contributing to our efforts to boost the resilience of the reef.The Federal Government will also invest an additional $600,000 over three years through the National Environmental Science Programme (NESP) to evaluate the outcomes of the gully erosion programme.