2014-11-20 Mayoral Minute - Noosa River Environmental Projects

Conservancy and the Thomas Foundation since the workshop.                                              They have provided further
details and proposed costs of the intended projects as follows:

1.       A study of the river and lakes historic fish and prawn productivity including an assessment
         of present stocks and recovery targets, including species achievable with regeneration.
         This would entail estimates of past abundance and catch rates for key species in the
         Noosa Estuary using historical reports, publications and photos. This research could be
         undertaken by an honours or masters student, and supervised jointly between a University
         and The Nature Conservancy. Project costs are estimated at $17,500; and
2.       A scoping study of the river and lakes systems oyster reef history together with a scientific
         analysis of the prospects for the re-establishment of oyster reefs and oyster ‘stepping
         stones’ including the identification of recovery targets. This would entail determining
         current oyster abundance in order to evaluate needs and approach for restoring oyster
         reefs. This will be approached both by visual surveys and by putting “settlement tiles” in the
         Noosa River to look at oyster settlement rates in different locations and depths, and at
         species composition. This project would ideally commence in December this year to
         coincide with likely oyster spawning. Cost includes equipment, deploying tiles, retrieving
         tiles, and analysis of those tiles. This work will be done through a contract supervised and
         managed by The Nature Conservancy with involvement of The Nature Conservancy
         science staff. An addition to this work would be liaison with the local indigenous community
         about shell prevalence in middens, and collecting historical evidence of oysters in the
         system. Project costs are estimated at $23,000.

There was general consensus at the workshop that these were the types of projects that should
be undertaken and that the involvement of The Nature Conservancy and the Thomas Foundation
would be highly desirable.

To advance these issues, it is proposed that the CEO be authorised to advise both The Nature
Conservancy and the Thomas Foundation of Council’s agreement to work together on these
potential projects with Council’s role to focus on:

•        Providing one half of the costs of these two projects. (The total estimated cost of both of
         these projects is approximately $40,000 so allowing for any contingency, the Council’s
         contribution would be up to $25,000. This cost can be accommodated from within existing
         budgets); and
•        Providing an interface to government agencies to enable these projects to proceed
         (including facilitating any necessary government approvals or other government agency
         requirements).

What next?
We should continue to liaise with both The Nature Conservancy and the Thomas Foundation to
assist in advancing these two projects for the Noosa River. As these projects develop, it is
possible that further projects may emerge which will assist in improving the environmental
outcomes for the Noosa River and the CEO should continue to liaise with The Nature
Conservancy and the Thomas Foundation in that regard.




                                                                             20/11/2014
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Cr Noel Playford                                                              Date




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