Koombana Bay a hotspot for erosion

Experts say Koombana Bay will need annual attention and re-nourishment after the popular beach was listed as an erosion hotspot in a Statewide report revealed this week.

The Assessment of Coastal Erosion Hotspots in WA report is the first Statewide coastal erosion report in the country.

Koombana Bay was listed as having “moderate management importance” in the next five years with re-nourishment and the extension of revetment walls and groynes to be considered.

The findings came as no surprise to Dolphin Discovery Centre chief executive officer David Kerr who said erosion was considered during the tourist attraction’s multi-million-dollar redevelopment and some remedial actions had already been implemented.

“The DDC redevelopment included a buried revetment wall under the sand hill on the ocean side of the redevelopment as an insurance against potential storm damage in the future,” Mr Kerr said.

“Re-nourishment of sand by the port to the area in front of their revetment wall gradually dissipates across the whole of the beach area due to the ocean drift so provides additional protection.

“There may be a future need to provide an additional revetment structure between the current port revetment wall and the DDC buried revetment wall so this will be monitored.

“I anticipate that there will continue to be a need for beach re-nourishment annually.”

Premier Mark McGowan is expected to take the report to tomorrow’s Council of Australian Governments meeting in Cairns and use it to lobby the Commonwealth for funding to address the urgent issue.

The report identified the dominant causes of erosion-hazard risk as man-made coastal structures, inherently unstable landforms and rising sea level among other things.