A NSW Government website

Arrawarra Creek

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

Arrawarra Creek estuary is an intermittently closed/open lagoon, which meets the sea at the township of Arrawarra on the north coast of New South Wales. Arrawarra Gully meets the creek close to the estuary entrance to form the lagoon.

Water quality report card

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 the Queensland border and Taree every 3 years. The most recent sampling in Arrawarra Creek was completed over the 2018–19 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.

B

Algae

B

Water clarity

B

Overall grade

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

  • algae abundance graded good (B)
  • water clarity graded good (B)
  • overall estuary health graded good (B).

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

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

Coffs Harbour City Council, in collaboration with the University of New England’s EcoHealth Program, have carried out detailed ecosystem health monitoring in Arrawarra Creek. The results of the monitoring program, including a detailed water quality report card, are available on the Coffs Harbour City Council website(link is external).

Go to estuary report cards to find out what each grade means, read our sampling, data analysis and reporting protocols, and find out how we calculate these grades.

A view of Arrawarra Creek surrounded by a coastal town and the beach in the foreground

Aerial view of Arrawarra Creek estuary.

Local government management

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

Arrawarra Creek is managed by the Coffs Harbour City Council(link is external). The estuary is also managed as part of the Solitary Islands Marine Park(link is external).

Threatened species

Garby Nature Reserve, situated beside Arrawarra Creek, provides important habitat for the vulnerable squirrel glider(link is external) (Petaurus norfolcensis).

Find out more about the biodiversity in our estuaries.