MAYORAL MINUTES · Attachment 1 to the Ordinary Meeting Minutes dated 19 March 2026 - Noosa Council Submission_SCWA Bill 2026

B5. Require SCWA to conduct a tenure assessment before proposing works
    Given numerous land parcels adjacent to Noosa waterways are reserves under the Land Act
    1984, road reserves or environmental lands, the Bill should require:
    1. Formal tenure compatibility assessments before SCWA lists a project in its Strategy or
       Program.
    2. A requirement for local approval where SCWA seeks to propose infrastructure on land
       inconsistent with its reserve purpose.
    This will prevent unnecessary conflict and protect land set aside for recreation, conservation
    and community use.


B6. Ensuring Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Are Embedded in the SCWA
    Strategy and Program
    Noosa Council strongly recommends that the Bill incorporate explicit requirements for
    climate change adaptation and resilience within both the 10year Waterways Management
    Strategy and the 3-year Waterways Management Program.
    Sunshine Coast waterways, including the Noosa River system, are increasingly exposed to
    climate related risks such as coastal inundation, sea level rise, intensified storm events,
    erosion, and altered sediment transport dynamics. These risks are exacerbated in shallow
    estuarine systems such as the Noosa River, where sand movement and shoreline
    vulnerability are already pronounced. Ensuring resilience is therefore foundational to
    sustainable waterway management.
    While the Bill outlines strategic planning functions and responsibilities for navigation,
    infrastructure, and sediment management, it does not require SCWA to consider climate
    change projections, hazard adaptation strategies, or resilience planning frameworks.
    Similarly, the Bill notes that local government responsibilities under environmental and
    coastal legislation are not displaced yet provides no mechanism to ensure that SCWA’s
    Strategy and Program align with local government climate adaptation plans or the
    Queensland Government’s coastal hazard guidelines.
    To ensure the Authority’s work is future focused, scientifically robust and consistent with
    regional and local adaptation planning, Council recommends the Bill be strengthened in the
    following ways:
    a. Mandate that the Waterways Management Strategy incorporate climate change
          projections and hazard assessments
    The Strategy should be required to incorporate:
        1. sea-level rise projections consistent with Queensland Government policy;
        2. coastal hazard mapping and inundation modelling;



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