Living Shorelines and restoration of and Barker Inlet Estuary

Presentation to Port U3A 29th August 2017 Catherine McMahon, Estuary Care Foundation Port River and Barker Inlet Estuary

Aerial view photo 2008 by Gary Sauer-Thompson Ecosystem services Nature-based solutions

• Nature based solutions can lessen the impact of sea level rise and be used instead of or in conjunction with hard structures • Pollution into the Port River has lessened, making nature based solutions more viable • Restoration of the Estuary is the focus of the Estuary Care Foundation SA, formed in 2016 US model of restoration

www.cbf.org July 2016 Nature-based solutions Key priorities of the Foundation • Living Shorelines • Shellfish Restoration • Seagrass Restoration • Community education and engagement What the future holds

AdaptWest, regional climate adaptation plan What the future holds Living Shorelines

• Eco-engineering • Environmentally friendly sea walls (NSW) • Coastal Resilience (USA) USA – Coastal Resilience

http://coastalresilience.org hosted by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Living Shorelines

• shoreline protection options • offer erosion control benefits • natural coastal processes remain • strategically place plants, stone, sand fill and other materials USA experience How cost effective is natural infrastructure?

The Nature Conservancy

13 Examples of Living Shorelines

This living shoreline replaced a failing bulkhead at a state boat ramp on the Chowan River, North Carolina (Source: Coastal Review Online) Examples of Living Shorelines

Avon River Environment Association (Canada) building a Living Shoreline 2010 Example of Living Shoreline, NSW

Carss bush park seawall with rockpools, extended slope, crevices, endangered saltmarsh, Kogarah Council 2016 Living Shoreline – Port River

Drawings: Peri Coleman 2015 Mangroves protect our shoreline Mangroves protect our shoreline Mangroves protect our shoreline Protecting the mangroves

Info by Peri Coleman Shaping our landscape

Port waterfront in early 19th Century Shaping our landscape Nature of our landscape

Northern sketch map B.C. Cotton 1954 Levee bank breached at Mutton Cove

9th May 2016, anticipated 2.7m tide recorded at 3.9m at OH Mutton Cove after the breach

Photograph Sept 14th 2016, approx 2.2m tide 2016 flooding with high tide

Portside Messenger: Flooding near Birkenhead Bridge, May 2016 Further development

Areas for Port redevelopment Inadequate shoreline protection

Raised buildings and eroding seawall, NewPort Quays Shoreline protection needed Trialling Living Shorelines

• Desirably in Inner Harbour • National Disaster Resilience Program application by Foundation • State Government funding to support urban renewal Seagrass Restoration

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaJG-xQJrvY Seagrass in Port River

Zostera in Port River; photo by Kym Murphy Little Ravens walking on Zostera, northern end of Mutton Cove, low tide, 27 October 2015; photo by Kym Murphy SARDI 2014

Zostera near Quarantine Station, , Feb 2017; photo by Peter Carter Seagrass around remains of Dorothy H Sterling; photo by Steve Duncan Community Education Community Education Estuary Care Foundation Inc http://lefevre.noticeboard.net.au/?page_id=901

Catherine McMahon

[email protected]

0413 578086