![\"\"](\"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/First-Flush-300x224.jpg\")
\u2018Project 25\u2019<\/strong><\/a> is a first-of-its-kind, real-time, fine-scale water quality monitoring and behavioural change project in the Russell-Mulgrave catchment just south of Cairns.<\/p>\n The practices of sugarcane farmers in are a major influence on water quality in the catchment, and providing ground-truthed data is vital to farmers\u2019 decisions to alter those practices.<\/p>\n Sensors and sampling at multiple points along the catchment provide the most comprehensive picture of the quality of the water flowing out toward the Great Barrier Reef lagoon to date, built on close engagement between project lead Dr Aaron Davis at JCU and participating farmers with sugar industry peak body CANEGROWERS.<\/p>\n Babinda cane farmer Stephen Calcagno said the project is generating valuable information for growers as well as researchers.<\/p>\n \u201cProject 25 is great information for the whole industry, not just the farmers but the mills as well, because they\u2019re also dependent on our social licence to operate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be very interesting to compare data from 2017 to this year, particularly because last year we had a wet crush, which means it\u2019s longer before fertilization happens and the plants have less time to take up the nitrogen. I would be expecting the Project 25 data to show there would be less nitrogen movement off-site this year.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Calcagno, who is also working with TWQ researcher Tony Webster from CSIRO on a project trialling enhanced efficiency fertilizers, said knowledge and appreciation of Project 25 was steadily spreading throughout the industry.<\/p>\n \u201cIn farming, things take a while, but the interest is definitely out there amongst the growers and it\u2019s getting bigger,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAaron Davis presents at the CANEGROWERS AGM at the end of each year and he\u2019s got fifty or sixty farmers hanging on every word.\u201d<\/p>\n The torrential rains at the beginning of December cause a \u2018first flush\u2019 effect where the highest concentration of possible contaminants will be washed into the waterways, meaning that collecting data during this period is especially vital.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the sampling during the dry season, streamflow rates are really low so I\u2019m collecting samples for laboratory analysis on a monthly basis most of the time, but when the rains hit and you get the minor to moderate flood events starting to come through, I\u2019m out there sampling sometimes several times a day,\u201d Dr Davis said.<\/p>\n \u201cThese first flush events are important because they give us the best indications of what\u2019s going on \u2013 instream concentrations can vary in a major way over a few hours so that\u2019s why it\u2019s really important to get out there and sample. These first few flood events really seem to dictate the final scale of nutrient and sediment movement from a catchment over the course of the Wet season. We also have three remote sensors installed that are providing continuous, real-time data on apps like 1622 under CSIRO\u2019s Digiscape program that can get the information into the palm of the farmer\u2019s hand right as it\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr Davis said the usefulness of the data contributed to the high level of engagement from farmers.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the best things about the rainy season and I guess the project as a whole is that it\u2019s really helping paint a picture of where exactly the water quality issues in the catchment are originating \u2013 it\u2019s not just the cane farms,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cFor example, phosphorous loss is often attributed to canefarmers, but our data highlights it\u2019s largely originating from other sources in the Russell-Mulgrave catchment. Catchment water quality is everyone\u2019s responsibility, the cane industry definitely has its part to play but there are lots of factors at work in this system.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Calcagno said sugar growers were eager to contribute to reducing impact on the Great Barrier Reef and would be enabled to do so with ground-truthed data like that provided by Project 25.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat growers are really looking for is the data,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cData is king in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The arrival of the Far North Queensland summer rains brought much-needed relief to a region being scorched by a month-long heatwave, and also provided vital data to the Tropical Water … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5644,"parent":5632,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5642","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5642\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5632"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Back to the January 2019 e-Newsletter contents<\/strong><\/a><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"