2014-09-16 Infrastructure & Services Committee Agenda

INFRASTRUCTURE & SERVICES COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                            16 SEPTEMBER 2014


Stakeholder Meeting June 2014

A facilitated discussion workshop was held with community organisations and individuals with
interests in and knowledge of the Noosa river system, state agencies, Councillors and Council
staff on 24 June 2014, with the aim of gathering views on:

a)   Future foreshore management of the Noosa River;
b)   Current causes of erosion;
c)   Possible solutions; and
d)   Next steps.

The outcomes of this stakeholder workshop were determined as:
1.   Agreement that impacts on the whole river system should be assessed prior to any
     mitigation works taking place.
2.   That options for individual sites should in the first instance consider ‘soft’ solutions including
     for example living shorelines, sand replenishment or do nothing solutions before any
     engineering or ‘hard’ solutions are considered.
3.   That consideration is given to developing a hydrodynamic model i.e. a model of fluids in
     motion, to enable predictive testing of these options to determine their effectiveness and
     how they would affect other areas in the river system.
4.   In order to better understand the options and costs of modelling that officers meet with
     State Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (EHP) coastal engineers to
     explore options and methodologies for future modelling of the Noosa River system.

Stakeholder Meeting August 2014

At this meeting held on 26 August 2014 it was reported back to the stakeholders that a meeting
had been held between Council staff and EHP coastal engineers on 15 July 2014 and that the
following information had been gathered:
 That current imaging technology and software was capable of producing an accurate
   hydrodynamic model of the river system including contour detection and flow rates;
 That Gold Coast and Moreton Bay Councils had recently developed similar models of their
   river systems using LIDAR (light detection and ranging) technology which enabled accurate
   contour images to be collected via flyover. These Councils would be able to share information
   on the process and provide some documentation support for establishing a similar model in
   Noosa;
 That to develop a hydrodynamic model covering the river from Tewantin to the Noosa river
   mouth would be in the region of $250,000 to $300,000;
 That the lifespan of the model would be in the region of 5 – 7 years (subject to any significant
   flooding events) at which point further LIDAR data would be required to recalibrate the model
   at a cost of $50,000 to $75,000;
 That there may be opportunities for data sharing and cost sharing with other government and
   local organisations who may wish also to benefit from using the modelling data e.g. water
   quality;
 That an offer of assistance from EHP was made to compile the “Terms of Reference” for
   commissioning the modelling;
 That EHP supported the notion of ‘soft’ solutions within the Noosa River system to combat
   erosion and suggested the trialling of geotextile sand groyne fields for Munna Point.




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