Too much water: drainage schemes and landscape change in the sugar-producing areas of Queensland, 1920–90

ABSTRACT

Drainage schemes to reclaim land or improve the productivity of waterlogged land in Queensland’s sugar-producing districts occurred overwhelmingly between 1920 and 1990. To understand the motivations for and timings of these schemes the discussion begins by defining drainage, examining its purpose and establishing how drainage in the sugar-producing lands of Queensland occurred at different geographic scales and involved various combinations of structures and co-operative arrangements. Next, consideration is given to why poor drainage retards the growth of sugar cane and how better drainage improves yields and reduces disease outbreaks. The analysis then considers how floodplain topography and the presence of soils with poor internal drainage, combined with high to very high annual rainfall, contributed to drainage problems in the sugar-producing lands of Queensland. The fifth section contains an examination of what drainage activities occurred throughout the sugar-cane-growing lands of Queensland, particularly after 1950. The environmental consequences of these drainage activities such as the loss of freshwater wetlands and the creation of sites where weeds have flourished are considered in the final section. Three important themes in the environmental and agricultural history of Australia will be explored in this article: the role of the State; knowledge and technology transfer; and human mastery over nature and its environmental consequences.

KEYWORDS:

• Queensland
• sugar cane
• drains
• drainage schemes
• wetlands
• swamps
• land reclamation
• Colonial Sugar Refining Company

Acknowledgements

This article benefited considerably from the very useful insights provided by two anonymous referees. I am also grateful to Ms Adella Edwards, a Townsville-based cartographer, for drawing the maps appearing in this article. The assistance of the staff at the Noel Butlin Archives Centre, Australian National University, Canberra, was greatly appreciated. Mrs Christine Hancock, Secretary to the Smithfield and East Deeral Drainage Boards, very kindly arranged access to the records of these organisations. CSR Ltd granted me permission to use the firm’s archival records at the Noel Butlin Archives Centre.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Peter Darryl Griggs http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0138-8716

Notes

1 Calculated from the addition of figures on the length of drains erected during the year provided by Colonial Sugar Refining Company’s technical field staff from Hambledon, Goondi, Macknade and Victoria Mills in Technical Field Work Annual Reports, 1960–1965, Colonial Sugar Refining Company Records, Boxes 390–392, Noel Butlin Archives Centre, Australian National University, Canberra.