Decades of restoration work proves Mary River can be revived, community group says

When Peter and Elke Watson started planting thousands of trees on their dairy farm beside the Mary River in the 1980s, neighbours were puzzled. They fenced cattle off erosion-prone banks and installed off-stream water troughs to keep livestock out of waterways.

"We were considered the weird greenies … there were hardly any trees here," Ms Watson recalled.

The Watsons, who run a dairy at Cambroon near Kenilworth in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, were part of a quiet revolution in attitudes toward land management. They attended the first meeting of the MRCCC 31 years ago, when the 9,595-square-kilometre catchment was in strife.

"The Mary was described, I think it was post-1990, as one of the most degraded rivers on the east coast of Australia," MRCCC chairman Ian Mackay said.

The 310-kilometre river originates in the Conondale range and flows into the Great Sandy Strait, the southernmost section of the world-heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef. During floods, the river churns brown with soil and nutrients.

In 2022, during the second-worst flood on record, plumes of sediment smothered seagrass meadows vital to fish, turtles and dugongs. An estimated 66 per cent of that sediment came from stream bank erosion, which had sliced away hundreds of hectares of farmland.

The MRCCC has built relationships with landholders and completed more than 850 projects to restore riparian zones and improve water health. Mr Mackay said the success of techniques such as pile fields — structures placed in creek beds to stabilise banks — has been encouraging.

The work demonstrates that even severely degraded catchments can be restored through sustained, cooperative efforts between farmers and community groups.

Analysis

Why This Matters

The Mary River discharges into the Great Sandy Strait, adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef — sediment plumes from erosion directly threaten seagrass meadows and marine life.
The success of the MRCCC's approach provides a potential model for other degraded catchments across Australia, showing that coordinated landholder engagement can reverse decades of damage.
With climate change expected to increase the intensity of floods, effective riverbank restoration becomes critical for both agricultural and environmental resilience.

Background

The Mary River was extensively cleared and degraded following European settlement, with loss of riparian vegetation and uncontrolled cattle access accelerating erosion. By the 1990s it was considered one of the most degraded rivers on the east coast. The MRCCC was formed by local landholders and community members to coordinate restoration efforts, focusing on fencing, revegetation, and bank stabilisation. The 2022 flood — the second-worst on record — demonstrated the scale of the problem, with sediment plumes visible from the coast.

Key Perspectives

Landholders (Peter and Elke Watson): A willingness to adopt unconventional practices — planting trees, fencing waterways — was initially met with scepticism but has become a model for sustainable farming. Their participation in the MRCCC shows the value of community-led initiatives. Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee (Ian Mackay): The committee's network of more than 850 projects demonstrates that targeted, on-ground work can improve water health, even in a severely degraded system. The group emphasises building long-term trust with landholders. Conservation groups and downstream communities: For those reliant on the health of the Great Sandy Strait and the reef, the restoration is a hopeful sign, but the scale of sediment loss during major floods highlights ongoing risks and the need for continued investment.

What to Watch

Water quality monitoring data from the Mary River and Great Sandy Strait in the next flood season, to assess whether erosion rates are declining.
Expansion of the MRCCC model to other catchments in Queensland and the wider region, and whether state or federal funding is committed to scale up the work.
Future flood events — the severity of the 2022 flood tested restored banks; how they hold up during comparable events will be a key indicator of long-term effectiveness.

Analysis

Why This Matters

Background

Key Perspectives

What to Watch

Sources