Saltwater Creek - A smart catchment

The Smart Catchments Saltwater Creek program was developed in partnership with James Cook University, the Wet Tropics Healthy Waterways Partnership and Itron Australasia with funding from the Australian Government’s Smart Cities and Suburbs program.

Saltwater Creek catchment

Saltwater Creek is an urban catchment within a residential estate, north of Cairns Central Business District.

The catchment stretches across the suburbs of Whitfield, Edge Hill, Manoora, Aeroglen and Cairns North and includes a number of schools, Cairns' main hospital, popular public spaces including the Botanic Gardens, the Tanks Arts Centre, and retail areas.

Catchment features

• Saltwater Creek is tidal and discharges to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon just south of the Barron River.
• Saltwater Creek is estuarine until well into the catchment i.e. saltwater to Pease Street with tidal influence on Jensen Street (concrete channel starts here).
• Stormwater is controlled through the catchment primarily in constructed concrete drains that discharge to Saltwater Creek.
• This is a low-lying area of Cairns which is subject to inundation during storm events on high tide.
• Despite its urban location, Saltwater Creek Catchment includes open spaces with vegetation and birdlife. A popular prawning spot, there are generally fish observable in Saltwater Creek. Fish kills have occurred in occasional years, usually during the late dry season.
• Historically lagoons and sand ridges rich with wetlands stored stormwater which was naturally filtered before being discharged to the sea. Considerable drainage of these wetlands was undertaken after World War II to control mosquitoes.
• The catchment includes Lily Creek with its high-value ecosystem.