Wetlands Projects
Natural wetlands and constructed wetland treatment systems play a crucial role in the health and resilience of the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem. These act as filters by removing excess nutrients and pollutants from the water that flows into the reef.
In two important ways, GBRF is helping to advance the scientific understanding of the role of wetlands in improving water quality to the Great Barrier Reef. It is funding water quality monitoring to determine the role of wetlands in nutrient reduction, and the development of more accurate nutrient modelling tools.
#Wetland Nutrient Modelling
Previous assessments of the performance of these wetland systems in water quality improvement have been largely based on modelling from wetlands in climates significantly different to tropical and sub-tropical zones. A new model, or suite of models, is under development that will help improve with the simulation of how wetlands can be configured, constructed, and/or restored in the catchments of the GBR to achieve water quality outcomes.
These new models will play a critical role in assisting with prioritising investments at the catchment scale, the wetland scale, and in the detailed design of wetlands for nutrient removal.
#Wetland Monitoring
Monitoring wetlands for nitrogen removal efficacy is crucial to improving our collective understanding of the role that these landscape features have in improving the quality of agricultural run-off in GBR catchments.
Wetland monitoring is being implemented to enhance our understanding of the efficacy of treatment wetlands across sites representing wet and dry tropical conditions. Monitoring projects are collecting comprehensive data on wetland hydrological and nutrient and sediment dynamics, with outputs informing the scientific community and contributing to future GBR water quality management and modelling.