Riverbank resilience

Bank and riparian areas along the foreshore of estuaries are vulnerable to impacts from flood events, particularly in areas where modification to the banks, or bankside vegetation has occurred.  High flow and flooding events result in erosion and adverse impacts to the estuary including loss and degradation of riparian and aquatic habitats, poor water quality, and impacts to land use and public enjoyment.

This action aims to improve or protect estuarine and riparian environmental assets from flood and erosion impacts by implementing best practice, environmentally sensitive designs at actively eroding sites and at vulnerable sites to proactively protect riverbanks and the estuary foreshore during future events.

We are assisting Councils, Agencies and landholders to assess the severity of flood impacts on estuarine assets (both built and natural), identifying and prioritising areas to focus investment in remediation works to maximise environmental outcomes.

At priority sites we are developing best practice designs to stabilise banks, protect and improve the riparian zone, improve estuarine habitat through inclusion of aquatic habitat features.

On-ground works are also being implemented with outcomes leading to increased resilience for estuarine assets in future flood events.

Get in touch with the NEAP Action 2 team:

• Jillian Reynolds (jillian.reynolds@dpird.nsw.gov.au or 0429 918 575)
• NEAP Program Lead Kylie Russell (kylie.russell@dpird.nsw.gov.au or 0417 498 623).