Towards a Healthy Coorong: potential infrastructure options to secure the Coorong’s future

Consultation Process

Now Closed

This online engagement was hosted on YourSAy from 7 July to 26 July 2020. Below is a record of the engagement.

Have your say on which infrastructure options to improve the Coorong’s long-term health are investigated in detail and considered for implementation.

What’s being decided?

Long-term solutions to support a healthy future for the Coorong are being explored as part of the Healthy Coorong, Healthy Basin Program, and you are invited to have your say on which infrastructure options are progressed to detailed feasibility investigations.

Healthy Coorong, Healthy Basin’s Coorong Infrastructure Investigations Project has identified a range of infrastructure options that could improve the Coorong’s long-term health.

While some of the infrastructure options were explored in the past, they are being re-investigated based on additional scientific research, community feedback, and information that will be gathered through new trials and investigations.

Engineering consultancy, Tonkin, have undertaken a technical review of previously investigated options. These ideas, along with new ideas put forward by the community, are summarised in the Towards a Healthy Coorong deliberative guide.

The next step is to narrow these options down and short-list the infrastructure options for detailed feasibility investigations based on which provide the greatest benefit to the Coorong, particularly the southern lagoon, and address the environmental, social and cultural criteria identified by scientific experts, First Nations and the community.

The main criterium for assessing these options is:

• they contribute to improving the ecology of the South Lagoon as determined by scientific evidence, given water availability and constraints.

Other assessment criteria to consider are whether the options:

• protect sites and areas of all cultural, Indigenous and broader community significance
• provide a long-term solution that can be sustainably managed
• reflect the needs of the community
• grow/support local economic opportunities and education now and into the future
• enable continued and enhanced use of the wetland in a sustainable manner
• are able to be adaptable, flexible and are aesthetically sensitive.

Get involved

You can help short-list which projects are investigated in detail by considering the following resources:

• Towards a Healthy Coorong deliberative guide, providing information about each option being considered
• The assessment criteria, outlining what the infrastructure must or must not do to be considered an appropriate solution
• Desired State of the Southern Coorong discussing scientific knowledge of the southern Coorong and describing what we think ‘a healthy Coorong’ looks like.

To have your say:

• join the online discussion
• complete the online survey
• join in one of our webinars
• join in one of our community workshops
• email your feedback to projectcoorong@sa.gov.au

Please note: Your submissions and survey responses may be made publicly available unless you indicate on the submission or survey that you wish for these to remain confidential. Any responses that are made on a confidential basis may still be subject to access under Freedom of Information laws.

How can your input influence the decision?

Your input will help identify which of the infrastructure options will progress to detailed feasibility investigations and be considered for implementation.

What are the next steps?

This is the first step of a 1-2 year in-depth consideration across three distinct stages:

1. Identify and shortlist options (to mid-late 2020)
2. Detailed feasibility investigations of shortlisted options (to mid-late 2021)
3. Develop business case/s for funding from the Australian Government for feasible options (to late 2021/early 2022)

First Nations, local communities and the broader South Australian communities will have the opportunity to help shape each of these stages.

Feasible long-term options for improving the Coorong’s health will be delivered in the next phase of the project, from 2022 to 2024.

Contact details

For more information:

E: projectcoorong@sa.gov.au

Closing date: 5pm, Sunday 26 July 2020 

Background

Now Closed

This online engagement was hosted on YourSAy from 7 July to 26 July 2020. Below is a record of the engagement.

The Coorong is a national treasure, recognised with lakes Alexandrina and Albert under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international significance, supporting endangered migratory birds from across the world, threatened wildlife and rare plants.

Following the devastating impacts of the Millennium Drought and years of basin-wide over-allocation, the Coorong has shown positive signs of recovery due to a range of work undertaken and continuing in the region, but more work is needed to restore the South Lagoon back to health.

As part of the broader Project Coorong initiative, the Healthy Coorong, Healthy Basin Program is supporting the long-term health of the Coorong, with a focus on the Coorong South Lagoon.

Our vision for the Coorong is a healthy, productive and resilient wetland system that maintains its international significance.

The Desired State of the Southern Coorong discussion paper seeks to build a shared understanding of the existing and emerging scientific knowledge of the southern Coorong and describe what we think the the condition of the southern Coorong should be so we can guide management priorities and actions and help to restore its ecological character.

The Healthy Coorong, Healthy Basin Program is investigating and delivering on-ground works, management tools, research, trials and other activities required to support a healthy future for the Coorong.

Maintaining the long-term ecological health and resilience of the Coorong may not be achievable through improved knowledge and water resource optimisation alone. There is growing acceptance that additional management options may be required, particularly in the face of climate change.

Healthy Coorong, Healthy Basin’s Coorong Infrastructure Investigations Project will investigate the technical feasibility, the environmental, social and cultural benefits as well as the impacts of long-term management solutions to support the long-term health of the Coorong.

As a first stage of this process, environmental, social and cultural criteria were identified by scientific experts, First Nations and community representatives to help prioritise which projects should be investigated in detail.

Community representatives determined the most important outcome is finding the option/s that best contribute to improving the Coorong South Lagoon’s ecology, as determined by scientific evidence, given water availability and constraints.

They also identified it was very important that the selection option/s:

• protect sites and areas of all cultural, Indigenous and broader community significance
• provide a long-term solution that can be sustainably managed
• reflect the needs of the community
• grow/support local economic opportunities and education now and into the future
• enable continued and enhanced use of the wetland in a sustainable manner
• are able to be adaptable, flexible and are aesthetically sensitive.

These essential outcomes have been used as the criteria for the community to consider when helping short-list options to be investigated in detail.

The Healthy Coorong, Healthy Basin Program is a $70 million Australian and South Australian governments’ commitment to restore a healthy Coorong, with a specific focus on the Coorong South Lagoon.