The 2023-2024 State of the Beaches Report has rated 100% of Central Coast beaches as Good or Very Good – a improvement on the 2022-2023 Report.

Significantly Terrigal Beach has improved to Good after three years of a Poor rating, which is a great result.

The annual report gives a grading for each designated swim site from Very Good to Poor and is 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. 

Water quality can sometimes be affected by microbes and other pollution, especially after periods of heavy rainfall. Pollution from stormwater and sewage overflows can cause higher levels of bacterial contamination that makes water quality unsuitable for swimming.

Beachwatch data, along with other variables such as rainfall, is used in predictive models to forecast beach water quality on a daily basis. This enables the community to be able to make an informed decision on whether to swim on any given day.

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

Council Director Environment and Planning, Jamie Loader, said the 2023-2024 ratings for the Coast’s beaches is really pleasing – in particular for Terrigal Beach.

“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,” Mr Loader said.

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.  

Mr Loader said 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.  

“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.   

“Given that it has been another relatively wet year, this improving trend is extremely positive. Council is continuing to undertake investigations to understand the contributors to the poor results in this area.”

Mr Loader said a contributing issue with many of these sites is the ‘dog poo’ factor, which has been detected through microbial source tracking.  

“Recent DNA studies on microbial sources identified human, canine and avian sources to microbial contamination highlighting that both Council and the community have a role in improving our estuarine water quality.”  

Actions for the community include picking up after your dogs, reducing sewer network blockages by only putting the 3 Ps – poo, (toilet) paper and pee down the toilet and keeping litter and other pollutants out of stormwater drains.

Council Mayor Lawrie McKinna said the report is a timely reminder that all swimming sites can be affected by stormwater pollution.  

“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,” Mayor McKinna said.

“While our State of the Beaches report card for 2023-2024 saw significant improvement, we will continue to roll out a number of measures designed to further improve water quality across the Coast.”

To view the State of the Beaches report and check Beachwatch daily forecast for reliable information on water quality visit: www.beachwatch.nsw.gov.au

Avoid swimming at ocean beaches for 24 hours after rain and 72 hours at Estuary sites.

Information on investigations and remedial work undertaken at Terrigal can be found at:
https://www.yourvoiceourcoast.com/all-projects/terrigal-and-coastal-lagoons-audit