SA’s local government sector awarded nearly $7 million in coastal management funding
Funding was provided through the Federal Government’s $50 million Coastal and Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program.
The Coastal Adaptation for South Australia project – a partnership between the LGA and the South Australian Government’s Department for Environment and Water – is a response to the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements, which highlighted the need to mitigate risk to low lying coastal communities with predicted sea level rises and more regular and intense storm surges.
Currently, 34 of 68 councils in SA have coastal management responsibilities.
The LGA project will accelerate the development of adaptation plans by establishing a foundation of quality data and ongoing monitoring and building council and community capacity to underpin disaster risk and vulnerability assessment.
The project was awarded nearly $3.71 million through the latest federal funding round, with five South Australian councils – Alexandrina, Barunga West, Kingston, Lower Eyre Peninsula and Victor Harbor – also sharing in a collective $3.03 million of grant support to lead the way on coastal hazard mitigation in South Australia.
LGA Chief Executive Officer Clinton Jury welcomed the funding, which will help to provide councils and coastal communities with more consistent and repeatable methods for collecting data, identifying hazards, and assessing risks for better adaptation planning and prioritisation across the state.
“The LGA welcomes federal and state government support for these initiatives, which will significantly advance our strategic contribution to coastal management issues in South Australia,” Mr Jury said.
“The coastal adaptation project will provide councils with greater confidence to assess and prioritise high risk locations with increased rigour and ensure South Australia is in line with other states in being able to strategically manage coastal disaster risk.”
The Coastal Adaptation project includes $2.31 million of in-kind support from the South Australian Government’s Department for Environment and Water, the LGA and other councils.
It will build on existing coastal adaptation planning experience in SA to extend the practical lessons learnt locally and regionally across the state.
South Australian funding recipients:
| Project title | Recipient | Description | Funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Barunga West Council Coastal Protection Project | Barunga West Council | Implementation of a range of nature-based measures focused on protecting assets from coastal erosion. | $359,000 |
| Coastal Adaptation for South Australia: Bringing science and people together to mitigate coastal risks | Local Government Association of South Australia | Development of a statewide quality data and monitoring framework to underpin disaster risk and vulnerability assessment and build local capacity for adaptation planning by all SA coastal councils. | $3,707,000 |
Encounter Bay Coastal Protection Sea Wall | City of Victor Harbor | Construction of a seawall to create a resilient foreshore in a low-lying part of Victor Harbor increasingly exposed to seawater inundation due to storm surge and sea level rise. | $518,000 |
| Wyomi Stage 2 Seawall Construction | Kingston District Council | Extension of protection works at Wyomi Beach with a rock seawall to the north and south of the existing seawall. | $1,953,750 |
| Data Collection and Modelling Study: Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot, South Australia | Alexandrina Council | Data collection and modelling to support master planning and future-proofing Horseshoe Bay and its intrinsic value for the community. | $112,500 |
| Lower Eyre Peninsula Coastal Adaptation and Emergency Management Strategy | District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula | Identification of coastal hazard risk, mitigation and management measures for the development of coastal adaptation strategies for North Shields and Tulka, and emergency management plans for Tulka and Farm Beach. | $60,000 |
For further information contact: LGA Media: 0476 853 689 | media@lga.sa.gov.au