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Seqwater uses a 'whole of catchment' approach to improve water quality at the source. A catchment is an area where water is collected by the natural landscape. Rainfall flows into creeks and rivers or soaks down through the soil and rocks to become groundwater.
South East Queensland’s overall catchment is a diverse area of ranges, hills and valleys down to flood plains, beaches and islands. It stretches from Noosa in the north to the Gold Coast in the south and west to Toowoomba – an area of around 1.2 million hectares or over 22,000 square kilometres, including Moreton Bay.
Seqwater has the task of producing high quality drinking water for more than two million South East Queenslander’s while balancing the impacts of a range of farming, urban and recreation activities.
Good land management is the first, and best, way to improve the quality of water stored and released from our dams. Put simply, the better the condition of the catchments around the dams, the better the water quality.
Seqwater's ‘whole of catchment’ approach focuses on better land management. This involves improving the biodiversity of the catchment and working towards more sustainable land use from farming and recreation to council planning and development.
The large size of this catchment means partnerships with landowners, community groups, councils, research organisations and other stakeholders are essential to delivering healthier catchments.
Ongoing re-vegetation, erosion, fire, weed and pest management programs undertaken by Seqwater improve the performance of the catchments to deliver good quality water. Importantly, this work also significantly improves the habitat of endangered species of flora and fauna.
As well as having a dedicated research team, Seqwater has key relationships with Queensland’s largest universities, national and international research organisations to ensure the very best knowledge continues to guide catchment management decisions.
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