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

    3. long term    sediment and hydrodynamic modelling relevant to estuarine
       environments;
    4. anticipated changes in storm intensity, rainfall patterns and catchment inflows.

Embedding these considerations at the strategic level ensures that all future decisions—
relating to navigation, infrastructure, dredging, and asset and
environmental management—are informed by up-to-date climate science.
b. Require that risk-based climate adaptation measures be embedded in the 3year
   Waterways Management Program
The Program should include:
    1. adaptive management actions for erosion hotspots;
    2. flood and storm resilience upgrades to public marine facilities;
    3. Nature based solutions (e.g., living shorelines, riparian bu ers) where feasible;
    4. measures that reduce vulnerability of foreshore ecosystems and public assets;
    5. monitoring frameworks to track climate related changes.

    This will ensure climate adaptation is not only planned for but also operationalised.
c. Require alignment with local and regional climate adaptation strategies
Local governments are responsible for coastal hazard adaptation, land-use planning,
stormwater upgrades and foreshore management. To prevent conflicting or duplicative
actions, Council recommends that SCWA be required to:
    1. demonstrate consistency with Noosa Council’s Coastal Hazard Adaptation Plan
       (CHAP),
    2. integrate local foreshore resilience priorities into infrastructure decisions, and
    3. collaborate with councils on shared datasets and risk assessments.

This alignment is essential because foreshore decisions made by SCWA may directly impact
land-based adaptation strategies implemented by local governments.
d. Ensure climate resilience principles guide sediment and navigation management
The Bill assigns SCWA responsibility for sediment monitoring and management, including
adjacent coastal lands. Given that climate change will alter sediment transport, river
morphology and bar conditions, Council recommends that sediment management be
guided by:
    1. long term resilience targets;
    2. protection of natural hydrodynamic processes;
    3. minimisation of hard engineering interventions unless necessary for safety;
    4. preservation of sandbanks, seagrass beds and tidal habitats that provide natural
        resilience.




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