2019-01-14 General Committee Agenda - Attachment 1 to Item 2 - Noosa River Partnership Proposal

The Nature Conservancy



The project was also successful in raising awareness amongst the local community of the
need to restore oyster reefs.


       Phase II (2019-2020)

       Phase II of this project seeks to identify the most appropriate design for a replicable
       ‘reef unit’ that will be deployed during Phase III at multiple sites across the estuary.
       Specifically, the goal of Phase II is to confirm the most cost-effective and
       appropriate construction materials, reef design and deployment methods. Once
       confirmed, the most appropriate reef ‘unit’ will then be replicate at multiple locations
       across the estuary during Phase III. Phase II will occur at only one or two locations
       within the estuary and would seek to test and determine the cost-effectiveness and
       appropriate use of:

           1. Different ratios of recycled shells vs limestone or other rock materials (cost of
              deployment vs reef stability vs suitability for oysters and marine life)
           2. Seeding vs not seeding the reef base with oysters (oyster density)
           3. Using bagged vs non-bagged materials (structural integrity)
           4. Different methods of reef construction (e.g. commercial barges, community
              support)
           5. Reef design (e.g. optimal length, width and height of reef base)

The outcome of Phase II will determine the most cost effective, replicable reef unit that can
be easily deployed at multiple sites across the estuary during Phase III.

Phase III (2020-2021)

       Phase III will take the most optimal design from Phase II and replicate this at other
suitable locations across the estuary (identified through the habitat suitability modelling).
This phase is analogous to a ‘roll out’ or ‘full restoration’, where the majority of works are
carried out as a maritime construction project.

Costs required to construct Phase III are not included in the draft budget (Section 2.3) but
are anticipated to cost approximately $1.2M.




  Noosa River Partnership                                                               Page | 14