Bega River

Our water quality monitoring program has shown the Bega River estuary to have good water quality. Find out more about the estuary and its unique features.

Bega River is located on the far south coast of New South Wales, east of the township of Bega. It is classed a barrier river estuary with an intermittently open entrance. The estuary enters the ocean at Mogareeka Inlet.

The main tributaries for Bega River are Brogo River, Upper Brogo River, Bemboka River and Tantawangalo Creek. The area is popular for recreational activities such as fishing and boating. 

The estuary supports important habitat including wetlands, seagrass beds and saltmarsh areas. Three wetlands in the Bega River Catchment are listed in the Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia: the Nunnock Swamp, Bega Swamp and Wallagoot Lagoon.

Estuary health and features

Water quality

As part of our water quality monitoring program we assess the water quality and ecosystem health of an estuary using a range of relevant indicators. We sample a subset of the estuaries between Wollongong and the Victorian border every 3 years. The most recent sampling in the Bega River was completed over the 2020–21 summer when 2 sites were sampled on a monthly basis.

Bega River water quality report card for algae and water clarity showing colour-coded ratings (red, orange, yellow, light green and dark green, which represent very poor, poor, fair, good and excellent, respectively). Algae is rated 'good' and water clarity is rated 'excellent' giving an overall rating of 'good' or 'B'.

This report card represents 2 water quality indicators that we routinely measure: the amount of algae present and water clarity. Low levels of these 2 indicators equate with good water quality.

The report card shows the condition of the estuary was excellent with:

  • algae abundance graded excellent (A)
  • water clarity graded excellent (A)
  • overall estuary health graded excellent (A).

Find out more about our estuary report cards and what each grade means. Read our sampling, data analysis and reporting protocols and find out how we calculate these grades.

We have monitored water quality in the Bega River estuary since 2008. This table shows the water quality grades for this estuary over that time.

Bega River historic water quality grades from 2008-09 for algae and water clarity. Colour-coded ratings (red, orange, yellow, light green and dark green represent very poor (E), poor (D), fair (C), good (B) and excellent (A), respectively).

Grades for algae, water clarity and overall are represented as:

  • A – excellent
  • B – good
  • C – fair
  • D – poor
  • E – very poor.

Physical characteristics

Estuary type: Barrier river

Entrance
location 		Latitude (ºS) –36.7
Longitude (ºE) 149.98
Catchment area (km2) 1934.8
Estuary area (km2) 3.8
Estuary volume (ML) 6370.8
Average depth (m) 1.9

Tidal exchange volume

Tidal exchange volume or tidal prism data is available for this estuary. This tidal prism was measured in 2005.

Tide state Flow
(106 m3)		 Local tidal
range (m)		 Sydney Harbour
tidal range (m)
Ebb flow 0.87 0.26 1.37
Flood flow 1.4 0.31 1.28
Notes: km2 = square kilometres; m = metres; m3 = cubic metres; ML = megalitres.

Water depth and survey data

Bathymetric and coastal topography data for this estuary are available in our data portal.

Land use

The large catchment of Bega River is moderately disturbed due to 40% of land cleared for grazing. Over half the catchment is forest located in South East Forest National Park. Urban areas including Bega make up about 2% of the catchment.

Water use

Find out about water use in the Bega River, including information about major water users, real-time flow data, and environmental and water sharing plans.

National and marine parks

Citizen science projects

  • The Far South Coast Conservation Management Network supports the local community to better manage native biodiversity. The network organises citizen science projects, provides information for private landowners, manages a local plant database, and coordinates events.

Community involvement

Bega River

Local government management

Local councils manage estuaries within their area unless the estuary is attached to a marine park.

Bega Valley Shire Council manage this estuary.