OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENT & HERITAGE State of the beaches 2017-2018 Sydney region Beachwatch www.environment.nsw.gov.au/beachwatch © 2018 State of NSW and Office of Environment and Heritage With the exception of photographs, the State of NSW and Office of Environment and Heritage are pleased to allow this material to be reproduced in whole or in part for educational and non-commercial use, provided the meaning is unchanged and its source, publisher and authorship are acknowledged. Specific permission is required for the reproduction of photographs. The Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) has compiled this report in good faith, exercising all due care and attention. No representation is made about the accuracy, completeness or suitability of the information in this publication for any particular purpose. OEH shall not be liable for any damage which may occur to any person or organisation taking action or not on the basis of this publication. 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Published by: Office of Environment and Heritage 59 Goulburn Street, Sydney NSW 2000 PO Box A290, Sydney South NSW 1232 Phone: +61 2 9995 5000 (switchboard) Phone: 131 555 (environment information and publications requests) Phone: 1300 361 967 (national parks, general environmental enquiries, and publications requests) Fax: +61 2 9995 5999 TTY users: phone 133 677, then ask for 131 555 Speak and listen users: phone 1300 555 727, then ask for 131 555 Email: [email protected] Website: www.environment.nsw.gov.au Report pollution and environmental incidents Environment Line: 131 555 (NSW only) or [email protected] See also www.environment.nsw.gov.au ISBN 978-1-925754-16-2 OEH 2018/0382 October 2018 Find out more about your environment at: www.environment.nsw.gov.au Contents Sydney region summary 2017–2018 1 Beach monitoring in NSW 1 Rainfall impacts 1 Northern Sydney (Pittwater to Manly) 8 Overall results 8 Management 10 Palm Beach 14 Whale Beach 15 Avalon Beach 16 Bilgola Beach 17 Newport Beach 18 Bungan Beach 19 Mona Vale Beach 20 Warriewood Beach 21 Turimetta Beach 22 North Narrabeen Beach 23 Narrabeen Lagoon (Birdwood Park) 24 Bilarong Reserve 25 Collaroy Beach 26 Long Reef Beach 27 Dee Why Beach 28 North Curl Curl Beach 29 South Curl Curl Beach 30 Freshwater Beach 31 Queenscliff Beach 32 North Steyne Beach 33 South Steyne Beach 34 Shelly Beach 35 Barrenjoey Beach 36 Paradise Beach Baths 37 Clareville Beach 38 Taylors Point Baths 39 Bayview Baths 40 iii Elvina Bay 41 North Scotland Island 42 South Scotland Island 43 The Basin 44 Great Mackerel Beach 45 Central Sydney (Bondi to Little Bay & Sydney Harbour) 46 Overall results 46 Management 49 Bondi Beach 58 Tamarama Beach 59 Bronte Beach 60 Clovelly Beach 61 Gordons Bay 62 Coogee Beach 63 Maroubra Beach 64 South Maroubra Beach 65 South Maroubra Rockpool 66 Malabar Beach 67 Little Bay Beach 68 Camp Cove 69 Watsons Bay 70 Parsley Bay 71 Nielsen Park 72 Rose Bay Beach 73 Murray Rose Pool 74 Dawn Fraser Pool 75 Chiswick Baths 76 Cabarita Beach 77 Woolwich Baths 78 Tambourine Bay 79 Woodford Bay 80 Greenwich Baths 81 Hayes Street Beach 82 Clifton Gardens 83 Balmoral Baths 84 iv Edwards Beach 85 Chinamans Beach 86 Northbridge Baths 87 Davidson Reserve 88 Gurney Crescent Baths 89 Clontarf Pool 90 Forty Baskets Pool 91 Fairlight Beach 92 Manly Cove 93 Little Manly Cove 94 Southern Sydney (Sutherland beaches, lower Georges River, Botany Bay & Port Hacking) 95 Overall results 95 Management 97 Boat Harbour 105 Greenhills Beach 106 Wanda Beach 107 Elouera Beach 108 North Cronulla Beach 109 South Cronulla Beach 110 Shelly Beach 111 Oak Park 112 Silver Beach 113 Como Baths 114 Jew Fish Bay Baths 115 Oatley Bay Baths 116 Carss Point Baths 117 Sandringham Baths 118 Dolls Point Baths 119 Ramsgate Baths 120 Monterey Baths 121 Brighton-Le-Sands Baths 122 Kyeemagh Baths 123 Foreshores Beach 124 Yarra Bay 125 v Frenchmans Bay 126 Congwong Bay 127 Jibbon Beach 128 Horderns Beach 129 Gymea Bay Baths 130 Lilli Pilli Baths 131 Gunnamatta Bay Baths 132 How to read this report 133 Beach Suitability Grades 133 Explanation of tables 138 Explanation of graphs, charts, and information bars on beach pages 139 References 142 vi Recreational water quality has been monitored in the Sydney region since 1989 by the Office of Environment and Heritage’s Beachwatch program. This report summarises the performance of 97 swimming sites in the Sydney region, providing a long-term assessment of how suitable a site is for swimming. Monitored sites include ocean beaches, a lagoon, a rockpool and estuarine sites in Pittwater, Sydney Harbour, Botany Bay, lower Georges River and Port Hacking. In 2017–2018, 90% of swimming sites in the Sydney region were graded as Good or Very Good. These sites were suitable for swimming for most or almost all of the time. This is an improvement in performance from the previous year when 84% of sites were graded Good or Very Good. This is an excellent result, reflecting prolonged dry weather conditions. The Sydney region has a large proportion of lagoon and estuarine swimming locations which have been most susceptible to impacts from significant rain events. vii NSW State of the beaches 2017–2018 Sydney region summary 2017–2018 Beach monitoring in NSW The water quality of beaches and other swimming locations is monitored under the NSW Government’s Beachwatch programs to provide the community with accurate information on the cleanliness of the water and to enable individuals to make informed decisions about where and when to swim. Routine assessment also measures the impact of pollution sources, enables the effectiveness of stormwater and wastewater management practices to be assessed and highlights areas where further work is needed. Swimming sites in New South Wales are graded as Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor or Very Poor in accordance with the National Health and Medical Research Council’s 2008 Guidelines for Managing Risks in Recreational Waters. Mona Vale Beach These Beach Suitability Grades provide a long-term Photo: Cameron Board/OEH assessment of how suitable a beach is for swimming. The grades are determined from the most recent 100 water quality results (two to four years’ worth of data depending on the sampling frequency) and a risk assessment of potential pollution sources. See the section on Recreational water quality has been monitored in the Quality assurance in Sydney region since 1989 by the Office of Environment the Statewide Summary and Heritage’s Beachwatch program. for results of the quality assurance program. A quality assurance program ensures that the information collected and reported by Beachwatch is accurate and reliable. Rainfall impacts Rainfall is the major driver of pollution to recreational waters, During 2017–2018, 97 generating stormwater runoff and triggering discharges from swimming sites were the wastewater treatment and transport systems. Changes in monitored including rainfall patterns are reflected in beach water quality over time ocean beaches, a due to variation in the frequency and extent of stormwater lagoon, a rockpool and and wastewater inputs. estuarine sites in The Beach Suitability Grades for 2017–2018 are based on Pittwater, Sydney water quality data collected over the last two to four years. Harbour, Botany Bay, Rainfall over this period has been diverse, beginning in 2014 lower Georges River with a very wet year for the coast, followed by variable and Port Hacking. rainfall with some heavy rain events, as well as extended dry periods broken by heavy rain at times: 1 NSW State of the beaches 2017–2018 • 2014–2015: wet summer with above average rainfall, particularly on the coast • 2015–2016: wet summer, with well above average rainfall during January, including significant storm events causing heavy rain and flooding in coastal areas • 2016–2017: the wettest March on record for many coastal areas and intense storm activity over summer • 2017–2018: prolonged dry weather periods broken by heavy rain at times. Sydney experienced prolonged dry weather periods throughout 2017–2018 with average to below-average See the section on How rainfall recorded. Sydney Observatory Hill recorded its driest on to read this report winter since 2009, driest autumn since 2006, and driest page 133 for an September on record. June 2017 was the exception, with explanation of the above average rainfall, including a particularly wet period at graphs, tables and the beginning of the month. Heavy rain fell over four days Beach Suitability from 7–10 June, with 158mm at Sydney Observatory Hill, Grades. 144mm at Randwick and 126mm at Avalon Beach. Despite the relatively dry conditions, several significant wet weather events occurred during summer and brought heavy rain at times. Notably, daily rainfall totals of 72mm at Avalon Beach, 69mm at Sydney Observatory Hill and 34mm at San Souci were recorded on 26 February. Beachwatch issues Health risks daily beach pollution forecasts to enable Contamination of recreational waters with faecal beach goers to make material from animal and human sources can pose informed decisions significant health problems to beach users owing to the about where and when presence of pathogens (disease-causing micro- to swim.