Lockyer Creek - Catchment

Catchment

Draining parts of the western Scenic Rim, the creek's headwaters are in the Main Range, a small sub-section of the Great Dividing Range. Its tributaries drain the slopes east of Toowoomba and areas to the north of Gatton. The total stream length of the Lockyer Creek network is 6,056 km (2,338 sq mi).

The total catchment area is 3,032 km2 (1,171 sq mi), and covers nearly one quarter of the total catchment area of the Brisbane River. O'Reillys Weir is located about one kilometre upstream from the creek's confluence with the Brisbane River.

Five kilometres (≈3 miles) upstream from the junction of Lockyer Creek and the Brisbane River, is the Wivenhoe Dam. Tributaries flowing into Lockyer Creek include Flagstone Creek, Sandy Creek, Alice Creek, Laidley Creek, Tenthill Creek, Murphys Creek and Ma Ma Creek.

Lower areas of the catchment have been cleared for intensive agriculture. Upper parts of the catchment remain mostly forested, partially protected within Lockyer National Park formerly known as White Mountain State Forest. Bushfires, soil protection, water quality and flood management are the main resource management issues for the waterway. The creek is significantly degraded. The poor conditions have resulted in unstable stream banks and gully erosion from the removal of riparian vegetation.

There are a total of nine major private and public water storages within this drainage system, including Atkinson Dam, Bill Gunn Dam and Lake Clarendon. The Lockyer Creek valley had been one of the driest catchments in Queensland during the recent droughts in Australia.