INNOVATIVE farmers and industry groups are being urged to come up with solutions to reduce the amount of sediment running off into the Great Barrier Reef.
Property owners and organisations in Townsville and Cairns will share in $12.6 million in funding to come up with solutions under a partnership between the Australian Government's Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
Several catchments in North Queensland have been identified as priority areas to tackle water quality issues.
These include the Upper and East Burdekin, Bowen, Broken and Bogie and the Upper Herbert catchment near Cairns.
There will be $9.1 million available for projects in the Townsville district, with the remaining $3.5 being allocated to Cairns projects.
Great Barrier Reef Foundation managing director Anna Marsden said poorer water quality caused by land-based run was a significant threat to the health of the Great Barrier Reef.
"We're inviting cost-effective solutions such as agriculture practice change and landscape remediation to substantially reduce the amount of fine sediment from these priority catchments which affect the quality of water on the reef," Ms Marsden said.
She said $4.1 million was available for the Upper and East Burdekin catchments, $5 million for the Bowen, Broken and Bogie catchments and $3.5 million for the Upper Herbert.
"Prioritisation of the funding across the reef catchments has been informed by a detailed technical assessment to identify how funds can be invested in the most cost-effective way, and consistent with the Reef 2050 Water Quality Improvement Plan," Ms Marsden said.
Funding for the Bowen, Broken and Bogie catchments would build on and support existing Queensland Government investments as part of the Burdekin Major Integrated Project.
"This is the third allocation of funding available through the $141 million regionally focused water quality improvement program through the Reef Trust Partnership," Ms Marsden said.
"This program builds on the over $19 million already invested through the Reef Trust Partnership into 11 projects that have a track record of improving water quality on the Great Barrier Reef.
"These projects include Greening Australia's Gully remediation project at Strathalbyn station which is on track to reduce the amount of sediment discharging to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon through the Lower Burdekin catchment by 3,200 tonnes a year."
An information session will be held on Thursday, May 7 for interested parties and applications close on Friday, June 12.
