A mini-mystery at WaterNSW has been solved. 

A local commercial fisherman has located a missing WaterNSW remote control flow seeker boat - stuck in a tree near Stotts Island on the Tweed River downstream of Murwillumbah.

The remote control boat has malfunctioned while measuring flow rates on the Oxley River near Eungella.

This caused WaterNSW to put out a call on local radio and social media, asking locals downstream on the Oxley and Tweed rivers to keep an eye out for the escaped bright yellow inflatable boat.

Within hours,  local commercial fisherman Nathan Hall found the boat about 30kms downstream from where it was last seen.

“We’re very grateful to Nathan who spotted our escaped boat in a tree,” a WaterNSW spokesperson said. 

“He rang our customer contact centre, and even transported the boat back to his house for collection.

“It turns out our search team had mentioned the missing boat to a local farmer they met during their initial search. The farmer rang his mate Nathan, a commercial fisherman, who set out on his own search.

“And sure enough, Nathan spotted our missing boat in a tree near Stotts Island, and he rang us straight away.”

WaterNSW says its flow tracker boats play a vital role in safely measuring river flow rates, providing critical data to help authorities manage floods.

“These boats protect the safety of our staff by collecting river flow data remotely, without sending crews out onto flooded rivers,” the spokesperson said. 

“A big shout out also to Fire & Rescue NSW Mullumbimby unit who deployed a drone to survey the river from above, and to members of the public who in the end were instrumental in the recovery of our bright yellow friend!”