Bundaberg Region Coastal Hazard Adaptation Strategy

Step 1. Monitor Sea Level Rise

Step 2. Understand exposure to coastal hazard

Step 3. Choose your adaptation pathway from the Strategy and Action Plan

The CHAS will be used to:

• Enable us to be better prepared to address the impacts of coastal hazard
• Understand the vulnerabilities and risks to communities, infrastructure and the environment
• Make meaningful trigger and risk-based decisions for investment along the Bundaberg coastline in the public interest.
• Provide a strategic long term vision for coastal settlements and a level of certainty in our response to climate risks “Certainty in an uncertain world”.

• Phases 1 to 8 are now finalised and adopted by Council at Ordinary Meeting on 29 September 2020
• Phase 1 complete in 2017, involved the preparation of a life-of-project Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Plan.
• Phase 2 complete in 2017, involved the preparation of a Scoping Report which identified existing information that Council can use to inform the development of the CHAS.
• Phase 3 complete in January 2019, involved identifying the areas exposed to coastal hazard both now and in the future. Mapping is available in the Document Library of this site.
• Phase 4 complete in July 2019 mapped and prioritised key assets exposed to coastal hazards
• Phase 5 complete in October 2019 involved a settlement-specific risk assessment and identifying sea level rise triggers for adaptation.
• Phase 6 complete in March 2020 involved identifying, discussion and shortlisting adaptation options and potential pathway approaches.
• Phase 7 complete in June 2020 involved the appraisal of the shortlisted options and prioritisation of adaptation options in preferred pathways.
• Phase 8 complete in September 2020 summarises the Coastal Hazard Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan to reduce coastal hazard risk across future sea level rise scenarios. You can download the final strategy here or access from the Document Libary

Stakeholder engagement underpinned the development of Bundaberg Coastal Hazard Adaptation Strategy. The Community Reference Group (CRG) was formed to provide input into the development of the Strategy and assist Council to connect the local community to project information.

Throughout all aspects of work the Strategy has utilised a co-design approach wherein the CRG provided local knowledge and information, validated the technical findings and played a crucial role in the shaping of the Strategy document.

All of the CRG meeting minutes are available in our Document Library along with a Stakeholder Communication and Engagement Summary Report of all activities completed during the project.

The effect on coastal water of a storm surge combined with the normally occurring astronomical tide.

Temporary flooding of a portion of land, a localised increase (or decrease) in ocean water levels caused by high winds and reduced atmospheric pressures associated with a storm event.

The loss of land or the removal of beach or dune sediments by wave action, wind action, tidal currents or water flows or permanent inundation due to sea-level rise.

Rise in average sea level that results in permanent inundation of property and infrastructure by sea water. Council measures sea level using the Bureau of Meteorology SEAFRAME stations. The tide gauge at Rosslyn Bay (near Yeppoon) is part of that network and is managed to accurately record sea level change and sea level trends. This data will be used as the sea level rise evidence base for the Bundaberg region.

For more information on sea level rise visit:

www.qld.gov.au/environment/coasts-waterways/plans/hazards/sea-level-mapping 

www.stateoftheenvironment.des.qld.gov.au/climate/coasts-and-oceans/sea-level

https://research.csiro.au/slrwavescoast/sea-level

http://www.bom.gov.au/oceanography/projects/abslmp/abslmp.shtml

Actions undertaken to eliminate or limit the risks posed by a coastal hazard. 

A system or community’s ability to rapidly accommodate and recover from the impacts of hazards, restore essential and desired functionality, and adapt to new circumstances.

The conditions determined by physical, social, economic and environmental factors or processes, which increase the susceptibility of a community to the impact of hazards.

Combines an understanding of the likelihood of a hazardous event occurring with an assessment of its impact.

The level of risk, sufficiently low that society is comfortable with. Society does not generally consider expenditure in further reducing such risks justifiable or required.

The level of risk that, following an understanding of the likelihood and consequences, is low enough to allow the exposure to continue, and at the same time high enough to require new treatments or actions to reduce risk. Society can live with this risk but believes that, as much as is reasonably practical, steps should be taken to reduce the risk further.

The level of risk that, following an understanding of the likelihood and consequences, is so high that it requires actions to avoid or reduce the risk.

A serious disruption in a community, caused by the impact of an event that requires a significant coordinated response by the State and other entities to help the community to recover from the disruption.

An approach for enabling systematic adjustment of adaptation strategies in response to new information or changing circumstances.

Continue to use the land and maintain the current risk level. These options include ongoing work in the areas of disaster management, land use planning, asset planning and maintenance, and community education and awareness programs. These activities do not remove the risk or the hazard.

Use of physical interventions that modify our settlements where the risk becomes intolerable. These include soft solutions such as beach nourishment and physical options such as raising key access roads to mitigate isolation risks; seawalls or storm surge barriers to protect the land from the sea.

Relocate or withdraw assets that are exposed to intolerable risks, options in this category include tenure transition and land swap. Land Use and Tenure Transition is complex due to high capitalisation of coastal land and is generally only appropriate in certain circumstances when the land value becomes a true reflection of the risk level.