One of Western Australia’s major tourism destinations, the City of Busselton is home to the longest wooden jetty in the Southern Hemisphere.

Located in a very low lying area, this popular tourist destination is vulnerable to flooding from both winter and tropical storms and has this year received major funding to reduce the risk of coastal flooding.

Mitigating the risk of coastal flooding in the City of Busselton

Joint funding from the Commonwealth via the Preparing Australian Communities Program – Local stream and the City of Busselton is supporting the enhancement of the city’s emergency response preparedness through early warning systems, and providing physical barriers to protect against storm surges.

The project comprises four components, with the first initiative the offshore installation of a real-time seabed wave and water lever recorder near the Busselton Jetty. This will allow monitoring and validation of storm surges and improvements to real-time storm surge predictions by the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES).

The second component consists of coastal investigations, including up-to-date coastal flood modelling from tropical cyclones. The third part of the project consists of mapping the local fauna and vegetation to help understand the existing natural infrastructure.

Rounding out the final part of this project will be the design and construction of coastal levees in known vulnerable areas adjacent to the low lying part of Busselton.

Since 1910, the area has been impacted by nearly 40 tropical cyclones, leading to coastal erosion and ‘minor flooding’ due to the low-lying nature of the Busselton foreshore. Subtle changes to the timing and nature of these events over time have seen an increase of ‘moderate’ flooding, as occurred during Tropical Cyclone Alby in 1978. The risk of erosion and flooding will increase as sea levels continue to rise.

The project, anticipated to be completed in March 2025, is funded under Round 1 of the Preparing Australian Communities Program – Local stream (PACP-L). Learn how we’re supporting communities to better prepare and recover from future disasters at Preparing Australian Communities Program - Local | National Emergency Management Agency (nema.gov.au).

About this project

Who: City of Busselton

What: Mitigating the risk of coastal flooding from tropical cyclone storm surges in the large regional City of Busselton, in southwest Western Australia.

Program funding: Preparing Australian Communities Program – Local

Funding received: $ 3,532,500 (50/50 with City of Busselton – project total $7,065,000)

Benefits: This project seeks to build community resilience in emergency planning, and through impact modelling and construction of built and natural infrastructure to help protect the Busselton foreshore and nearby urban areas from storm surge flooding.

Estimated project end date: 31/03/2025

Related articles: Disaster Ready Fund to deliver long-term resilience | National Emergency Management Agency (nema.gov.au)