Native wildlife moved into the newly established wetlands at the Cedar Grove Environmental Centre just in time for World Wetlands Day in early February.
With the wetlands starting to grow, more wildlife is starting to call the new environmentally sustainable wastewater treatment plant in Logan, Queensland home.
Logan City Council Roads and Water Infrastructure Acting Director Daryl Ross said the environmental benefits of the wetlands were crucial to the overall facility.
“The wetlands will ‘polish’ the highly treated water from the site’s wastewater treatment plant,” he said.
“They will also provide a habitat for local wildlife. It has been great to see some birds and frogs in the wetlands as they become more established.”
“Enriching the surrounding environment has been a priority from the start of the project.”
The council also planted more than 50,000 native trees and shrubs at the site. This includes 34 hectares (37,000 plants) to offset vegetation removal by developers across Logan.
Ross said this is the council’s largest vegetation offset to date, with about 25 different native plants across the site.
“It’s quite impressive to see this many plants across such a large area by the Logan River,” he said.
There has also been a program to rehabilitate sections of the Logan River banks upstream of the site in partnership with Healthy Land and Water. This involved rebuilding 12-metre-high river banks on a bend in the river and placing fill, rocks and vegetation. This will prevent about 5,775 tonnes of nutrient-laden sediment from entering the waterway each year.
Construction work on the Cedar Grove Environmental Centre is about 80% complete. The facility is expected to be operational by mid-2020.
Zoe Krieg is a Media Advisor at Logan City Council.