Modelling sources of sediment at sub-catchment scale: An example from the Burdekin catchment, North Queensland, Australia

A detailed sediment budget has been derived for the Weany Creek sub-catchment (13.5km2) in North Queensland, Australia, using a sediment source, transport and depositional model known as SedNet (I. Prosser, P. Rustomji, W. Young, C. Moran, A. Hughes, CSIRO Land and Water Technical Report 15/01, Constructing River Basin Sediment Budgets for the National Land and Water Resources Audit, 2001, http://www.clw.csiro.au/publications/technical2001/tr15-01.pdf.). In this study, we have applied SedNet at a much finer scale than it has been applied previously in order to determine sources and sinks of sediment at a scale suitable for grazing land management. We have been able to show that a model such as SedNet can be applied to finer scales (with scale-appropriate modifications to inputs) and in so doing provide insight into sources and sinks of sediment at sub-catchment or paddock scale.