Successful management of seagrass wrack at Port Geographe has cleared the beach ready for summer.
Working with the City of Busselton, the Department of Transport (DoT) has removed approximately 100,000 cubic metres of seagrass wrack from the beach since July, leaving 1.5 kilometres of coastline mostly clear for the community to enjoy.
From late July earthmoving equipment was used to breakdown compact accumulations of wrack and push it to the water line prior to westerly winds and storms encouraging dispersal by waves and currents and assisting the natural flow.
The success on the Western Beach follows work in March this year pumping 20,000 cubic metres of sand from an offshore disposal area to nearby Wonnerup to replenish the beach before erosion events during winter.
Both measures were key recommendations of the Port Geographe Technical Working Group, formed to assess the performance of the reconfigured coastline and improve performance.
DoT will continue to work closely with the City and the community to manage the coastline at Port Geographe and Wonnerup delivering benefits for property owners and users.
For more information about the work visit: https://www.transport.wa.gov.au/portgeographe
As stated by Transport Minister Rita Saffioti:
"These outstanding results reinforce the value of the nine-month technical investigation that was undertaken last year and demonstrate the commitment to providing a useable beach at Port Geographe east and west of the breakwater.
"In less than a year there has been a significant change and the early results are encouraging.
"I look forward to seeing the community and tourists enjoy the beach this year."
As stated by South West MLC Jackie Jarvis:
"The seawrack at Port Geographe is well known and virtually turns our beautiful beach and coastline unusable.
"Well done to the Department of Transport and the City of Busselton for working with the community on this important project.
"I look forward to seeing the big difference it makes this summer!"
