Vegetated buffers and swales

Vegetated buffers and swales — Links and references

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• Overview
• Key Considerations
• Planning and design
• Construction and operation
• Links and references

Useful Links

Soil conservation guidelines for Queensland

Riparian Land Management Technical Guidelines Volume 2 On-Ground Management Tools and Techniques

Preventing and managing erosion, including links to soil conservation waterways factsheets

Edge of block factsheets for extension officers

Designing filter strips to trap sediment and attached nutrients 

Queensland Wetland Buffer Planning guideline

Wetland Management Handbook

Wetland buffer case study: Lake Broadwater

References

Brodie, J., Waterhouse, J., Lewis, S., Basnett, A., Davis, A., Alexander, F. and Ginders, M., (2011) Comparative effectiveness of community drainage schemes and EVTAs in trapping PSII herbicides from sugar cane farms. Australian Centre for Tropical Freshwater Research: Townsville, Queensland, Australia. p. 68.

Carey, B.W., Stone, B., Norman, P.L. and Shilton, P. (2015) Soil conservation guidelines for Queensland, Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation, Brisbane. https://publications.qld.gov.au/dataset/soil-conservation-guidelines

DeBose, J., Coppo, C., McIntyre, R., Nelson, P., Karim, F., Davis, A. and Brodie, J. (2014) Effectiveness of vegetated systems in managing contaminated runoff from sugarcane and banana farms to protect off-farm aquatic ecosystems, particularly the Great Barrier Reef. TropWATER Report No. 14/10, Centre for Tropical Water & Aquatic Ecosystem Research (TropWATER), James Cook University, Townsville, 118pp.

Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (2011) Wetland Management Handbook: Farm Management Systems (FMS) guidelines for managing wetlands in intensive agriculture. Queensland Wetlands Program, Brisbane  https://wetlandinfo.des.qld.gov.au/resources/static/pdf/resources/reports/fms/fms_025_handbook_web.pdf

Dosskey, M.G. (2001) Toward quantifying water pollution abatement in response to installing buffers on crop land. Environmental Management, 28(5): p. 577-98.

DPI Victoria (2002) Using vegetation as a barrier to reduce spray drift, Agricultural Note 0860. Department of Primary Industries, Melbourne, Victoria.

Karssies, K. and Prosser, I. (1999) Guidelines for riparian filter strips for Queensland Irrigators, Report 32/99, CSIRO Land and Water, Canberra.

Krutz, L.J., Senseman, S.A., Zablotowicz, R.M. and Matocha, M.A. (2005) Reducing herbicide runoff from agricultural fields with vegetative filter strips: a review.Weed Science 53: p. 353-67

Liu, X., Zhang, Z. and Zhang, M. (2008) Major factors influencing the efficacy of vegetated buffers on sediment trapping: A review and analysis. J. Environ. Qual. 37:1667-1674.

McKergow, L.A., Prosser, I.P., Grayson, R.B. and Heiner, D. (2004) Performance of grass and rainforest riparian buffers in the wet tropics, Far North Queensland. 2. Water quality. Australian Journal of Soil Research 42(4): p. 485-98.

McKergow, L.A., Prosser, I.P., Grayson, R.B. and Heiner, D., (2004) Performance of grass and rainforest riparian buffers in the wet tropics, Far North Queensland. 1. Riparian hydrology. Australian Journal of Soil Research 42(4): p. 473-84

Norris, V. (1993) The use of buffer zones to protect water quality: a review.Water Resources Management 7(4): p. 257-72.

Prosser, I. and Karssies, L. (2001) Designing filter strips to trap sediment and attached nutrients, River and Riparian Land Management Technical Guideline No. 1, Land and Water Australia, Canberra. 

Rassam, D., Pagendam, D. and Hunter, H. (2005) The Riparian Nitrogen Model (RNM): basic theory and conceptualisation (Technical Report). Cooperative Research Centre for Catchment Hydrology, Brisbane.

Reichenberger, S., Bach, M., Skitschak, A. and Frede, H. (2007) Mitigation strategies to reduce pesticide inputs into ground- and surface water and their effectiveness; a review. Science of the Total Environment 384: 1-35.

Sugar Research Australia (2013) Rat management in sugarcane, Booklet B14023, Sugar Research Australia, Brisbane.

USDA (2000) Conservation buffers to reduce pesticide losses. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs144p2_030970.pdf

Zhang, X., Liu, X., Dahlgren, R.A. and Eitzel, M. (2009) A review of vegetated buffers and a meta-analysis of their mitigation efficacy in reducing nonpoint source pollution. J. Environ. Qual. 39(1):76-84.

Last updated: 5 November 2022