Foreshore and coastal creek projects

This project proposes reducing the impact of pedestrian access on dunes and facilitating the reestablishment, maintenance and protection of natural vegetation. This starts by ensuring that an appropriate level of infrastructure of an appropriate standard is available at a location that both protects the environment and serves the community.

For more information environment@noosa.qld.gov.au.

In response to environmental and social values, community interest and active participation and an annual $20,000 contribution from Unity Water for bushland restoration, Noosa Council is developing the Burgess Creek Ecological Restoration Plan. It maps the condition and management issues of the bushland, identifies the environmental and social values of a bushland reserve, sets targets, and guides implementation for ecological restoration. The aim is to restore the structure, composition, function, and dynamics of regional ecosystems to the highest practicable extent.

For more information: Natural Area Management   

An Integrated Catchment Management Plan (ICMP) for Burgess Creek will establish a framework for it’s sustainable management and facilitate investigation of the catchment

The Burgess Creek ICMP will

• Investigate current hydrology, stream flow behaviour, groundwater flows, 3rd party flows and bank stability
• Collate the ecological values of Burgess Creek and how these are being impacted by point
• Undertake water quality investigations to determine:

• Impacts of point and diffuse sources water quality issues within Burgess Creek
• Compliance with Department of Environment & Science water quality objectives
• Impact of historical landfills, rapid infiltration basins and night soil disposal areas on groundwater
• Compliance with the Recreational Health Guidelines

The Burgess Creek Integrated Catchment Plan has been submitted as a new initiative for the 2023-2024 Noosa Council Budget and will be developed in 2023-2024, subject to budget.

For more information mail@noosa.qld.gov.au

Community Bushland Care volunteers, in partnership with Noosa Council, have been undertaking ecosystem restoration and maintenance activities in the beaches and coastal creeks between Sunshine Beach and the South Peregian stretch since the late 1990s.

There are 8 active Bushcare groups between Sunshine Beach and Peregian between them hold 18 working bees per month for ten months of the year (Feb to November). Since 2016 Bushcare volunteers have planted more than 11,200 trees, removed more than 1,248 cubic meters of invasive environmental weeds and gained $300,798 of grant funding mostly in the Eastern Beaches and associated coastal creeks. These works also play a vital role in strengthening native vegetation resilience in the dunal ecosystems which act as an effective natural line of defence against potential sea level rise.  

For more information Noosa Community Bushland Care or environment@noosa.qld.gov.au.

Natural areas and environment Council are working together to develop design standards for natural areas and environmental communication products. The design standards will be used in Council’s foreshore and bushland reserves and in or near other areas with environmental values such as rivers and wetlands. It includes signs, leaflets and information sheets and online information.

The Noosa natural areas and environmental communications design standards will be finalised by July 2023. To be cost-effective and resource conscious, new signs and communication products will be rolled out gradually, where and when they would normally be replaced or newly installed.

For more information environment@noosa.qld.gov.au.

Coastal monitoring programs under the Coastal Hazards Adaptation Plan include:

• CoastSnap Citizen Science Site with UNSW/UniSC at Sunshine Beach Lookout
• Burgess Creek Monitoring Project with UniSC
• Nearshore Coral Reef Monitoring with Reef Check Australia
• Coast4D Citizen Science Monitoring with UniSC

Other ongoing implementation projects under the CHAP include:

• COASTS Project with University of the Sunshine Coast/UQ/EOMAP
• Living Foreshores Noosa Phase 1 – Designing for Resilience
  • Noosaville Foreshore Resilience Project
  • Designing Dynamic Dunescapes
  • Coastal Wetland Prioritisation Study with UQ
• Regional Coastal Process Model with Sunshine Coast Council
• Offshore Sand Supply Investigation

For more information Climate Change Coastal Monitoring climatechange@noosa.qld.gov.au.

Noosa Council’s Rivers & Coast branch has developed a three part Integrated Water Quality Monitoring Program and database.

Coastal creek monitoring

The Coastal Connect Bushland Care Waterwatch volunteers have been undertaking water quality sampling at Marcus Beach, Peregian Creek and Castaways Creek, including pH, turbidity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductivity and salinity are measured on a monthly schedule using a water quality meter. The baseline data is used to inform water quality at a sub-catchment spatial extent and to understand the impact of restorative works in the area.

Noosa Sewerage Treatment Plant monitoring

The Rivers & Coast team have recently begun monthly water quality monitoring at several locations in Burgess Creek catchment. This includes pH, turbidity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductivity and salinity laboratory analysis for chlorophyll-a, nutrients and total suspended solids. Noosa Council is also investigating the feasibility of developing a citizen science monitoring program in the Burgess Creek Catchment.

Recreational Water Monitoring Program

The program aims to monitor recognised recreational water sites (specifically targeting primary contact recreation (the whole body or face is frequently immersed in water) to mitigate potential risks to human health while educating the public on water quality issues. In the Eastern Beaches, the wave zone at the mouth of Burgess Creek and the swimming area near Sunshine Beach Surf Club are sampled for enterococci, an indicator bacterium used to detect faecal contamination in waterways.

The program is conducted in accordance with the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Guidelines for Managing Risks in Recreational Water (2008), using a set of ‘trigger values’ published by Healthy Land & Waters. Elevated levels of enterococci will initiate either: a warning trigger - prompting daily re-sampling of a site; or an action trigger - prompting signage, public awareness, and further site investigation.

For more information environment@noosa.qld.gov.au.

Since residential development, there have been issues with bank stability and sand slips along Eastern Beaches coastal creeks ranging from the minor movement of sand to drastic slip failure. Sand slips have the potential to impact public and private assets, and the natural assets that the Shire is known for. Presently Council is undertaking bank stability works in public land at two of the Eastern Beaches coastal creeks to protect private, public and natural assets.

Traditionally Council has undertaken these works as a reactive action when sand slips happen, but this project proposed that Council adopts a process of assessing and prioritising works in the Eastern Beaches creeks to enable proactive management.  With this proactive approach, it is anticipated that potential slips stability issues will be identified early, reducing the cost of prevention, containment and rectification work, along with reducing social, environmental and water quality impacts.

For more information mail@noosa.qld.gov.au