Environmental outcomes flow for Kedron Brook
Kedron Brook, it’s one Brisbane’s best known and most ecologically important waterways.
Supporting many species in different habitats, it meanders along 29 kilometres from the hills of its headwaters in Brisbane Forest Park to Moreton Bay.
But it is far from pristine.
Urbanisation has fragmented Kedron Brook’s natural vegetation into small remnants often isolated by roads and houses, leaving it vulnerable to the impacts of severe weather events, as evidenced by devastating flooding in February 2022.
Kedron Brook’s already fragile environment suffered significant riverbank erosion that both threatened the area’s ongoing stability and jeopardised its environmental health.
But it wasn’t the only Queensland waterway impacted by the record-breaking floods of late 2021 and early 2022, which wreaked havoc on many creek and river catchments, eroding gullies, destroying vegetation, and clogging waterways with debris.
In response, the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) together with the Department of Environment and Science established a $32.75 million Riverine Recovery Program through the jointly funded Commonwealth-state Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) to rehabilitate and restore riverine, wetland and riparian environments affected by the floods.
Under the program, the Kedron Brook Flood Recovery project was developed to improve the waterway’s health and flood resilience by reducing streambank erosion, restoring riparian vegetation, and supporting healthy biodiversity and ecosystems.
Healthy Land and Water, the peak environment group for south-east Queensland, was appointed project manager for this important work, targeting a two-kilometre stretch of the waterway between Dawson Parade and Osborne Road in the suburbs of Keperra, Mitchelton, Everton Hills, Everton Park and Arana Hills.
Due to the complexity of the project, the work was divided into four stages: detailed site investigations; detailed designs and flood modelling; permits and approvals, and on-ground construction works.
With Stage 1 works complete, Stage 2, including ecological assessments and surveys, flood and hydraulic modelling, detailed design confirmation, and community workshops, has commenced.
Anticipated benefits of the project include valuable revegetation to enhance habitat for endangered or vulnerable wildlife near the project area.
The aim is to increase biodiversity and support the local ecosystem, aligning best practice urban water management principles with community values to provide multiple benefits to the environment and community.
The Kedron Brook Flood Recovery project is providing an integrated, nature-driven design solution that considers all elements of the water cycle and supports connections between people, water and nature.
