in 1825, noting the junction of the Bremer, referring to it as Bremer's Creek but he did not explore it. The first European to travel along the river was Captain Patrick Logan who in either late 1826 or early 1827 investigated the Bremer. He discovered deposits of limestone at the site of what was to become Ipswich. Upstream from there the river became shallow and rocky, so Logan did not explore further. The upper reaches of the river were explored by Alan Cunningham in 1828 while he was searching for a route to the Darling Downs. Cunningham made measurements and produced a map which he sent to Governor Darling. The first steam vessel on the river was the Experiment on 18 June 1846 after spending the night stranded on a mud band at Goodna. In 1863 an immigration depot was built on the north bank of the Bremer, after residents of Ipswich petitioned for a depot to alleviate a shortage of labour. Immigrants were brought to Ipswich by paddle steamer. The depot was sometimes overcrowded and continued to operate until 1900. Before the railway line from Ipswich to Brisbane was completed in 1875, the river served as an important navigation route between the two towns. The Bremer Catchment Association was established in 1995. The group engages small community groups in projects such as weed control and tree planting. Degradation Industrial waste has flowed into the river soon after the catchment was settled. Photos from 1870 show the riverbanks cleared of vegetation. This may have been from the cutting of timber or because an engineer had encouraged the clearing of trees close to the river because when they fell into the river they dragged earth with them, creating an obstacle for steamers in an already narrow channel. The slow-flowing river system is known to flood and is considered to be heavily polluted, suffering from poor water quality. The Bremer does not receive enough water in its catchment to meet both human requirements and the need to flush out impurities. This results in poor water quality with high levels of turbidity, high nutrient levels and high levels of bacteria, especially where sewage and drain runoff from the city of Ipswich is discharged into the river. Coordinated attempts to improve water quality began after the establishment of the Water Quality Council in 1973. Testing revealed the worst pollution came from woolen mills and