2018-07-10 P&E Agenda Attachment 1 to Item 8 - Draft Noosa River Plan

Partnerships and projects
The Kin Kin sub-catchment is the largest area of modified landscape in the Noosa River catchment and is a
major source of sediments entering waterways.
In 2015 the Noosa Biosphere Reserve Foundation funded Noosa and District Landcare to undertake a
LIDAR (Light Detection & Ranging) study to identify the degree of soil loss in the Kin Kin sub-catchment.
In addition, Council commissioned a condition assessment of all waterways within the Shire to identify their
ecological values and ‘recovery potential’ to remediation activities.
These studies provide relevant, science-based research to inform management of landslips, erosion hotspots
and where to target investments to repair degraded waterways and wetlands. They also provide the basis
of partner project Keep It in Kin Kin
which aims to reduce rural runoff,
improve land management practices
and protect riparian areas and
wetlands.
This project is led by Noosa and
District Landcare with funding
made available through the Noosa
Biosphere Reserve Foundation
with support from Noosa Council
and Noosa Parks Association, The
Thomas Foundation and the Noosa
Integrated Catchment Association.




Keep It in Kin Kin
This project compares LIDAR imagery from 2008 to 2015 to identify erosion hotspots in the
Kin Kin sub-catchment most in need of intervention to keep the soil on the land and out of the
waterways. LIDAR is an optical remote-sensing technique that uses laser light to densely sample
the surface of the earth.
The analysis reveals that up to 2.3 million tonnes of sediment was mobilised in this area over
the last seven years. Only 275,856 tonnes of sediment was found to be deposited in the sub-
catchment which equates to approximately 88% of soil leaving the catchment via the waterways.
Infographic Soil loss in Kin Kin?
Based on an average soil replacement cost of $30/tonne the cost of this soil productivity loss
exceeds $6M.
This project also includes an extensive survey of the creek banks to locate infestations of the
riparian menace Cats Claw Creeper (Macfadyena unguis-cati).
This ‘transformer’ weed species can dominate and completely degrade the integrity of creek and
river banks, causing erosion and reducing biodiversity.
Implementation of a rural landholder education and extension program, as part of the project, will
support landholders in remediation of landslips, erosion hotspots and eradication of Cat’s Claw to
negate these degrading processes on the river system.




Page 34 l Noosa River Plan