Council of Mayors Resilient Rivers Initiative

Image credit: Lockyer Valley Regional Council

Resilient Rivers South East Queensland (RRSEQ) is a successful partnership between Council of Mayors (SEQ), South East Queensland Councils, the Australian Government, the Queensland Government, water utilities, key regional waterways and catchment organisations and the community. For almost 10 years it has delivered coordinated catchment management to improve the health and resilience of South East Queensland’s catchments, waterways and Moreton Bay, a Ramsar internationally important wetland. 

Initially, Resilient Rivers was established as a response to the devastation of the 2011 and 2013 floods in South East Queensland, when it was  recognised that coordinated catchment management that crosses local government boundaries is needed to protect our drinking water and keep soil on the land to grow food and out of waterways and Moreton Bay Ramsar site. At its core, Resilient Rivers recognises that we can deliver more through collaboration, cooperation and coordination than working alone.  

Resilient Rivers South East Queensland was launched with the development of a South East Queensland Resilient Rivers Initiative Regional Strategy 2015-2025. The Resilient Rivers Initiative Regional Strategy set the direction for management of waterways and has guided the successful delivery of more than $8.3 million of investment to deliver priority works to protect and improve SEQ’s waterways, working collaboratively with its partners and the community. An economic study undertaken in 2020 revealed that the $4.3 million worth of investment that had taken place at that point in time provided an additional $3.8 million of returns for local government area regions, in the form of local capital and employment.  The success of the RRSEQ, and its ability to have even greater success, has been recognised by significant further investment through the South East Queensland City Deal. The SEQ City Deal is a tripartite commitment between the Australian Government, Queensland Government and the Council of Mayors (SEQ) to positively transform SEQ by delivering a significant package of initiatives generating thousands of local jobs, boosting digital and transport connectivity, supporting the local environment, enhancing liveability and creating thriving communities. 

The SEQ City Deal commits $40 million over the next five years (until 2028) to fund works to improve the health and resilience of the region’s rivers and waterways. Under the SEQ City Deal, the RRSEQ aligns within the outcome for a more liveable SEQ, which aims to deliver a healthy, sustainable and liveable region through new investments in urban amenities and blue and green environmental assets.