Our water quality monitoring program has shown Merimbula Lake to have good water quality. Find out more about the estuary and its unique features.
Merimbula Lake is an intermittently closed lake located on the far south coast of New South Wales. The estuary is in close proximity to the regional centre of Merimbula, but the majority of the catchment is undeveloped.
The estuary has extensive seagrass beds and supports a large oyster industry.
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 Merimbula Lake was completed over the 2020–21 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 excellent 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.
Estuary type: Lake
| Entrance location |
Latitude (ºS) | –36.9 |
|---|---|---|
| Longitude (ºE) | 149.92 | |
| Catchment area (km2) | 37.9 | |
| Estuary area (km2) | 5.6 | |
| Estuary volume (ML) | 12,923.9 | |
| Average depth (m) | 2.6 | |
Tidal prism data is available for this estuary. This tidal prism was measured in 1978.
| Tide state | Flow (106 m3) |
Local tidal range (m) |
Sydney Harbour
tidal range (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ebb flow | 3.27 | 0.96 | 1.4 |
| Flood flow | 1.86 | 0.77 | 1.2 |
Bathymetric and coastal topography data for this estuary are available in our data portal.
The catchment of Merimbula Lake is moderately disturbed. Half the catchment has been cleared for urban or grazing land associated with the townships of Merimbula and Millingandi. Almost half the catchment is forest, including a small section of South East Forests National Park.
The Merimbula bar crossing web camera provides real-time video of conditions within the river entrance immediately offshore to help with bar crossings and boat safety.
The NSW Food Authority website lists the current status of oyster/shellfish harvest areas.
Local councils manage estuaries within their area unless the estuary is attached to a marine park. Bega Valley Shire Council manage this estuary.
Merimbula Lake and its surrounding catchment contain diverse ecosystems including coastal saltmarsh and extensive seagrass beds – over half of the lake bed is covered in seagrass.
Find out more about the biodiversity in our estuaries.