Draft Shoalhaven River Entrance Management Policy on Public Exhibition
Council has recently completed a review of the entrance management arrangements for the Shoalhaven River at Shoalhaven Heads, which have informed the updated Shoalhaven River Entrance Management Policy. This has occurred separately to the Lower Shoalhaven River Coastal Management Program (CMP) and Lower Shoalhaven River Floodplain Risk Management Study & Plan (FRMSP) projects.
The Draft Shoalhaven River Entrance Management Policy and Draft Review of Environmental Factors (REF) is now on public exhibition following a series of technical studies.
The community is invited to provide submissions on the draft Shoalhaven River EMP until Sunday 23 March 2025, prior to the document being finalised.
The EMP takes into consideration a range of environmental factors and includes the outcome of an evidence-based, technical review of the trigger levels to inform the entrance management options within the document. A short video has been prepared which summarises the outcomes of the technical review and can be viewed in the Document Library on the Shoalhaven Entrance Management Policy Review webpage.
View the draft Shoalhaven River EMP via the Document Library on the Shoalhaven Entrance Management Policy Review webpage or through Council’s Documents on Exhibition webpage.
The Lower Shoalhaven River Entrance Management Policy Trigger Level Review has helped inform the draft Shoalhaven River EMP and can also be viewed in the Document Library on the Shoalhaven Entrance Management Policy Review webpage.
The draft Shoalhaven River Entrance Opening Review of Environmental Factors (REF) can also be viewed in the Document Library on the Shoalhaven Entrance Management Policy Review webpage.
To help explain the complexities of entrance management, Council have also prepared a brief, educational video, which can be found on the Shoalhaven Entrance Management Policy Review webpage. The video discusses how the entrance to the Shoalhaven River naturally behaves, how Council manages the river entrance and why the entrance is not opened outside of flood conditions. We encourage you to watch the video prior to providing your submission.
The purpose of an EMP is to assist with flood mitigation to habitable floor areas in low-lying properties for smaller more frequent flood events. It is important to highlight that an EMP will not prevent flooding from occurring in flood prone areas, nor does it intend to, and that occupying flood prone land therefore comes at a risk. Potential flood mitigation measures are being investigated as part of the Lower Shoalhaven River FRMSP.
To make a submission on the draft Shoalhaven River EMP, visit the Documents on Exhibition webpage.
