2023-03-13 General Committee Meeting Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING REPORT                                                13 MARCH 2023


4    HEALTHY LAND AND WATER FUNDING CONTRIBUTION

Author           Principal Environment Officer - River Strategy & Engagement, Amy Kimber
                 Environment and Sustainable Development Department

Index            ECM /Subject 63.07 Noosa River Plan

Attachments      1.    Network Member Agreement 2022-2025


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Healthy Land & Water has approached Council to request that it enters into a new three-year
funding agreement for delivery of its programs in Noosa Shire.
This includes core funding for the Noosa component of South East Queensland’s Ecosystem
Health Monitoring Program and an annual Report Card on the condition of Noosa’s freshwater and
estuarine environments, in comparison to other major catchments and estuaries in the region.

RECOMMENDATION
That Council note the report by the Principal Environment Officer - River Strategy & Engagement
to the General Committee Meeting dated 13 March 2023 and authorise the CEO to enter a 3 (three)
year Agreement with Healthy Land & Water to June 2025 in accordance with Attachment 1 to the
Report.


REPORT
The purpose of this report is to determine Noosa Council’s ongoing engagement and funding
arrangement with Healthy Land & Water.
Background
Noosa Council has been a member of the Healthy Land & Water network (formerly Healthy
Waterways) for the past 21 years. Healthy Land & Water is an independent organisation dedicated
to improving and protecting South East Queensland’s environment, with technical expertise in
research, monitoring, and evaluation.
In the second half of 2022, negotiations began to renew the Member Agreement, which expired 31
July 2022.
Deliverables of this program include:
    Water quality monitoring in the freshwater creeks and Noosa estuary with the data used to
     inform the annual Report Card;
    Social benefits survey of residents regarding the condition, useability, and accessibility of
     their waterways with data used to inform the community benefits rating;
    Expert advice and oversight of program and policy development;
    Decision support tools for catchment restoration, assessing longer term patterns of change,
     and measuring success;
    Summer social media campaigns for recreational water quality awareness as part of Healthy
     Waterplay program;
    Science and technical support for strategic catchment management including access to
     expert panels; and
    Maintain water quality models for entire Noosa Council catchments.

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