The effectiveness of alluvial gully remediation in Great Barrier Reef catchments
This study presents data from a large-scale Before After Control Impact (BACI) design field experiment that measured the sediment reduction achieved by remediating large alluvial gullies. The study was carried out on Bonnie Doon Creek on the lower Burdekin River, in Queensland Australia. Prior to re...
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KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
2025-03-01
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| Series: | International Soil and Water Conservation Research |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095633924000510 |
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| author | Andrew P. Brooks John Spencer Nicholas J.C. Doriean Robin Thwaites James Daley Tim Pietsch Jorg Hacker Justin Stout |
| author_facet | Andrew P. Brooks John Spencer Nicholas J.C. Doriean Robin Thwaites James Daley Tim Pietsch Jorg Hacker Justin Stout |
| author_sort | Andrew P. Brooks |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study presents data from a large-scale Before After Control Impact (BACI) design field experiment that measured the sediment reduction achieved by remediating large alluvial gullies. The study was carried out on Bonnie Doon Creek on the lower Burdekin River, in Queensland Australia. Prior to remediation, the four large alluvial gully complexes (active area of ∼17ha) were conservatively estimated to be delivering 5800 ± 1500 t of fine sediment (<20 μm) per year (20 year average). The experiment demonstrated that the average remediation effectiveness across 10 different treatments was a 96%–99% reduction in fine sediment yield (or an annualised reduction of ∼5500t). High resolution lidar DEM of Difference (DoD) derived sediment yields in the unremediated gullies were found to be, on average, 58% lower than yields derived from monitored suspended sediment concentration (SSC) data, albeit with some uncertainty. These data support the notion that even high resolution (0.1m) lidar DoD yields are missing erosion driven by rainfall driven downwearing across all internal gully surfaces that is below the limit of detection (LOD) of the lidar. The results highlight that the greatest uncertainty in predicting the sediment abatement from gully remediation is associated with the determination of the baseline sediment yield of each gully. Future research effort should be focused on improving our understanding of baseline (multi-decadal) sediment yields, and monitored (annual) yields in different types of unremediated gullies. This is dependent on developing a detailed understanding of how these gullies evolve through time, and what the processes are that drive ongoing gully growth. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6d37c09ac0f344f690cef285b9fd84a1 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2095-6339 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. |
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| series | International Soil and Water Conservation Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-6d37c09ac0f344f690cef285b9fd84a12025-01-07T04:17:16ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.International Soil and Water Conservation Research2095-63392025-03-01131102121The effectiveness of alluvial gully remediation in Great Barrier Reef catchmentsAndrew P. Brooks0John Spencer1Nicholas J.C. Doriean2Robin Thwaites3James Daley4Tim Pietsch5Jorg Hacker6Justin Stout7Griffith Centre for Coastal Management, Griffith University, Australia; Corresponding author.Griffith Centre for Coastal Management, Griffith University, AustraliaGriffith Centre for Coastal Management, Griffith University, AustraliaGriffith Centre for Coastal Management, Griffith University, AustraliaGriffith Centre for Coastal Management, Griffith University, AustraliaGriffith Centre for Coastal Management, Griffith University, AustraliaAirborne Research Australia, AustraliaUniversity of Canterbury, New ZealandThis study presents data from a large-scale Before After Control Impact (BACI) design field experiment that measured the sediment reduction achieved by remediating large alluvial gullies. The study was carried out on Bonnie Doon Creek on the lower Burdekin River, in Queensland Australia. Prior to remediation, the four large alluvial gully complexes (active area of ∼17ha) were conservatively estimated to be delivering 5800 ± 1500 t of fine sediment (<20 μm) per year (20 year average). The experiment demonstrated that the average remediation effectiveness across 10 different treatments was a 96%–99% reduction in fine sediment yield (or an annualised reduction of ∼5500t). High resolution lidar DEM of Difference (DoD) derived sediment yields in the unremediated gullies were found to be, on average, 58% lower than yields derived from monitored suspended sediment concentration (SSC) data, albeit with some uncertainty. These data support the notion that even high resolution (0.1m) lidar DoD yields are missing erosion driven by rainfall driven downwearing across all internal gully surfaces that is below the limit of detection (LOD) of the lidar. The results highlight that the greatest uncertainty in predicting the sediment abatement from gully remediation is associated with the determination of the baseline sediment yield of each gully. Future research effort should be focused on improving our understanding of baseline (multi-decadal) sediment yields, and monitored (annual) yields in different types of unremediated gullies. This is dependent on developing a detailed understanding of how these gullies evolve through time, and what the processes are that drive ongoing gully growth.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095633924000510 |
| spellingShingle | Andrew P. Brooks John Spencer Nicholas J.C. Doriean Robin Thwaites James Daley Tim Pietsch Jorg Hacker Justin Stout The effectiveness of alluvial gully remediation in Great Barrier Reef catchments International Soil and Water Conservation Research |
| title | The effectiveness of alluvial gully remediation in Great Barrier Reef catchments |
| title_full | The effectiveness of alluvial gully remediation in Great Barrier Reef catchments |
| title_fullStr | The effectiveness of alluvial gully remediation in Great Barrier Reef catchments |
| title_full_unstemmed | The effectiveness of alluvial gully remediation in Great Barrier Reef catchments |
| title_short | The effectiveness of alluvial gully remediation in Great Barrier Reef catchments |
| title_sort | effectiveness of alluvial gully remediation in great barrier reef catchments |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095633924000510 |
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