Bulk of Information sourced from the environmental management organisation Terrain NRM
Bramston Beach is part of the Russell Catchment.
The Russell catchment is 669 km² in area, amounting to 3% of the Wet Tropic region. The Wet Tropics region contributes 33% of the water flowing to the Great Barrier Reef from only 5% of the contributing land area, and the Russell catchment itself is one of the wettest within the region.
The Russell Catchment area is home to around 1700 people mostly in the towns of Babinda and Mirriwinni along with the small beachside town of Bramston Beach. Today around 25% of the catchment has been cleared to provide important rural industries such as Cane and grazing.
The Russell Catchment is a high rainfall area, with between 2801 and 7601 mm per annum. The topography of the range influences the rainfall in this catchment.
To effectively manage this catchment including its water quality, it is important to understand how water flows in the catchment and how it can be effected by landuse and management practices.
The ranges in the West have very steep slopes and coupled with the high rainfall this creates the potential for high intensity runoff that may lead to flooding in areas where the floodplain has restricted channels and gullies.
Much of the water from these often fast, flashy streams flows across the landscape in each sub catchment and then eventually through the floodplains into the main Russell River. The remaining water sinks into the ground where it supports a variety of ecosystems that require access to ground water, either permanently or seasonally, to survive. These are know as groundwater dependent ecosystems.
Directly behind Bramston Beach is the Wyvuri Swamp, this section of the catchment drains to the North of Bramston Beach. 7km North of the Bramston Beach township is the Russell River National Park, here the tannin stained Bluemetal Creek estuary flows into the ocean.
The Russell River National Park is accessible with conventional vehicles and offers beachfront camping. See this Qld Parks link for booking information.
5 Campsites are located on the beach just South of Bluemetal Creek and allow open fires. Bring your own firewood.
