Atmosphere
Page 133
Condition Indicator:
Sea level rise data
Condition Indicator:
Trends in tidal and storm surge data on the Port Adelaide
Enfield coast and the Port Adelaide River
Sea level rise – science and monitoring
Actual coastal sea levels around Australia are monitored by the National Tidal
Facility which has monitoring points in every state. The monitoring methods are
described in the Bureau of Meteorology report at:-
Until 2012, one of the monitoring points was at Port Stanvac in metropolitan
Adelaide, which provides a valuable measure of actual sea level rise for the
Adelaide coast.. NTF monitoring shows that actual sea levels are rising along
the Adelaide coastline by 4.5 mm per year, based on the last decade of
monitoring.
As well as real-time measurement of the current situation, it is possible to
predict future sea levels via the modelling methodologies designed by the
international scientific community and published in the reports prepared by the
International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC). The SA Coast Protection Board
(CPB) use these projections to devise planning policy that will allow for today’s
coastal developments to be able to accommodate and be protected from future
sea level rise. Using the accepted sea level rise projections, the CPB require
compulsorily that all development in coastal areas ( including roads and other
infrastructure) be built to have a floor level at a specified height above predicted
sea levels (to 2050 and 2100 respectively). Alternatively, a developer may
propose another appropriate means that can be demonstrated as having the
required affect of protecting the development into the future.
The Port Adelaide and Lefevre Peninsula Seawater and Stormwater Risk
Treatment Study
The above CPB policy can be applied only to
new
developments (houses, walls
etc), and does not assist with protection of existing areas. In 2005 Port Adelaide
Enfield Council saw an emerging need to assess the local impacts of predicted
sea level rise and storm surges, and prepare a more strategic guideline for
adaptation and protection of both existing
and
new development and other
environmental assets. The
Port Adelaide and Lefevre Seawater and Stormwater
Risk Treatment Study
was initiated by Council, in collaboration with key State
agencies and the Commonwealth government, to assess the likely impacts of
sea level rise in the local area.
Stage 1 of the project provided detailed assessments of the potential seawater
inundation that will occur in the area, under a range of sea level rise scenarios
recommended by the IPCC guidelines. The study showed that significant areas
are at risk of inundation from rising sea levels over the next century, if no
adaptation action is taken to address the risk.
