Original story by Melody Labinsky, Queensland Country Life
A DESIRE to leave a lasting legacy is what motivated natural resource management organisation Condamine Alliance to begin its Dewfish Demonstration Reach project.
Condamine Alliance's Kevin Graham, board chairman John Herbert, and chief executive Phil McCullough.
What started as a plan to repair six areas, or roughly 40km of river, quickly snowballed into a mission to restore 110km of river and has gained national and international kudos.
The Reach stretches from the St Ruth Reserve on the Condamine River, to Loudoun Weir near Dalby and includes sections of the Myall Creek at Dalby and the Oakey Creek at the Bowenville Reserve and Munro.
Condamine Alliance principal project officer for the river Kevin Graham has been involved with the project as its coordinator since 2007.
On a day-to-day basis he is coordinating on-ground works, monitoring and evaluating results with research scientists and engaging with the community.
The river is monitored at control, reference and intervention sites and this data is evaluated by Agri-science Queensland, part of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
Artificial fish habitats are constructed and placed in the river at intervention sites - they range from fish hotels, to code holes and lunkers. It's an expensive exercise, with some habitats weighing up to 3.5 tonnes.
Aquatic vegetation has also been introduced to create habitats for small native fish.
The results speak for themselves. At intervention sites there has been a 1000 percent increase in golden perch, a 200pc increase in bony bream and a 300pc increase in dewfish levels.
"What we are finding is where we are able to put in in-stream habitats and the more complex we make it, the greater the number of fish and fish species that are assembled there," Mr Graham said.
"The interesting thing is we are seeing no increase in the control and reference sites, only in the intervention sites.
"The other thing we have found is where we have put in habitats; the small native fish are out-competing the juvenile carp.
"The key to it all is if you can improve the habitat for your native fish, you make it less likely for pest fish to inhabit those areas."
Condamine Alliance chief executive Phil McCullough said they started discussing the project in 2005 and decided to look beyond year-on-year projects to programs of long-term significance.
"Once you start bringing people together, that's when the project really started to happen and we realised you could make monumental changes," he said.
"What the project really showed us was if you find something people are really interested in and support them along the way; if they understand what you want to do and need to do in terms of environmental repair and include them in the discussion, a lot of people will come on board."
In 2012, the Dewfish Demonstration Reach won the National Riverprize Australia and was the water category winner for the Banksia Awards.
Another accolade was received in 2013 when they were named the biodiversity category winner for the United Nations Association of Australia World Environment Day Award.
International groups from the Philippines, Indonesia and US, as well as other natural resource management groups have since come to learn more about what makes the Dewfish Demonstration Reach so effective.
Although they are proud of their successes, Condamine Alliance is acutely aware of the important role played by its partners, including local councils, schools and fish stocking groups.
"We made the decision some time ago that trophies shouldn't sit in our office, they should sit in the offices of our partners - they get a chance to share it," he said.
"Really, the success comes down to a combination of a lot of people, volunteers and effort.
"This project has highlighted that you can make a difference if you don't try to tackle everything but stay focused on what you want as the end result."
Project boost
THE Dewfish Demonstration Reach project received another boost in late November.
Arrow Energy has invested $754,000 in the project over the next three years.
It is the largest donation Arrow Energy has given and the largest corporate investment Condamine Alliance has received to date.
Condamine Alliance CEO Phil McCullough said the partnership with Arrow Energy has secured the future of the Dewfish Demonstration Reach.
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry John McVeigh applauded the new partnership.
“The Condamine River plays an important role in the lifestyle of the community and the expansion of this project will see recreational fishers continue to enjoy native fish species,” Dr McVeigh said.
In 2014 Condamine Alliance hopes to begin work restoring the headwaters of the river system above Killarney and through to Warwick.
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