2022-02-08 Planning and Environment Committee Meeting Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                8 FEBRUARY 2022


4    NOOSA RIVER ALGAE MONITORING UPDATE

Author           Environment Officer (Rivers and Coast), Jan Maddin
                 Environment and Sustainable Development Department

Index            ECM/ 63.03 Waterways Management – Noosa River

Attachments      1. Noosa River Algae Monitoring Project Update 2021


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Noosa River Algae Monitoring Project was instigated in response to the historical and more
recent impacts of nuisance algae ‘blooms’ in Laguna Bay affecting the amenity and enjoyment of
recreation and tourism in and around Noosa’s Main Beach. The attached Noosa River Algae
Monitoring Project Update provides a summary of information gathered to date for information of
Council, including monitoring over 2020 and 2021.
Algae in general are found in most aquatic environments, however some species have the potential
to ‘bloom’ – grow rapidly and dominate the aquatic environment. The duration of algal blooms
depends on the nutrients available, flow conditions and weather. In the early 2000s during the
Millennium Drought (1997-2009) the brown, filamentous macroalgae Hincksia sordida blooms in
Laguna Bay lasted for months over several spring / summer seasons and crippled the Noosa
Tourism industry. The last bloom of H. sordida occurred in 2017, over a decade later. This bloom
triggered, in Council, a proactive approach to better understand these events and prompted
development of the algae monitoring project in and around the lower Noosa Estuary.
The next step of the project is to conduct a follow up workshop with technical experts and
stakeholders to review information to date and consider future actions.
RECOMMENDATION
That Council note the report by the Environment Officer (Rivers and Coast) to the Planning &
Environment Committee Meeting dated 8 February 2022 concerning the Noosa River Algae
Monitoring Project Update with a meeting of environment experts being convened in the near future
to consider next steps.


REPORT
Following the most recent nuisance algae bloom at Noosa’s Main Beach in 2017/18, the Noosa
River Algae Monitoring Project commenced to better understand the nature and causes of the
algae bloom event. Attached is the Noosa River Algae Monitoring Project Update. The update
maps out this history and provides key findings as a result of the research undertaken post the
2017 H. sordida bloom and the proactive algae monitoring to date.
Previous Council Consideration
Post the 2017 H. sordida algal bloom council established an internal working group to manage the
immediate effects of large deposits of algae on Main Beach, while also investigating various
strategies to mitigate impacts of future blooms on the community, environment and economy.
Council hosted a workshop with a panel of experts in January 2018 to review past studies and
identify key actions to build a greater understanding in-house of H. sordida and a means to possibly
identify the origin of nutrients fuelling blooms.




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