The Crisafulli Government is taking action to manage shoaling at the Mooloolah River bar on the Sunshine Coast, after receiving recommendations from an independent report.
The independent review was commissioned in September 2025 after the death of experienced local skipper Robert ‘Smithy’ smith on 27 August 2025. Smithy’s untimely death was tragic and deeply impacted the Sunshine Coast Community.
The review has provided comprehensive recommendations to manage shoaling at the mouth of the Mooloolah River:
- Short term measures to manage safety risks while longer‑term works are developed will be to:
- Continue routine and targeted dredging using cutter suction dredgers.
- Improve monitoring and modelling to enable faster, more targeted dredging.
- Consider trailing suction hopper dredgers (a different dredge type) as supplementary equipment meaning greater resources for reactive dredging.
- Engage with dredging contractor to explore availability and cost for rapid‑response dredging when required.
- A long-term, two-stage approach to managing shoaling will be:
- Stage 1 – Dredge the Buddina Sand Trap, which will remove 100,000 m³ of sand from the trap and place it on Sunshine Coast beaches. It is expected this work will occur across 2026-27.
- Stage 2 – Deepen the Entrance Channel, by excavating the underlying rock to increase the entrance channel depth. It is expected this work will commence in 2026-27.
We will implement both the short and long-term strategies, with tenders to carry out the work to open in the coming weeks.
The response to the independent review comes less than a week after the introduction of legislation to create the Sunshine Coast Waterways Authority, which will give locals a greater say in how their waterways are managed.
The Sunshine Coast Waterway Authority will take long-term responsibility for managing the Mooloolah River bar and implementing recommendations from the review.
The outcome of the independent review was a direct result of community advocacy.
Myself and the community has long fought for long-term solutions to manage shoaling and create safer access at the mouth of the Mooloolah River and we are delivering.
The Sunshine Coast Waterway Authority is an important step in making our waterways safer and protecting our greatest natural assets through local feedback.
I encourage everyone who loves our waterways to make a submission to have their say on Sunshine Coast Waterway Authority and help ensure local voices are part of the conversation in managing and protecting our waterways. To make a submission CLICK HERE
