Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee

05/11/2026

This week, MRCCC staff hosted 12 of Ecollaboration’s Skilling Queensland trainees for a hands-on river restoration tour near Kenilworth.
The group visited one of MRCCC’s restoration sites, exploring how four years of revegetation, w**d management and bank stabilisation works are helping restore river health and create vital habitat.

Highlights included water quality testing, discovering tiny invertebrates and some incredible wildlife sightings – a platypus, a possible Mary River turtle and an endangered Mary River cod!

It was a great opportunity for trainees to see how restoration sites develop over time and what their own revegetation efforts could achieve in the years ahead.

The day wrapped up at Charles Street River Park, where the group connected with a visiting Nepalese delegation to share experiences in river restoration and water management.
A fantastic day of learning, sharing and seeing river restoration in action!

ECOllaboration
Sunshine Coast Council

04/11/2026

Organised by the International Water Centre based out of Griffith University the Nepalese government is creating river basin organisations to manage their water supply and demand from their rivers. ie irrigation, town water, hydropower, groundwater supplies.
The Nepalese delegation met with the MRCCC team and Seqwater to learn and observe, with a tour of the Mary river catchment to learn about water management, water planning and how we try to address water stress.

Day 1
1. Head of the catchment - Baroon Pocket Dam and the inter basin transfer of water out of the catchment to supply Sunshine Coast and northern Brisbane which causes water stress in the Mary downstream.

2. Kenilworth we learnt about the natural sand filter on the Mary river required as primary treatment of town water for Kenilworth.
Elke Watson spoke on the benefits of irrigators working together to create concensus irrigation scheduling in the upper Mary during dry periods (due in part to water stress from Baroon Pocket dam).

3. At Miva we heard of the benefits of proactive water planning by state govt in collaboration with the community with Tom Espinoza, Steve Burgess and Brad Wedlock.

Day 2
1. Wide Bay creek at Woolooga we explored water stress and competition from irrigation, town water supply and now groundwater extraction. This creek is also being exposed to Climate Change impacts while the western catchments become drier with more evaporation.

2. Amamoor creek we explained the impact of land use change in lower catchment from sugar cane to macadamia and the change in irrigation timing and scheduling and how this change will impact the river in spring.

3. Finishing at Lake MacDonald spillway reconstruction due to climate change and managing more intense rainfall.

Discussion centred on specific water planning for “strategic reaches" due to presence of endangered species such as Mary river cod with specific stream flow discharges to maintain these high ecological values.

Phil Moran spoke about his experiences sitting on community-based reference panels relating to water planning and Cr Brian Stockwell spoke about ensuring broad consultation and sometimes stakeholders pop up that you haven’t anticipated.

This two way exchange was extremely valuable - thanks to the International Water Centre for organising this valuable exchange.

Thanks to Tim Odgers from Seqwater , Elke Watson from Upper Mary irrigator water advisory group, Tom Espinoza from BMRG, Phil Moran MRCCC life member and Brian Stockwell Noosa council. Griffith Uni - Peter Wegener and Piet Filet.
BMRG
Sandy Bolton MP
Marty Hunt MP

04/11/2026

The Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee's 2026 Annual Report is now available online - or you can drop into the centre for a copy.

You will find our Committee reports, flood and disaster recovery updates, Waterwatch program highlights, a brief Catchment Crawl update, Seqwater - Upper Mary Rivercare Landholder Program report, Mary River Integrated Project, Urban Rivers and Catchments Program, Find a Frog in February, Threatened Upland Stream Fauna project, Treatened Aquatic Species Initiatives, Wild Macadamia Project, partnerships with local government, landholders, Landcare groups and a whole lot more!!

Gerab a pot of tea and settle in to read about some amazing achievements over the last 12 months that aim to nurture, repair and connect the waterways and communities that live in our amazing Mary River Catchment.
Thank you to everyone involved.
https://mrccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/MRCCC-Annual-Report-2026.pdf
Sandy Bolton MP
Marty Hunt MP
Barung Landcare
Noosa and District Landcare
Gympie & District Landcare
Jinibara People Aboriginal Corporation
Kabi Kabi Peoples Aboriginal Corporation
BNTAC Butchulla Native Title Aboriginal Corporation
Seqwater

02/11/2026

New record for October flood levels at Miva of 12.5m.

After the unusual October rain event that was widespread across the Mary River catchment, the MRCCC team have been reviewing river heights and the rainfall that fell.

The average monthly rainfall for October in the Mary River Catchment is broadly 70mm - bit more or less depending on location - the upper catchment near Maleny is higher and lower catchment near Tiaro and Maryborough - a bit less.

However the catchment north of Gympie recorded 300-350mm of rain for October and most of that fell in the last week.

The catchment south of Gympie - Mary Valley and Six Mile Creek - has had on average less rain - 250 to 300mm, dependent upon location.

For some parts of the Mary River catchment this is a record October for rainfall.

October is not generally a flood month - it’s the break of season between the winter dry and the start of the storm season. The catchment has storms and small river rises but floods are rare.

Looking through the Miva gauging station records - the oldest gauging station on the Mary River with over 110 years of data - this weeks flood at 12.5m was a new record. The previous record for October at Miva was in 1949 at 11.6m.

The largest rainfall fell in the Munna Creek sub-catchment in the north-west of the catchment. This resulted in a 10m flood with peak flows recorded at 75,000 megalitres a day - quite a bit of water.

The Munna Creek water was a key contributor to flood levels on the Mary River at Home Park near Tiaro which peaked at 11.5m.

Thanks to John at Infinity Flights Photography for the shots of the Mary River at Bells Bridge and in Gympie.
Gympie Regional Council
Seqwater
Fraser Coast Regional Council

29/10/2026

Sound on to listen to the MRCCC Ensemble performing an original backing track to this years catchment crawl aerial footage! Enjoy!

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

29/10/2026

Tawny 1, "Why are they looking at us like that Mum?"
Tawny 2, "Don't move Harry and practise your death stare. I'm gonna try an eye roll. That oughta scare them off."

Scare them NOT - Congratulations to Junior 2025 Winner Reef Van for capturing these two Tawnies for Spring in the Mary Photo Competition .
NOW IT IS YOUR CHANCE!
$2500 in prizes!
6 x Categories
ENTRIES CLOSE OCTOBER 31.
Thank you to our awesome sponsors!
https://mrccc.org.au/spring-in-the-mary-photo-competition-open-for-entries-now/

Sauers Produce and Garden Centre Gympie
Kenilworth Rural Supplies
Noosa and District Landcare
Barung Landcare
Mcclintocks Transport

28/10/2026

Eyes Like Diamonds - Documentary Feature follows passionate conservationist Neil Waters on his relentless mission to prove the existence of the Tasmanian Tiger.
Gympie Screening - October 31 at 2pm at the Pavilion.
See you there!!

Excited to announce our NSW and QLD screenings for October.

Neil and I will be at each screening for a Q&A after each film, to talk all things Thylacines and filmmaking :)

Ticket links on our ELD tour website below: https://www.alchemyfilmsaustralia.com/eyes-like-diamonds-tour-26/27

27/10/2026

There was over 120 attendees for the MRCCC Annual General Meeting at Gympie’s Pavilion today. A tribute to the hands-on, partnership driven success of this 30 year old not-for-profit organisation.
Project Officers reported on this year’s catchment management projects and how some fresh approaches were working for those tricky ongoing challenges.
Read it all in the 2026 Annual Report.

Steve Burgess updated on the potential problems of a pumped hydro system that is linked to a waterway (not closed loop) and the lack of transparency that is compounding the Borumba Pumped Hydro’s drawn out delivery.

Jim’s Mary River basin map is officially launched! Go to the website to check it out and Vale Jim Buchanan for his vision for producing this fabulous resource and Jess Dean for bringing it to life.

Graeme Elphinstone was endorsed as a life member for his ongoing commitment to Mary river catchment management since its inception and ongoing grazier education.
Congratulations Graeme!

There’s is heaps to be proud of in the Mary river catchment and it could not be done without support from all levels of government, traditional owners, local Landcare groups, volunteers, MRCCC staff and all you Citizen Scientists out there!
Take a bow and Thank you!!
Gympie & District Landcare
Noosa and District Landcare
Barung Landcare
Kabi Kabi Peoples Aboriginal Corporation
Jinibara People Aboriginal Corporation
BNTAC Butchulla Native Title Aboriginal Corporation

27/10/2026

Fabulous roll up at today’s MRCCC AGM in Gympie. What a wonderful group of people!