General News
4 August, 2026
Clogged up river mouth
A GROWING debate over the future of the Johnstone River as a working, thriving waterway has intensified following warnings from local authorities about a severely restricted river mouth.
The issue escalated after the Cassowary Coast Regional Council issued a public safety alert on social media, sharing drone photos showing shifting sandbars dramatically narrowing the main navigation channel near Flying Fish Point.
In its statement, council warned local boaties to take extra care, pointing out that the current layout of navigation buoys could create safety risks for vessels entering or exiting the river system.
Council clarified that the buoys are managed by Maritime Safety Queensland (MSQ), rather than local government, and confirmed it had requested an urgent fix from the state agency.
A Maritime Safety Queensland spokesman said a ‘notice to mariners’ was issued on 16 July, formally warning skippers that there is no longer an effective channel at the tide-restricted river mouth due to severe “shoaling”.
MSQ says it intends to realign the navigation markers at the first safe opportunity once prevailing heavy winds subside – but ruled out clearing the build-up through mechanical means.
“Maritime Safety Queensland does not hold permits to dredge the Johnstone River and does not have a program to complete dredging of the river,” the spokesman said.
He said any potential dredging would be subject to complex environmental and Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) approvals.
Community advocates have jumped on the predicament, again calling for major structural intervention to save both the regional economy and local marine ecosystems.
Maritime authorities view the dynamic river mouth as an ebb delta – where dredged channels quickly backfill with silt under normal wave and tidal conditions.
But local advocacy group Activ8 Innisfail argues ignoring the sand accumulation will have disastrous long-term consequences.
Activ8 president Suzanne Russell criticised the government’s approach, arguing that the river’s decline is the result of decades of inaction rather than recent environmental shifts.
“The mouth is so choked with sand you can literally walk across it at low tide,” Mrs Russell said.
“This didn’t happen overnight – it has been getting worse since the 1990s,” Mrs Russell said.
“Ships over 90 metres once steamed up the river to Goondi Mill. Today you’d be lucky to get a 4m boat through.”
Mrs Russell warned that the sand accumulation has effectively created a natural dam, trapping silt and debris upstream, altering water salinity, and posing a severe environmental threat to the neighbouring marine park.
“We have a ticking environmental ‘silt bomb’ on our hands. The next major cyclone could dump enormous amounts of sediment onto the Reef from the closest coastal river system.”
Read More: Innisfail