A catchment no longer drowning

Landholders in the Cummins-Wanilla Catchment were almost resigned to lowlands on their properties being unproductive. But after years of work and dedication, an area that once suffered from salinity, waterlogging and erosion has been transformed.

The Cummins-Wanilla Catchment comprises 850 square kilometres of undulating land, with about 30 per cent made up of fairly flat lowland

"The third of the catchment which is used for agriculture was suffering badly from salinity and waterlogging, while most of the midslope watercourses had very active erosion," said Mark Sindicic, Rural Solutions SA Senior Consultant.

"Landholders reported that these problems were increasing relatively fast."

Funding

The Cummins-Wanilla Basin Streamcare Group was assisted with funding of more than $740,000 from the Australian Government and ongoing support came from the South Australian Government.

Activities

Early tasks involved extensive walking along the waterways to find out the cause and extent of the problems and completing a Catchment Management Plan to guide the project.

"We found that the whole lowland part of the system was inundated by sand, silt, and debris, with many streams completely blocked," Mark said.

"The water wasn't flowing down to sea and was staying in the landscape. Subsequent evaporation left an ever-increasing concentration of salt in the soil.

"So, using machinery, we began clearing all the creeks of this sediment, put in erosion control structures using tonnes of rocks, and turned the streams back to their natural profile."

Since then, the group has added to the initial work by fencing off creeks and planting native vegetation to create corridors along their banks.

Achievements

Mark said hard work had really paid off for both the environment and landholders.

"Over the years, we've planted tens of thousands of native trees and shrubs and fenced off more than 200 kilometres of creek," he said. "We've also planted hundreds of hectares of lucerne, which is a great water user and helps reduce the amount of water in the ground."

In the area that Mark walked 10 years ago creeks are now unblocked, erosion has been halted and sediment movement arrested.

"Landholders have gained hundreds of hectares of land back into productivity," Mark said

"Because they were involved from the start, we have a community that's very well informed about drainage issues, and continues to maintain and add to the structures and revegetation."

More information

• Mark Sindicic, Rural Solutions SA Senior Consultant: (08) 8688 3406 or sindicic.mark@saugov.sa.gov.au or
• Jeanie Quilliam, Eyre Peninsula Regional Natural Resources Management Liaison Officer: (08) 8688 3413 or quilliam.jeanie@saugov.sa.gov.au

Australian Government NRM Team
GPO Box 787
Canberra ACT 2601 Australia
1800 552 008 (toll-free)

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Caring for our Country is an Australian Government initiative jointly administered by the Australian Government departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts