Introduction
In 2005, our late Founder Tony Coote AM and his wife Toni invited innovative landscape thinker Peter Andrews OAM to Mulloon Creek Natural Farms. That first meeting of minds led to a union which transformed Tony’s property and the deeply eroded creek that ran through it.
Landscaping works began along 3kms of Mulloon Creek in 2006, with the objective of slowing the flow, raising the creek’s water level, de-energising and spreading flood waters, and reinvigorating the floodplain. This included installing a series of erosion control structures (living leaky weirs), fencing to exclude stock and wildlife, and planting of thousands of trees, shrubs, reeds and rushes. The project was supported and supervised by Southern Rivers Catchment Management Authority and co-funded by the National Landcare Program and the Coote Foundation.
LocationMulloon Creek Natural Farms
Size23,000 HA
ParticipantsTony Coote, Peter Andrews, Peter Hazell, Southern Rivers Catchment Management Authority
Monitoring
Stream gauges were installed above and below the project site and piezometers were set up throughout the floodplain, allowing us to measure changes to the system’s hydrology (stream flow, groundwater and rainfall).
Monitoring has shown an overall improvement to the creek’s flow as it discharges from the project site with the creek maintaining its flow during dry times.
Raising the creek’s water level has also raised the water level under the floodplain. During wetter periods the floodplain recharges (banks water) to a greater extent than before the project and slowly releases this banked water back into the creek during dry times, sustaining the system downstream. The next wet cycle then replenishes ‘the bank’ again.
The local community were invited in to see the project and experience first hand the changes to Mulloon Creek at the pilot site. The early results of the pilot project encouraged neighbouring landholders to become involved in the Mulloon Rehydration Initiative, that catchment scale project that was developed to expand the pilot works.
Before - Mulloon Creek upstream of Peter's Pond (1977)
The Outcome
The creek has become a healthy, vibrant ecosystem, filtering water through its extensive reed beds, capturing flood sediments, recycling nutrients and providing complex habitat for birds, mammals, reptiles, frogs, fish and invertebrates.
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increased flora and fauna
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improved water quality
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sustained water flow
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60% increase in agricultural productivity.
After - Mulloon Creek upstream of Peter's Pond (2015)
Draft Report for the Monitoring of the Mulloon Creek Natural Sequence Farming Demonstration (2008), Southern Rivers Catchment Management Authority.
Project Summary and Proceedings of a Workshop (2011), Southern Rivers Catchment Management Authority
