Willows causing river to eat away land, risking livelihood say Bega farmers

Willow trees are being blamed for causing thickets and sandbanks within the river channel, which divert water from its usual course. When heavy rainfall occurs, the amount of water diverted increases, eroding soil and damaging vulnerable edges of the river, often a location where farmers store their irrigation systems.

Determined to be a weed of national significance, the roots of willow trees also spread into the bed of watercourses, reducing aeration within the water, slowing the rate of flow, and threatening aquatic animals, plant life and stream health.

John D'Arcy from Reedy Swamp and Robert Russell from Jellat Jellat on the NSW Far South Coast are just two of a number of beef cattle and dairy cattle farmers worried about the state of the Bega River and the considerable impact large floods have on their businesses.

Even though costs were considerable to run irrigation pumps for grass growth, a necessity when in periods of intense drought, the invasive willow trees paired with rainfall have caused farming boundaries to crumble into the river and trees to uproot.

Cattle farmer John D'Arcy has seen the brunt of the damage caused to the edge of his farming property, as tremendously large trees buckle under their weight due to the soil beneath eroding with each rainfall.

"I'm nearly 70 and I've never seen anything like this," John said, who grew up on 'Daisy Bank' farm in Tarraganda, which supplied milk to the iconic Bega Cheese Factory in the late 19^th Century.

"There's obviously erosion there, but this particular erosion runs the risk of running into my irrigation site which would cost a fortune to have fixed, especially if you couldn't pump there anymore, you'd have to redo everything," John said.

Due to Bega River being part of Crown Lands, an application for licence needs to be lodged and approval given for excavation and removal of the willow trees by members of the public.

John had hoped Crown Lands would assist with fixing the issue, which stated best practice for willow control in wet areas is to use 'stem injection' of herbicide to avoid chemical runoff, while mechanically removing willows from the bed increased the spreading risk.

"Best practice to get rid of the willows would have been 10-20 years ago and using the injection or pulling them out by hand. But today, best practice is to stop the erosion, and the only way you can stop the erosion is by physically removing the thing causing the erosion," he said.

"When it was flooding, I had to sit up here hoping it wasn't too big, and on the other hand you hope it rains because you've got no feed, and you're sort of in this limbo. I hardly slept at all."

Sixth generation dairy farmer Robert Russell said part of his family property 'Jelgowry' had been established on the river flats where maize for cattle and corn for human consumption was grown.

While he accepted they were flood plains, it was the collapse of the riverbank he found concerning.

"Over the years it's the willows and box elder that have grown up everywhere. They've created islands and berms off the banks which have diverted the flow of the river by redirecting it into the banks of the main river and creating considerable erosion," Robert said.

"It can be catastrophic, a big flood. You don't know how much it kills.

"This fellow came last Friday, [looking into] stem-injecting some of the willows in the bad spots as a first stage to improving things to try and stop the diversion of the water."

As Robert was standing on the edge of the Bega River pointing to how much the river had shifted course and shape, his black and white border collie Roger took a tumble into the water.

Due to the riverbank erosion and reeds along the embankment, Roger was unable to find secure ground to hold on to, meaning he was struggling like other animals would, but was retrieved thanks to the quick thinking hands of someone close by.

Crown Lands has committed to continuing to work with Local Land Services and Bega Valley Shire Council to investigate funding opportunities around a larger scale strategic willow control program in the Bega River.

Any works will be dependent upon securing funding.