Three Queensland councils have joined a research project to protect the Great Barrier Reef. 

Cassowary Coast, Isaac and Bundaberg regional councils have joined the Cleaner Road Runoff research project, which monitors unsealed roads and their impact on water quality at test sites in Whitsunday Regional Council and Gladstone Regional Council in the Reef catchment.

With an estimated average 25mm of road material washing off the top of 38,000km of unsealed roads in the Reef catchment every year, proponents say the project could have a massive impact on the health of the Reef as well as benefit the communities that rely on it. 

Fine sediments like those washed from unsealed roads and drains are one of the three greatest water quality risks to the Reef, reducing light to seagrass beds and inshore coral reefs.

The Cleaner Road Runoff project results are expected to form the basis of guidelines to improve road design and maintenance.

The program expansion comes after the Local Government Association of Queensland secured an additional $1 million of funding from the Great Barrier Reef Foundation (GBRF), extending the research until May 2024 and including the extra reef catchment councils.

The Cleaner Road Runoff Project is funded by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation with support from Griffith University, IPWEAQ, Department of Environment and Science, Office of the Great Barrier Reef, Bundaberg Regional Council, Whitsunday Regional Council and Gladstone Regional Council.