Nambucca River
Physical characteristics
Entrance
location |
Latitude (ºS) |
-30.65 |
| Longitude (ºE) |
153.01 |
| Catchment area (km2)1 |
1298.9 |
| Estuary area (km2)1,2 |
12.6 |
| Estuary volume (ML)3 |
23227.1 |
| Average depth (m)4 |
2.0 |
| Roy et al. (2001) classification5 |
III/5/D |
| Entrance condition6 |
O/T |
Notes:
- Derived from DECCW (2010) NSW estuaries and coastal catchments spatial database.
- Includes area mapped as open water (see note 1), mangrove and saltmarsh areas (Creese R. G., Glasby T. M., West G. and Gallen C. (2009) Mapping the habitats of NSW estuaries. Industry & Investment NSW Fisheries Final Report Series 113. Port Stephens, NSW, Australia.
- Based on areas at 0.6 m AHD (Roper T., Creese B., Scanes P., Stephens K., Williams R., Dela-Cruz J., Coade G. and Coates B. (2011) Assessing the condition of estuaries and coastal lake ecosystems in NSW. Office of Environment and Heritage, Sydney).
- Estimated by dividing the total volume at 0.6 m AHD by the total surface area of the estuary including mangrove areas but excluding saltmarsh (Roper et al., 2011)
- Estuary group: I = oceanic embayment, II = tide dominated estuary, III = wave dominated estuary, IV = intermittently closed estuary V = freshwater bodies
Estuary type: 1 = ocean embayments, 3 = drowned valley estuary, 5 = barrier estuary, 6 = barrier lagoon, 7 = interbarrier estuary, 8 = saline coastal lagoon, 9 = small coastal creeks, 11 = brackish barrier lake. Evolution stage: A=youthful, B=intermediate, C=semi-mature, D=mature.
(P. S. Roy, R. J. Williams, A. R. Jones, I. Yassini, P. J. Gibbs, B. Coates, R. J. West, P. R. Scanes, J. P. Hudson and S. Nichol (2001) Structure and Function of South-east Australian Estuaries. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 53, 351-384)
- Entrance conditions: O = open, T = trained, I = intermittent.
|
Tidal prism
The volume of water moving
past a fixed cross section during each flood tide or ebb tide (i.e.
slack water to slack water), is referred to as the tidal prism of an
estuary.
The following table shows
the measured tidal prism at the location specified, along with the
tidal range for near the measurement site and at Sydney Harbour.
Location: 4.7km upstream from the entrance on 27/9/99
| Tide state |
Flow
(106 m3) |
Local
tidal range (m) |
Sydney Harbour
tidal range (m) |
| Ebb flow |
5.24 |
0.64 |
1.18 |
| Flood flow |
3.96 |
0.68 |
1.12 |
Tidal survey
Tidal surveys measure the hydrodynamic behaviour of an estuary during a full tidal cycle. The parameters measured include velocity, water levels, salinity, temperature and pH.
The following tidal surveys have been undertaken on this estuary. A map shows the location and plots of the flows and water levels for the most comprehensive survey.
Copies of tidal survey reports are available from the Estuary Management Program.
| Date |
Data collected |
Figure |
Report |
| Jun 1977 |
Current metering at three lines near entrance: velocity, discharge, three tideboards, cross sections, sediment samples, bed samples and photos. |
- |
MHL243 |
| May 1979 |
Current metering 2km from entrance, on three lines, four tideboards, temp/salinity and suspended sediment. |
- |
MHL277 |
| Dec 1979 |
Current metering at four lines and water levels from ten tideboards, thalweg and cross section echo sounding, temperature/salinity readings, photos. |
- |
MHL457 |
| Sep 1999 |
Extensive data collection: water levels at fourteen sites, velocities at nine sites, in situ water quality at three sites and water quality profiles at twenty-four sites. |
1988-16.pdf |
MHL1025 |
| Feb 1999 to Feb 2000 |
Nambucca River (Macksville) Water Quality Monitoring. |
- |
MHL1050 |
Hydrographic survey
The hydrographic survey provides the depth and physical characteristics of the estuary.
The metadata associated with the survey can be found on the map sheets provided.
(Swimming Creek is a small estuary located to the north of the Nambucca River)
| Map sheet number |
Description |
Scale |
Size |
| 56594s01.pdf |
Swimming Creek |
1:500 |
220kb |
| 56594.txt |
Swimming Creek xyz data |
N/A |
10kb |
| 56686s01.pdf |
Nambucca River Index plan |
1:25000 |
1033kb |
| 56686s02.pdf |
Cross section location plan |
1:10000 |
675kb |
| 56686s03.pdf |
Cross section location plan |
1:10000 |
642kb |
| 56686s04.pdf |
Cross section location plan |
1:10000 |
507kb |
| 56686s05.pdf |
Nambucca River entrance |
1:2000 |
1282kb |
| 56686s06.pdf |
Nambucca River entrance |
1:2000 |
1251kb |
| 56686s07.pdf |
Nambucca River & Warrell Creek lower estuary |
1:2000 |
892kb |
| 56686s08.pdf |
Nambucca River & Warrell Creek lower estuary |
1:2000 |
561kb |
| 56686s09.pdf |
Nambucca River mid estuary |
1:2000 |
500kb |
| 56686s10.pdf |
Nambucca River mid estuary |
1:2000 |
372kb |
| 56686s11.pdf |
Nambucca River mid estuary |
1:2000 |
505kb |
| 56686s12.pdf |
Nambucca River & Newee Creek |
1:2000 |
391kb |
| 56686s13.pdf |
Junction of Nambucca River, Taylors Arm & Blackbutt Creek |
1:2000 |
369kb |
| 56686s14.pdf |
Nambucca River & Taylors Arm |
1:2000 |
456kb |
| 56686s15.pdf |
Warrell Creek |
1:2000 |
295kb |
| 56686s16.pdf |
Warrell Creek |
1:2000 |
278kb |
| 56686s17.pdf |
Warrell Creek |
1:2000 |
325kb |
| 56686s18.pdf |
Warrell Creek |
1:2000 |
306kb |
| 56686s19.pdf |
Cross sections - Nambucca River |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
250kb |
| 56686s20.pdf |
Cross sections - Nambucca River |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
246kb |
| 56686s21.pdf |
Cross sections - Nambucca River |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
254kb |
| 56686s22.pdf |
Cross sections - Nambucca River |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
230kb |
| 56686s23.pdf |
Cross sections - Nambucca River |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
218kb |
| 56686s24.pdf |
Cross sections - Nambucca River |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
210kb |
| 56686s25.pdf |
Cross sections - Nambucca River |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
224kb |
| 56686s26.pdf |
Cross sections - Nambucca River & Taylors Arm |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
227kb |
| 56686s27.pdf |
Cross sections - Taylors Arm |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
234kb |
| 56686s28.pdf |
Cross sections - Taylors Arm |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
222kb |
| 56686s29.pdf |
Cross sections - Taylors Arm |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
232kb |
| 56686s30.pdf |
Cross sections - Taylors Arm |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
218kb |
| 56686s31.pdf |
Cross sections - Taylors Arm |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
216kb |
| 56686s32.pdf |
Cross sections - Taylors Arm |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
205kb |
| 56686s33.pdf |
Cross sections - Taylors Arm |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
207kb |
| 56686s34.pdf |
Cross sections - Taylors Arm & Warrell Creek |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
182kb |
| 56686s35.pdf |
Cross sections - Warrell Creek |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
193kb |
| 56686s36.pdf |
Cross sections - Warrell Creek |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
213kb |
| 56686s37.pdf |
Cross sections - Warrell Creek |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
200kb |
| 56686s38.pdf |
Cross sections - Warrell Creek |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
224kb |
| 56686s39.pdf |
Cross sections - Warrell Creek |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
229kb |
| 56686s40.pdf |
Cross sections - Warrell Creek |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
220kb |
| 56686s41.pdf |
Cross sections - Warrell Creek |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
212kb |
| 56686s42.pdf |
Cross sections - Warrell Creek & Newee Creek |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
199kb |
| 56686s43.pdf |
Cross sections - Newee Creek |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
180kb |
| 56686s44.pdf |
Cross sections - Newee Creek, Rhones Creek, Snakey Creek & Blackbutt Creek |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
195kb |
| 56686s45.pdf |
Cross sections - Blackbutt Creek, Broadwater, Unnamed Creeks 1 & 2 |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
226kb |
| 56686s46.pdf |
Cross sections - Unnamed Creeks 2, 3, 4 & 5 |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
217kb |
| 56686s47.pdf |
Cross sections - Unnamed Creeks 5, 6, 7, 8 and Way Way Creek |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
208kb |
| 56686s48.pdf |
Cross sections - Way Way Creek, Welshs Creek & Wirrimbi Channel |
1:1000 H 1:200 V |
139kb |
| 56686.txt |
Nambucca River xyz data |
N/A |
1051kb |
Page last updated: 01 February 2012
