Werri Lagoon

Our water quality monitoring program has shown Werri Lagoon to have fair water quality. Find out more about the estuary and its unique features.

Werri Lagoon is located on the south coast of New South Wales near the township of Gerringong. It is classed as a creek with an intermittently closed entrance.

Werri Lagoon is typical of many intermittently closed/open lagoons on the south coast. The lagoon openings tend to last a few days to weeks as the entrance area is exposed to the ocean. The entrance of Werri Lagoon is managed by local government and is opened artificially when water levels threaten to inundate low-lying infrastructure.

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 Werri Lagoon was completed over the 2017–18 summer when 2 sites were sampled on a monthly basis.

Werri Lagoon 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 'fair' and water clarity is rated 'fair' giving an overall rating of 'fair' or 'C'.

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:

  • algae abundance graded fair (C)
  • water clarity graded fair (C)
  • overall estuary health graded fair (C).

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 Werri Lagoon since 2008. This table shows the water quality grades for this estuary over that time.

Werri Lagoon historic water quality grades from 2011-12 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: Creek

Entrance
location 		Latitude (ºS) –34.73
Longitude (ºE) 150.84
Catchment area (km2) 16.5
Estuary area (km2) 0.1
Estuary volume (ML) 62.2
Average depth (m) 0.4
Notes: km2 = square kilometres; m = 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 catchment of Werri Lagoon is highly disturbed with 70% of land cleared for grazing and rural residence. Urban development associated with Gerringong and Werri Beach accounts for about 6% of land use, and about 20% of the catchment remains forested.

National and marine parks

  • There are no conservation areas within this catchment.
  • This estuary does not flow into a marine park.

Community involvement

  • Landcare Illawarra supports volunteer groups working to improve the environment in this region.
  • South East Landcare is an umbrella organisation that represents related Landcare a networks, including Landcare Illawarra.
Werri Lagoon

Local government management

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

Werri Creek is managed by Kiama Municipal Council. Information about this estuary can be found on the council’s Coast and Estuary Management webpage.