2023/24 NSW State of the Beaches Report shows improvements on the Central Coast

Central Coast Council has welcomed the findings of the NSW Government’s 2023/24 State of the Beaches report which has rated water quality at all of the areas beaches as either ‘good’ or ‘very good’ - an improvement on the 2022/23 Report.

The Council has also acknowledged the significance of Terrigal Beach's improvement to 'good' after three years of a 'poor' rating, which the Council says "is a great result".

Released by the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, the yearly report gives a grading for each designated swim site from ‘very good’ to ‘poor’ as an indicator of suitability for swimming.  

The report is linked to the Beachwatch Program, a NSW wide program aimed at monitoring beaches and other swimming sites to ensure that they are safe for recreational swimming and when they are not, it provides a vehicle for warning the community of this.

Central Coast Council monitors 32 recreational sites across the coast - 15 Ocean Beaches, three Ocean baths, four coastal lagoons and 10 estuary sites.

Explaining that latest  ratings for the Coast’s beaches were “really pleasing” - in particular for Terrigal Beach, Central Coast Council Director Environment and Planning, Jamie Loader stated “it is really a great result that Terrigal Beach has improved to good after three years of a poor rating.

“Council has done a significant amount of work in the Terrigal Catchment since 2019 including the relining and upgrading of over 32 km of sewer pipes and smoke and dye testing to identify illegal connections.

“Lakes Beach, Soldiers Beach and North Entrance have all been graded very good - an improvement for Lakes and Soldiers beaches, from the previous year’s good rating.”

Broken Bay beaches have all been graded as ‘good’, however the report noted that the water quality at these beaches was often impacted by Hawksbury River flood water bringing with it contaminants and flood debris.

Like previous years, most estuary and lagoon sites were graded as ‘poor’, the exception being Woy Woy Baths which this year improved to a ‘good’ grading. 

Noting that while the estuary and lagoon site gradings were largely poor, most did show an improvement in the actual microbial assessment with some close to the ‘good’ rating,

Loader added “these results are indicative of the nature of estuary waterways which flush very slowly and are more susceptible to impacts of stormwater networks.

“Council is undertaking ongoing studies to determine the causes of these poorer results and remedial work when infrastructure failure is detected.

Canton Beach Baths, which has been graded poorly for a number of years, also showed an improvement this year.  

Mayor, Lawrie McKinna said the report was a timely reminder that all swimming sites can be affected by stormwater pollution, concluding “the numerous beautiful beaches of the Central Coast are at the heart of what makes this region special, and it is vital that we take care of these precious waterways.

“While our State of the Beaches report card for 2023/24 saw significant improvement, we will continue to roll out a number of measures designed to further improve water quality across the Coast.”

Click here to view the State of the Beaches report.

To view the Beachwatch daily forecast for reliable information on water quality visit www.beachwatch.nsw.gov.au

Main image: The 2023/24 State of the Beaches report advises that the water quality at Terrigal Beach has improved to 'good' after three years of a 'poor' rating. Credit: Central Coast Council.