Richmond Valley Council
Ocean beaches: Airforce, Main, Shark Bay. Estuaries: Evans River. For details see (08472Richmond.pdf, 260 KB)
Local government area description
Richmond Valley Council is located on the Far North Coast of New South Wales and covers an area of 3051 square kilometres. The council area has approximately 35 kilometres of coastline, of which almost 27 kilometres is contained within National Parks.
The council area stretches 85 kilometres inland to the Great Dividing Range and comprises natural bushland, timber country, grazing land, sugar cane plantations and coastal heath.
The population of the area is just over 20 000, with population centres at Casino, Evans Head and the villages of Coraki, Woodburn and Broadwater/Rileys Hill. Population is estimated to be currently growing at a rate of two percent each year (Richmond Valley Council 2006).
Program outline
Four swimming locations were monitored in the Richmond Valley council area during summer 2007-2008. The sites were three ocean beaches and an estuarine swimming location in Evans River.
Faecal coliform and enterococci samples were collected between October 2007 and April 2008 to assess compliance with NHMRC (1990) swimming water quality guidelines. It should be noted that the five samples necessary to calculate compliance were not collected in all months. Where only four samples were collected, the closest sample in time from an adjacent month was 'borrowed' in order to provide the five data points required.
Rainfall
Rainfall data presented in the timeseries plots were obtained from the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauges at Evans Head RAAF Bombing Range.
Ocean beaches
Guideline compliance
Airforce Beach, Main Beach and Shark Bay consistently complied with the NHMRC swimming water quality guidelines in all seven months of the 2007-2008 summer season (Figure 3). For details see (08472Richmond.pdf, 260 KB)
Response to rainfall
Water quality at the ocean beaches generally showed little response to rainfall, with low faecal coliform and enterococci levels measured throughout the monitoring period despite heavy rain.
Evans River
Guideline compliance
The swimming location on the Evans River also had a high level of compliance with the NHMRC (1990) swimming water quality guidelines. The site was suitable for swimming in six of the seven months between October 2007 and April 2008. For details see (08472Richmond.pdf, 260 KB)
Response to rainfall
Water quality in the Evans River showed some response to rainfall, with elevated levels of faecal coliforms and enterococci recorded in January and February during wet weather conditions.
Figure 3: Summary of compliance with NHMRC (1990) microbiological guidelines for swimming at Richmond Valley Council swimming sites during the 2007-2008 summer swimming season
Page last updated: 26 February 2011
