River restoration

River health

With the Derwent Estuary Program we're developing a Derwent Catchment river health action plan to improve water quality in the Derwent River. Industry and the community will be involved too. Watch this space.

Tyenna River restoration

The Tyenna River Recovery Program arose from grass-roots community concern about willows restricting fishing and recreation access on the Tyenna. The Derwent Catchment Project (DCP) and the Inland Fisheries Service (IFS) Anglers Access Program have been working with local landowners, industry, community groups and anglers to remove willows and revegetate riverbanks. The work led to the formation of the ‘Willow Warriors’, a group of dedicated anglers who are seeking to improve access to the river and fish habitat. There have also been considerable restoration efforts with works by Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service, Wildcare and Norske Skog.

We have developed a strategic, reach-based plan for the recovery of the Tyenna River (prepared for and funded by the Fisheries Habitat Improvement Fund) over a 10-year timeframe. It outlines how crack willow will be eradicated and riverbanks stabilised; restoration efforts by program partners will be linked. The objectives of this overall plan are to:

describe and map the crack willow infestations and the presence of native riverbank vegetation along the Tyenna River
outline community-driven river recovery using a reach-based approach
estimate the costs of restoration for each reach
detail an investment plan for achieving full river recovery within 10 years.

The recovery plan addresses three key issues that affect the health and resilience of the Tyenna River to extreme events such as floods and drought: crack willow infestations, riverbanks lacking vegetated buffers, and impacts on water quality from inputs of nutrient and sediment from a range of land and water uses.

This work is supported by the Tyenna River Recovery Communications Plan and the reach-based Tyenna River Recovery Action Plan (Reaches 1-3).

Ouse River recovery project

The Ouse River Recovery project is unique among current riparian rehabilitation initiatives in Tasmania due to it scale, strategic approach and level of cross-tenure engagement. Every landholder involved in the project is a primary producer with the exception of Council (and by proxy the golf course), which is self-funding their section of river.

The producers manage a combined flock of over 20,000 sheep, several thousand beef and dairy cows, commercial vineyards and cropping enterprises. They represent the majority of producers in the Ouse area.

Further investment is required to improve river resilience, complete river rehabilitation works, increase river productivity for agriculture and continue to build community confidence. A major outcome of the project to date has been a change in the community perception of the river and the potential for restoration.

Our focus on sections of the Ouse with the most extreme flood impacts and removal of major blockages has helped to address landholder and community concern about future extreme flood events. Employing best-practice willow removal methodology has increased confidence in riparian restoration among landholders and the broader Derwent Catchment community and is helping to build momentum for similar projects throughout the catchment.

Tyenna River Recovery Action Plan 2020–23 – work on the first three 3-km reaches.

Tyenna River Overall Recovery Plan 2020–29 – plan for eradication

Other flood recovery plans: