Warrill / Waril Creek

Waril, meaning 'freshwater river, creek', in the Yagara language.

Wara - meaning open water or river

Information from  City of Ipswich Waterway Health Strategy, 2020

Warrill Creek rises in the Main Range National Park (World Heritage Area) and flows about 70km down to its confluence with the Bremer River near Amberley. The majority of the Warrill Creek sub-catchment is within the Scenic Rim LGA, with only the lower reaches contained within the Ipswich LGA downstream of Mutdapilly.

Warrill Creek transitions between a single continuous channel and anabranching low flow channels within a wide floodplain valley. The construction of Lake Moogerah on Reynolds Creek, a tributary of Warrill Creek, has impacted the natural flow regime of the sub-catchment. The dam has a total catchment area of approximately 200km² which is more than 20 per cent of the total Warrill Creek sub-catchment area. A series of weirs within Warrill Creek allow water from the dam to be released to downstream town water supply, and industrial and agricultural water users.

Agriculture is the predominant land use within the sub-catchment, with mostly irrigated horticulture on the floodplains and grazing on the hill slopes. A large area of the sub-catchment is planned for the Ebenezer Regional Industrial Area, which is one of the larger industrial areas in South-East Queensland and will include the provision of more direct road access (Warrego Highway link) and freight rail access.

Special features of the catchment include:

• Home to threatened ecological community Swamp Tea-tree (Melaleuca irbyana) which is listed as critically endangered in the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999
• High value wetlands including Ten Mile Swamp
• Priority area for rehabilitation and protection of Koala habitat.