Protecting our precious coastline
More activities, attractions and events for locals and visitors
What we’ll do
A Marshall Liberal Government will protect our pristine coastline and amazing beaches by investing in a suite of measures to ensure our beaches can be enjoyed for years to come.
An additional $5.2 million will be directed towards practical measures as well as important research and development, acknowledging that things must be done differently to sustain our coastal environment.
Specific measures will include:
- increased investment in sand replenishment
- a research and development fund to investigate additional sand retention measures
- funding for seagrass meadow restoration, which will keep sand in place naturally
- limiting harmful stormwater runoff
- naturally retaining sand while also boosting fishing and tourism by creating three artificial reefs.
Why we’re doing it
South Australia has 5,067 km of coastline.
It is one of our most precious natural resources and it’s a crucial drawcard for our tourism industry.
Our coast is loved by many but it is suffering from the effects of significant storms over recent winters which have caused millions of dollars of damage and depleted beaches of thousands of tonnes of sand.
Loss of sand dune systems, seagrass meadows and beach sand has diminished natural barriers to erosion, putting infrastructure including residential housing and commercial property, at risk.
In 2013, the Weatherill Government’s much lauded sand pumping pipeline opened with the aim of replacing much of the sand trucking activity. But the pipeline was under-engineered and over-spruiked, unable to transfer the volumes of sand needed to contend with increasing winter storms.
While the pipeline retains some value, by itself it is not up to the job needed.
That’s why we will increase and expand on the measures taken to protect our precious coastline.