Middle Lagoon is located on the far south coast of New South Wales. It is classed as a small back-dune lagoon with an intermittently closed entrance.
Middle Lagoon estuary includes significant wetland habitat.
Middle Lagoon
Our water quality monitoring program has shown Middle Lagoon to have fair water quality. Find out more about the estuary and its unique 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 Middle Lagoon was completed over the 2021–22 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:
- algae abundance graded good (B)
- 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 Middle Lagoon since 2014. This table shows the water quality grades for this estuary over that time.
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: Back-dune lagoon
| Entrance location |
Latitude (ºS) | –36.65 |
|---|---|---|
| Longitude (ºE) | 150.01 | |
| Catchment area (km2) | 27.3 | |
| Estuary area (km2) | 0.6 | |
| Estuary volume (ML) | 334.8 | |
| Average depth (m) | 0.7 | |
Water depth and survey data
Bathymetric and coastal topography data for this estuary are available in our data portal.
Land use
The catchment of Middle Lagoon is moderately disturbed with 30% of the land cleared for grazing. Forested areas make up 60% of the catchment, located largely within Mimosa Rocks National Park.
National and marine parks
- Mimosa Rocks National Park is the largest conservation area in this catchment.
- This estuary does not flow into a marine park.
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
- The Bega River and Wetlands Landcare Group is a volunteer group dedicated to improving the health of the Bega River, wetlands and floodplains.
- The Far South Coast Landcare Association is a volunteer environmental and conservation organisation that works to improve management of local land and water.
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.