Water project benefit to Reef

A BANANA farm in the Innisfail area has become the first in the Wet Tropics region to install a new system aimed at protecting the Great Barrier Reef from nutrient, sediment and pesticide run-off.

For the past year, the Wet Tropics Major Integrated Project (MIP) has worked with local organisations and landholders to identify ways to improve the quality of water entering the Reef lagoon.

Basin co-ordinator Sandra Henrich said the project responded to demand for relevant, local information about water quality, and solutions that are informed by landscape conditions and local knowledge.

“This project has been designed for local by locals,” she said. “Growers want to make informed decisions that help reduce risk of nitrogen, sediment and pesticide run-off, without compromising productivity or profitability.”

A High Efficiency Sediment (HES) basin is engineered to capture sediment and associated nutrients and pesticides from agricultural water before it enters local waterways.

Coagulant is added to the water to make fine sediment particles settle on the bottom.

“HES basins as a treatment option can be of particular interest to growers concerned with fine sediments erosion,” Ms Henrich said.

“They are often used in the mining and building industries, but they are in the trial stage in agricultural environments in Queensland.

“In this instance the coagulant dosing system was retrofitted to an existing irrigation dam.”

Banana farmer Rob Zahra said it would be interesting to see the results.

“All of my farm run-off goes into this irrigation dam which then gets recycled,” he said.

“If I can reduce the sediment in my water it’s definitely going to improve the efficiency of my irrigation system.

“If I’ve got better water quality in my dam, I’ve also got better water to put on my bananas.”

The Wet Tropics Major Integrated Project is funded by the Queensland Government through the Reef Water Quality Program.