Terrigal poor water quality: group calls for action

Water quality has been a problem at the Central Coast’s premier tourism destination for more than a decade and residents say something has to be done to fix it. A public meeting is planned.

Terrigal water quality: Terrigal beach water turned brown by stormwater run-off.

It was 2010 the last time Terrigal Beach water quality was rated as good and beach users say enough is enough.

Terrigal Haven Supporters Group has launched a public campaign to improve water quality in the area which has been found to be poor in almost every NSW Government Beachwatch survey since the start of the decade.

Terrigal Haven Supporters Group members David Mylan, Ros Fuller and Emily Clegg are campaigning for action to improve declining water quality at Terrigal particularly around The Haven. Picture: AAP /Sue Graham.

Considered to be the region’s premier tourist destination, Terrigal Beach was rated as good only in 2009-10 and 2010-11 while Terrigal Lagoon was rated poor or very poor in every survey.

Supporters group members Emily Clegg, David Mylan and Tony Horwood all take the plunge regularly at The Haven with various swim groups and estimated that at least 100 others do the same.

“All of the swimmers have anecdotal evidence that water quality has become worse over the last ten years just from observation and a decline in the fish population that we’ve been seeing — and that’s on top of the Beachwatch data,” Ms Clegg said.

View over Terrigal showing large area of discoloured water.

“Terrigal’s a huge tourist destination but its also got a really buzzing lively community, a very active surf club, a huge number of nippers,” she said.

“We also have a lot of marine life worth protecting — a colony of grey nurse sharks in the area, resident sea turtles, octopus and fiddler rays — which is something we really want to protect.”

David Mylan said the Beachwatch report showed Terrigal unfavourably for water quality compared to beaches from the Illawarra, Sydney, Central Coast and Hunter.

“We see it through stormwater run off, we see it through sewerage overflows and we’ve noticed that council is concerned about it enough that they now put up warning signs saying that if there has been a rain event you should stay out of the water for up to three days,” Mr Mylan said.

Water-pollution warning sign put up by Central Coast Council.

“We want to see the water cleaned up at Terrigal Haven and the users stop having to complain about the poor quality,” he said.

“We want to ensure that children and families swimming at The Haven are not being subjected to poor water quality which could cause health issues.

“We’d like to see the various levels of government realise there is a groundswell of community demand that action is taken to move Terrigal Beach and Lagoon from poor to good and we want to know how they are going to do it.”

Storm water pouring into Terrigal Haven.

PUBLIC MEETING

The Haven Supporters Group will hold a public meeting on the issue on Wednesday, February 13 at 10am at Terrigal Surf Club.

Terrigal State Liberal MP Adam Crouch and Central Coast Council representatives are expected to attend.

Results are bleak

A decade of water quality testing at Central Coast beaches, baths, lakes and creeks paint a bleak picture.

Only small progress toward improvement has been made and only in some cases — Terrigal lagoon has moved from being very poor at the beginning of the decade to just poor in recent years.

Coastal lagoons remain a serious problem with Terrigal, Wamberal and Avoca and Cockrone lagoons rated poor in almost every year.

Cockrone Lagoon between Copacabana and MacMasters Beach and other coastal lagoons have regularly been rated poor for water quality.

Swimming enclosures around Brisbane Water Estuary (Davistown, Yattalunga, Woy Woy) and in the Tuggerah Lakes system (Lake Munmorah) have stayed at the poor level.

Canton Beach, Gwandalan and Chain Valley Bay are regularly rated as poor.

Locations that are rated poor if they have faecal pollution (from sewerage) and microbial water quality is not always suitable for swimming. At poor locations, after rain swimming should be avoided for at least three days.

Davistown baths have been regularly rated poor for water quality.

A very poor rating means faecal pollution (from sewerage) and microbial water quality is not always suitable for swimming — but in this case, swimming is not recommended at any time.

Beachwatch blames rainfall as the major driver of pollution, generating stormwater run-off and triggering discharges from the wastewater treatment and transport systems.