Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee

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!

26/10/2026

So what has unfolded in the Mary River catchment over the past few days?
On October 7-8 for the Catchment Crawl, the Mary river was exceptionally low and we needed rain.

Now the entire catchment has now had approximately 300-350 mm of rain. This could well be a new record for October.

October is not generally a flood month - it’s the break of season between the winter dry and the start of the storm season. We have storms and small freshes in the river but not 10m floods this time of year.

Earlier in the week we had small but in parts intense rain in the upper catchment with a reasonable rise in the river (2m) in the upper reaches near Kenilworth. Enough for us to warrant some event water quality sampling being the first flush of the season.

Then it came down on Saturday. It just rained and rained across the catchment.

But the largest falls were actually in the lower catchment - and in particular the largest sub catchment - the Munna Creek sub-catchment which is approximately 150,000 hectares.

This catchment is located in the north-west of the Mary however its headwaters are relatively close to the coast. On Saturday night over 200mm fell there - and Sunday morning there was an 8m flood in the creek. And on Monday morning it had risen to 10m.

This Munna Creek water was feeding the lower Mary along with the water coming down from Gympie via the Upper Mary - which was now being fed by Baroon Pocket dam near Maleny overtopping and Borumba dam also spilling.

Consequently the lower Mary River at Home Park near Tiaro peaked at 11.5m. This could well be a record for October at Home Park.

Often the large floods in the Mary River are fed by Munna Creek - this was the case in 2022, 2013 and 2011. This then causes Maryborough to flood.

This is a brilliant start to the season however our threatened aquatic species may not see this flood as eagerly. The Mary River cod, Mary River turtle and lungfish all spawn and nest now. And October is usually quite stable in the river.

We hope that the freshly spawned Mary River cod eggs are safe in our cod logs, the lungfish eggs are tucked away in the ribbon-plant on the bed of the river and the Mary River turtle nests are located in still backwaters safe from raging floodwaters.

The river and creeks are starting to retreat now which will allow us to head out when it’s safe and inspect how the riverbank revegetation work has performed.

23/10/2026

Spring in the Mary Photo Competition will get you out exploring our beautiful catchment and with over $2500 in cash prizes it's the perfect excuse!!
Blast from the past with these awesome images from 2018 Wildlife Winner Nathan Bignell and this Pacific Baza.
2018 Open Runner Up Sharyn Cusak with Crystal Ball sunrise on the Mary and
White throated snapping turtle hatchling at the Burnett from Ben Revell.

ENTRIES CLOSE OCTOBER 31 - get snapping and find all the details here https://mrccc.org.au/spring-in-the-mary-photo-competition-open-for-entries-now/

MASSIVE CALL OUT TO SPONSORS!
Kenilworth Rural Supplies Sauers Produce and Garden Centre Gympie
Barung Landcare Noosa and District Landcare McClintocks Fuel Supplies

22/10/2026

And who does not love a wombat!

22/10/2026

🐢 Let the turtle season commence!
The Freshwater Turtle Conservation Team, a partnership between Mary River Turtle project - Tiaro Landcare (TDLG) and the Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee, have had an exciting and busy fortnight.

The Mary River turtles (Elusor macrurus) have begun their nesting season. Nathaniel and a volunteer were fortunate enough to find the first nest in the upper catchment on Monday last week. It was Craig’s first Mary River turtle nest ever, he was stoked and we are absolutely chuffed for him. We may have been first but TDLG is beating us now on sheer numbers.... although it’s not a competition, is it? 😀

It’s been an interesting start to the season with sporadic rainfall events and highly variable sand moisture. Consequently the turtles nesting events have been rather sporadic and variable too.

This week is and the theme is 'Everything is Connected'. The MRCCC has been working to build local turtle nest protection capacity with Kabi Kabi Land & Sea Rangers, Jinibara Freshwater Rangers, volunteers, landholders and Sunshine Coast Council & Gympie Regional Council staff. Now the passion we all share for our Mary River turtle has become another part of what connects us to one another and the river.

The Mary River turtle is Critically Endangered and endemic to just the Mary River as per its name. The European fox is a significant predator of freshwater turtle eggs Australia wide. Hence nest protection work is a vital action for the conservation of the species with every nest protected deemed a win.

With our volunteers and partner organisations we can achieve much more for our special turtle than going it alone. A big thanks to Craig and the rest of you, you know who you are!

Photo credit
Carpenter-Bundhoo, L (2025). Larsen, N holding an Emydura macquarrii macquarrii from the Stanley river.
Bennett, K (2026). Larsen, N discussing how habitat features in the river are associated with the life history of Elusor macrurus.
McGuire, M (2026). Larsen, N undertaking nest protection activities.
Larsen, N (2025). An adult male Elusor macrurus basking in the Mary River.
Kabi Kabi Peoples Aboriginal Corporation
Jinibara People Aboriginal Corporation
BNTAC Butchulla Native Title Aboriginal Corporation
Sandy Bolton MP
Marty Hunt MP

21/10/2026

The Mary River is naturally connected to the Ramsar listed internationally recognised wetland of the Great Sandy Strait and World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef, and our unique aquatic species like the Mary River Cod is closely connected to the endangered Subtropical lowland rainforest community.

However the catchment is also connected in more industrially defined ways.

The Mary flows North sustaining the river, the Strait and the Reef - and also flows South by a large pipeline sustaining a growing population.

Many people don't realise the Mary is the donor catchment to vast urban water supplies for the expanding SEQ.

These interbasin transfers of water out of the catchment deny our precious aquatic ecosystems and farming communities essential water downstream.

The Northern Pipeline Interconnector was built in 2011 and travels south through the coast to North Pine Dam - which in turns links to the SEQ water grid.

MRCCC are keen advocates of climate independent water supply sources eg rainwater tanks, water recycling, energy efficient desalination but most importantly water conservation.

Water conservation is the cheapest form of ensuring long term water supplies to urban communities.

SEQ residents are now exceptionally water conscious with some of the lowest water consumption rates in the country.

This was due to excellent water conservation programs led by the Qld Government.

The Mary has good reason to be anxious about ill-conceived water planning. In 2006 the Traveston Crossing Dam was announced. While this dam was never built we experienced first-hand the destruction of the close knit social fabric of the Mary Valley.

The anxiety was palpable for 3 years while the buy-up and planning was ongoing.
Families moved away, businesses shut down and uncertainty prevailed.

The MRCCC prepared a paper "Water for the Future" which detailed climate independent water supply options
- viable options instead of disrupting communities.

This paper was recently updated given the expected population growth of SEQ over the next few decades.

Find it at www.mrccc.org.au Water-for-the-Future-3rd-Edition