2014-09-16 Infrastructure & Services Committee Agenda

INFRASTRUCTURE & SERVICES COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                    16 SEPTEMBER 2014


2                         NOOSA RIVER EROSION MANAGEMENT
DOCUMENT IN FOR MATI ON




Authors                          Director Planning & Infrastructure, Martin Drydale
                                 Senior Technical Officer, David Shing
                                 Planning & Infrastructure Department

Index                            Subject/ Environmental Management/Erosion
                                 Project/ Noosa River Management/Community Engagement

Attachments                      Nil




EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Not applicable.

RECOMMENDATION
That Council note the report by the Director Planning & Infrastructure and Senior Technical
Officer to the Infrastructure & Services Committee Meeting dated 16 September 2014 and:
A.    Request that a detailed assessment for the development of a hydrodynamic model for the
      Noosa River between Tewantin and the river mouth be prepared for consideration by
      Council at the next budget review; and
B.    That a Tidal Works application be submitted to the Department of Environment and
      Heritage Protection for the trialling of geotextile sandbag groynes at Noosa River Holiday
      Park located at Munna Point.



REPORT
The purpose of this report is to advise Council of the outcomes of recent stakeholder meetings
with respect to Noosa River erosion issues and to seek direction on the way forward.

Background
Historically, there have been ongoing issues with erosion affecting infrastructure assets and
public lands at different points along the Noosa River, particularly around the lower estuary.
These instances have been as a result of naturally changing fast flowing river channels, boat
wash and flooding events amongst other potential causes. Council has responded to these
issues in the past as emergency works including sand pumping, placement of geo-fabric
sandbags, construction of rock-walls etc.

The latest instance of erosion is impacting on Munna Point and some low impact steps have
been taken to try and mitigate further erosion on the site.

Officers are aware that any response to mitigate erosion at any point in the river may well have a
knock on effect either upstream or downstream and cause further issues which may or may not
be unforeseen.

Due to these possibilities and in order to ensure that full consideration and consultation on
erosion issues was carried out before any further mitigation works at Munna Point were planned,
stakeholder meetings with users of the Noosa River were held in June and August 2014. These
meetings enabled feedback to be gathered on the broader context of any preferred way forward
with respect to potential solutions and their impacts on the river system.

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