Our water quality monitoring program has shown the Lane Cove River estuary to have fair water quality. Find out more about the estuary and its unique features.
Lane Cove River is situated within the Sydney Metropolitan region of New South Wales. This estuary is classed as a drowned valley and flows into Sydney Harbour from the north-western part of Greater Sydney.
Lane Cove River winds through a bushland valley that plays a huge ecological role in a largely urbanised area. Significant areas of mangroves flank the tidal estuary up to a weir located near Fullers Road Bridge, above which runoff enters the main channel from urban streams and drains.
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 located between Taree and Wollongong every 3 years. The most recent sampling in the Lane Cove River was completed over the 2019–20 summer when 2 sites were sampled on a monthly basis.
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 fair with:
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 Lane Cove River since 2010. This table shows the water quality grades for this estuary over that time.
Grades for algae, water clarity and overall are represented as:
As part of our Beachwatch program we assess swimming suitability at 3 swimming sites in Lane Cove River using microbial indicators. We collect samples at each site weekly between October and April, and monthly from May to September, to calculate the suitability grade. Sampling is ongoing. Each grade reflects the most recent 100 water quality results to April 2022. Find out more about how we monitor beach water quality.
| Local government area | Swim site name | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Hunters Hill | Woolwich Baths | Good |
| Lane Cove | Tambourine Bay | Poor |
| Woodford Bay | Good |
Estuarine, lake and lagoon water can sometimes be unsuitable for swimming, especially after rainfall when stormwater and wastewater can overflow into swimming areas. Learn more about what the grades mean and how we grade swimming sites on our beach classification webpage.
Estuary type: Drowned valley
| Entrance location |
Latitude (ºS) | –33.84 |
|---|---|---|
| Longitude (ºE) | 151.18 | |
| Catchment area (km2) | 95.4 | |
| Estuary area (km2) | 3 | |
| Estuary volume (ML) | 12,600 | |
| Average depth (m) | 4.2 | |
Bathymetric and coastal topography data for this estuary are available in our data portal.
The catchment of Lane Cove River is highly disturbed. About three quarters of the catchment has been modified for urban and industrial development. The remaining area is forested, a lot of which is protected within the Lane Cove National Park.
Local councils manage estuaries within their area unless the estuary is attached to a marine park. This estuary flows through Ku-ring-gai, Ryde, Willoughby, Lane Cove, Hunters Hill and Hornsby local government areas.
The Lane Cove River and surrounding bushland provide critical habitat for an endangered population of gang-gang cockatoos.
Find out more about the biodiversity in our estuaries.