Coastal Management and Waterways

There is over 500km of coastline in the Whitsunday Region with only about 12km used for urban development. Where urban and residential areas are located on the coast, often these foreshore areas have competing uses. In addition, several of our urban coastal settlements are experiencing climate change impacts such as coastal erosion, increased storm surge and sea level rise. We have developed several foreshore management plans to proactively respond to these issues which affect our coastline. 

Coastal management plans are currently in place for the following areas: 

Coastal Hazard Adaptation Strategy 

We are taking a proactive approach to climate change, by identifying climate change adaptation as a key focus for the region. With our extensive coastline, the Whitsunday Region and its residents are vulnerable to the long-term impacts of climate change.

Part of our proactive strategy is the development of a Coastal Hazard Adaptation Strategy (CHAS). The strategy aims to identify and respond to coastal hazards now and in the future. The CHAS has been in development since 2016 and is partly funded by the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) under the QCoast 2100 program.

The CHAS will be a land use and community planning tool in response to changes to the coastline in the future from storm surge and coastal erosion. The final CHAS strategy was completed in mid 2021. Find out more about how we have involved the community on Your Say Whitsunday. 

34 scientific studies were completed over the past five years, including the development of up-to-date mapping which shows predicted levels of sea inundation and storm surge, available on our website.

Erosion and Sediment Control and stormwater management

In 2018 we developed an Erosion and Sediment Control Policy and supporting Program to reduce sediment loss from development sites. This applies to our work sites and private development sites regulated under the Queensland Planning Act. The aim of the Policy is to reduce sediment impacting on coastal waterways and the Great Barrier Reef.

Our aim is to reduce sediment loss from our work sites and work with the development industry to ensure best-practice methods are adopted. To assist the development industry a series of fact sheets have been developed.

We have also developed stormwater management guidelines, which clearly articulate our requirements for the development industry to manage environmental impacts on stormwater. This will help reduce contaminants such as heavy metals, nutrients and litter entering our waterways from urban areas.

Riparian Creek Restoration

Our creeks and waterways are very important for our Region’s biodiversity. Vegetated creek banks or riparian areas provide vital habitat for our native animals and help reduce pollutants reaching our waterways. We work in partnership with regional Natural Resource Management Groups such as Reef Catchments, NQ Dry Tropics and Whitsunday Catchment Landcare on projects to help restore vegetation in key locations.

Marine Debris

Litter from urban areas can find its way into our coastal waters and impact on marine habitats and animals. We are implementing measures to reduce litter entering our waterways, such as installing more rubbish bins in commercial areas, regular street cleaning in our main streets, and installing litter collection devices to stop litter being blown or washed into our waterways. We work with community groups to promote greater awareness of the impact of marine debris on our natural environment.