Catchment Action Plan: Logan Albert Catchment Action Plan 2017-2020  

Site: Various within the Mid Logan  

The actions and achievements in the Mid Logan River catchment have been acknowledged for providing leadership and being a catalyst for cohesion, collaboration, efficiency and change.  

Bordering both the Logan City Council (LCC) and Scenic Rim Regional Council (SRRC), the Logan River has historically presented issues for landholders, particularly those who straddle both sides of the river. One of the drivers of landholder concern has been a lack of consistency in approach to land restoration, as well as a lack of clear on-ground deliverable outcomes, leading to justified landholder cynicism when approached to be involved in restoration projects. To overcome this, Resilient Rivers has taken a different approach: rather than multiple agencies delivering their own singular projects with limited coordination, RRSEQ catchment officers facilitated coordination, collaboration, and action among involved groups.  

An early example of the effectiveness of this collaboration was when RRSEQ catchment officers approached the largest landholder on the Mid Logan with a proposal to undertake a range of work along reaches of their property. Initially the landholder was clearly skeptical and disinterested, however, through genuine engagement, historical issues that were concerning him were raised. Top of mind was the unwanted legacy of mesh fences across the property, installed along easements established for and from Wyaralong Dam to the Logan River, that were overgrown and had recently caused the loss of a valuable bull. RRSEQ catchment officers, as the collective representatives of the Councils, Seqwater and the NRM groups, agreed to investigate. Seqwater responded that the fences were no longer required and through a collective effort led by the RRSEQ catchment officers the fences were removed within days. This timely action changed the dynamic with this landholder, from distrust to interest. On the back of this came a willingness from the initial landholder to engage and in time more landholders across this catchment have also willingly engaged. This same landholder has since installed over a kilometer of top of bank fencing to restrict cattle from the bank and the river, whilst also supporting the revegetation of 6 hectares of riparian planting through collaboration with the NRM group and co-investment from Seqwater’s Multi-catchments Sourcewater Protection Project. RRSEQ catchment officers have now engaged with nearly 100 landholders in this catchment from lifestyle blocks to commercial farmers and are working on over 20 properties providing support, information, connection and on ground actions.  

Another project of significance in this catchment was working with turf farmers and Turf Queensland (TQ) to develop an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for turf farms. Turf production is a dominant land use in the Mid Logan and also more broadly across SEQ. Many turf farms are close or adjacent to sensitive riverine environments.  

The Resilient Rivers Turf Production Environmental Management Plan Template was developed to assist turf producers with the preparation or improvement of a plan for their farm. This helps to ensure that the environmental values and responsibility, relevant to each farm, are identified, understood, adequately protected, and enhanced.  

TQ actively supported our efforts to work with a cross section of farms to gain an in-depth understanding of the various practices and needs, to develop a document that would provide a review point in regard to practices relating to on and off farm nutrient management. This has acted as a catalyst for broader understanding of this issue, to improve the timeline with Councils when applying to make modifications to farms and also advance the awareness and readiness for future challenges. This approach proved successful as RRSEQ catchment officers worked with farmers, in the pursuit of mutual benefit, we were able to engage openly and honestly, actively deliver learnings and management plans. The management plan is now also available SEQ wide and through the TQ website. Using this approach catchment officers have developed ongoing working relationships with numerous turf farms, and their neighbours, working together on nutrient, livestock, weed and erosion management.