An overview of Monitoring and Evaluation for the LDC project
A CSIRO-installed monitoring station at Mt Wickham.
M&E keeps track of the project's progress
MONITORING and Evaluation (M&E) is an important part of the LDC project because it collects data progressively to keep track of milestones and monitor progress towards predefined project outcomes.
The BBB produces almost a quarter of the total fine sediment load that ends up in the GBR lagoon. About 65 per cent of fine sediment comes from gully erosion, which makes gully management a high priority for investment, and is why gully remediation is a key component of the LDC project.
The LDC is trialling large and small-scale gully remediation approaches to improve water quality, and to determine cost-effective solutions that can be transferred to other projects and catchments.
LDC is working with 19 properties to remediate more than 40 gullies. These systems range in size from as small as 4m wide to as large as 168m wide in places - this is wider than three road trains lined up end to end.
LDC has partnered with CSIRO to undertake gold standard monitoring at four of the LDC’s remediation sites - Strathbogie, Mt Wickham, Glen Bowen and Mt Pleasant. The monitoring program is being supported by Fruition Environmental who collects the water samples.
Monitoring at these sites is focused on indicators of water quality improvements, and includes vegetation and land condition, water quality and hydrology.
Led by Dr Rebecca Bartley, CSIRO has compiled a preliminary report from up to four years of data capture, Quantifying the effectiveness of gully remediation on off-site water quality: results from demonstration sites in the Burdekin catchment.
Results are positive, Strathbogie and Mt Wickham treatment gullies have recorded improved sediment concentrations and sediment loads with high treatment effectiveness results (statistical significance of .95 and .85 respectively).
The stories on this Monitoring and Evaluation highlights page provides a snapshot of the monitoring results for the LDC’s four sites.
The final CSIRO report will be available in the coming months.