Beattie Govt provides $4M for post-Larry waterways clean-up

The Queensland Government will provide $4 million in funding to remove existing and potentially harmful debris in Far North Queensland waterways caused by Cyclone Larry.

Minister for Natural Resources and Water Craig Wallace said the Government had approved $3.15 million to be spent this financial year and a further $850,000 to be spent in 2007-08.

Mr Wallace said work had already started on the clean up, which will occur in seven local government areas.

"There is a limited window in time to remove this debris before the wet season starts, and there is a high risk of flooding,” Mr Wallace said.

"This work is essential both for community and public safety, and to reduce the risk of damage to riverbanks, bridges, railways lines, roads and other structures, as well as farm properties and crops recovering from the last battering.”

The clean-up is intended to make sure public access is maintained to houses and farms, to protect public assets and minimise environmental impacts.

The funding is in addition to around $3 million of State and Federal funds allocated to NRW under the Natural Disaster Relief Arrangement guidelines to enable river trusts to stabilise river banks, repair infrastructure and drains and for aerial photography to pinpoint the worst affected areas.

Mr Wallace said a project manager from NRW had been appointed at South Johnstone and arrangements were being made with local councils and water authorities.

Cyclone Larry deposited larger amounts of debris into streams than would usually be the case in a cyclone. This has caused blockages which restricts the drainage function of these waterways.

Mr Wallace said past experience showed that, unless removed, in future floods this debris would erode banks and river crossings and in some cases causing stream to change course.

“The affected area has the highest annual rainfall in Australia,” Mr Wallace said.

“If this debris is not removed, the total repair cost after the first post-Larry flood is expected to be much higher than normal wet season flood damage bills.”

The preventative waterway debris removal program is being coordinated by the Department of Natural Resources and Water, in partnership with river improvement trusts, local government and drainage boards to safely and efficiently remove the debris to agreed collection points.

These organisations will be encouraged to form or continue partnerships with the Department of Employment and Training and the Australian Government's Community Action Program.

The work will be concentrated in the following areas:

Atherton Shire: Work will start in Mazlin Creek catchment where there are five local government bridges including the major bridge on the road to TinarooFalls dam.

Eacham Shire: work will start upstream of the Duncan Brown bridge on Peeramon Road/ Mary Street crossing of the north JohnstoneRiver - which is a major access to Mareeba - and Maroobi Creek bridge on Russell Pocket Road that services a lot of rural residential and tourist traffic.

Cairns city: Work will start on the Mulgrave River and on several smaller streams in the Russell River catchment including Woopen Creek and other smaller streams such as Frenchman's and Junction Creek, that are upstream of the Bruce Highway, as well as several road bridges and cane haulage railway lines.

Johnstone Shire: Work will start in several smaller creeks in the Mena Creek and Silkwood areas where debris threatens local roads and sugar cane bridges and is blocking drainage infrastructure that might lead to homes and farms being flooded.

Cardwell Shire: Work will start in the Jarrah Creek area and its tributaries to protect the main bridge on the main road to Tully Gorge, that is vital to white water rafting tourist activities at the gorge.

A revegetation crew will be organised in each shire based around the activities of the Mulgrave Landcare Group and the Cardwell Shire Council, using trees from the Johnstone Shire nursery.

A similar crew will operate in the Atherton Tablelands area, initially grassing denuded sites as a result of debris clearing already undertaken in preparation for the wet season.

Media contact: Paul Childs, Craig Wallace’s office, on 0407 131 654.