These days, we know Thomatis Creek as a distributary of the Barron River, but it hasn't always been that way. Until a 1932 flood broke through and developed it as a permanent mouth, Thomatis Creek had only carried Barron water in major floods.
Because Thomatis has a gradient advantage and a flow path of just 6km compared to 9km via the main Barron mouth, Thomatis Creek will eventually become the Barron’s main discharge point.
This process is natural - it's called 'delta switching'. As the delta switches, water flow will increase through Thomatis.
Delta switching isn't a problem if a river system is functioning properly, but like so many waterways in our region, Thomatis Creek has been cleared of riparian vegetation - and bare banks are bad news.
The area we work in was cleared for sugarcane production over 60 years ago, and without trees, the creek bank lost its ability to withstand wet season flows and floods. It's been eroding and receding ever since.
As flows increase down Thomatis Creek, and without vegetation to shore it up and act as a buffer, farmland and soil will continue to be lost through erosion and discharged as sediment loads to the reef lagoon.
Find out what we've achieved through our revegetation work.
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