After a “very busy” summer on the TSRs, rangers feared travelling mobs would be caught short of water in dams en route.

So the LLS has built new dams and tanks, cleaned out old ones, and addressed erosion and earthworks on TSRs in the region.

LLS TSR field officer, Chris Watters, said 10 dams in the Glen Innes area had needed either maintenance or replacement. 

Extensive work was also undertaken on another four reserves in the Inverell region, including Graman and Yetman.

Dams have been cleaned out to remove silt build-up and expanded in size at Bald Blair, Dolls House, Stonebrook, Glencoe and Wongwibinda reserves.

Earthworks have been carried out at the Moolim, Quarry, Lowes and Twelve Mile reserves to fix drainage lines, reshape contours, and repair damaged walls and overflow areas.

New dams have been constructed at Crotty’s Reserve near Glen Innes and at Myall’s Reserve at Yetman.

New poly tanks and water troughs have been installed at Wallangra Bore and Long Plain reserves.

“We are also in the process of replacing two holding paddocks that are used for walking mobs in the Glen Innes area,” Mr Watters said.

TSR ranger Warwick Storm said the onset of cold weather meant there hadn’t been much pasture growth.

Winter had been “a good opportunity for us to get on to the reserves and do some maintenance”.

“It was very busy on the TSRs last summer,” he said.

“Some dams got very low and there were concerns about walking mobs running short of water.

“However, we had to reduce traffic in the autumn when pasture supply deteriorated…

“Some dams had silted up, others needed repairs to drains to better catch run-off, and on other sites leaky walls were compromising water supplies.

“We have cleaned out quite a few dams that had become boggy or gone completely dry last summer.”

Mr Storm said that, ironically, wet weather had caused a lot of delays in getting jobs done.

“[However], we have finished work on many sites and a lot of these newly constructed or cleaned-out dams are already full after recent rain.”

The maintenance has been funded by TSR permit fees paid by users of the stock routes. 

“All of the revenue raised by TSR fees is spent on their maintenance and upkeep,” Mr Storm said.