NSW State of the Beaches: 2020/21 report for Central Coast

The NSW State of the Beaches report has delivered mixed results for the coast with zero ‘very good’ ratings and one popular beach downgraded to ‘poor’. How did your local swimming spot rate?

Fiona Killman

@FionaKillman

3 min read

November 1, 2021 - 1:11PM

Central Coast Express Advocate

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Terrigal Beach along with four of our most pristine stretches of sand have taken a backward step in the State of the Beaches 2020/21 report.

Terrigal Beach has dropped from a ‘good’ rating last year to ‘poor’ while Soldiers Beach, Umina Beach, Macmasters Beach and Killcare Beach have been bumped down from ‘very good’ to ‘good’.

The annual report, prepared by the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, indicated that the overall performance of NSW swimming sites had declined in the past year due to wet weather conditions in coastal areas and the wettest summer in NSW since 2012.

However a ‘good’ rating has been achieved for 93 per cent of the Central Coast’s ocean beaches and all of the region’s ocean baths. Both ‘very good’ and ‘good’ rankings mean the beaches are suitable for swimming almost all of the time.

Terrigal Lagoon and Beach were rated ‘poor’ while Wamberal Beach has a ‘good rating’. Picture: Troy Snook

Central Coast Council’s director of environment and planning Scott Cox said council was pleased to see a majority of beaches “performing well in terms of water quality and suitability for swimming most of the time”.

“Improvement is needed for Terrigal Beach and at our estuarine swimming locations,” he said.

“We have improvement measures in place for Terrigal Beach and it is important to note that the site was suitable for swimming 87 per cent of the time during dry weather and that samples for the 2020-21 period were predominantly taken following rain events.”

The report stated that Terrigal was on the border of ‘poor’ and ‘good’ with the “microbial water quality” showing a decline in the past year.

“The site grade has fluctuated between Good and Poor for several years,” the report stated.

“Enterococci levels occasionally exceeded the safe swimming limit in dry weather conditions and often following light rainfall.

Macmasters Beach has gone from ‘very good ‘ to ‘good’ however is still suitable for swimming a majority of the time. Picture: @therustyphotographer

“During 2019–2020 Central Coast Council, the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) and the University of Technology Sydney investigated the scale and extent of elevated bacterial levels at Terrigal Beach. Council is using the findings from the investigation to detect and resolve water quality issues in the catchment.”

Four Central Coast estuarine beaches retained their ‘poor’ status including Davistown Baths, Pretty Beach Baths, Woy Woy Baths and Yattalunga Baths in Brisbane Water.

“Water quality at most of these sites is often suitable for swimming in dry weather conditions, with elevated levels of bacteria measured following light rainfall,” the report states.

“These sites were typically located in less well-flushed sections of the estuaries or had more significant pollution sources.”

Davistown Baths has also been rated as ‘poor’.

When it came to lake and lagoon swimming sites, the only good rating for the coast came from Summerland Point Baths.

Nine others remained ‘poor’ including Gwandalan, Chain Valley Bay and Mannering Park Baths, Lake Munmorah Baths, Canton Beach in Tuggerah Lakes and the lagoons at Wamberal, Terrigal, Avoca and Cockrone.

“Estuarine sites – such as our coastal lagoons, Brisbane Water, Tuggerah Lakes and Lake Macquarie – are particularly susceptible to stormwater pollution due to the slower natural flushing process and swimming is not recommended at these locations for three days after a rain event,” Mr Cox said.

“We should not, however, rely solely on the natural flushing process for the health of our waterways. We need to work collaboratively to manage catchment run-off and other related impacts to reduce pollutant sources entering our waterways.”

Local families will be happy to hear The Entrance Baths has come away with a ‘good’ rating. Picture: Sue Graham

The report stated that the water quality of lake and lagoon swimming sites was dependent on how close the swimming area was to the ocean and whether it was open to the ocean.

“As a general precaution, it is recommended that swimming at lake and lagoon swimming sites be avoided during and for up to three days after rainfall or if there are signs of

stormwater pollution such as discoloured water or floating debris.”

The Entrance Ocean Baths and Pearl Beach Rockpool were also graded as good and generally suitable for swimming.

Mr Cox said council had works in place including water quality testing of the waterways and testing throughout the sewer and stormwater networks, 188km of pipes inspected for defects and 1036 properties inspected for illegal connections, upgrades of defective sewer infrastructure and more 36 kilometres of sewer pipe relined and 23 illegal connections identified.