Salt returns to Queensland coast as tidal gates come down, restoring marshes

Mackay, Queensland: Decades-old tidal gates and embankments built to block seawater near Mackay are being removed to restore salt marsh and estuarine ecosystems once targeted for elimination. The barriers, constructed 50 to 60 years ago to keep tides out for grazing land, are now being dismantled by the dozen.

Experts say growing understanding of these ecosystems made it clear that returning the land to its natural state was the better option. “Mackay’s getting built in and the animals are running out of space,” said 60-year-old rancher Christopher Rek. “I stole from nature by using all my cows and now it’s time to give the land back and let nature do its thing.”

Greening Australia, the Yuwi Indigenous Corporation, water management firm Catchment Solutions, and the state fisheries authority partnered on the project. Catchment Solutions approached Rek to remove tidal gates on his property that had blocked saltwater for decades.

The impact was immediate. Rek and fisheries ecologist Matt Moore have already recorded juvenile barramundi using the reestablished waterways. Before settlement, these brackish channels let salt-tolerant species move between sea and interior to reach spawning nurseries.

The habitats also support mangroves, globally important trees that had been outcompeted by introduced grass species brought to Queensland for cattle fodder once salty water was cut off.