Bellambi Gully estuary is located south of Sydney in North Wollongong. It is classed as an estuarine creek with an intermittently closed entrance.
Bellambi Gully
Our water quality monitoring program has shown Bellambi Gully to have very poor 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 Bellambi Gully was completed over the 2014–15 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 very poor with:
- algae abundance graded poor (D)
- water clarity graded very poor (E)
- overall estuary health graded very poor (E).
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.
Physical characteristics
Estuary type: Creek
Entrance location |
Latitude (ºS) | –34.37 |
---|---|---|
Longitude (ºE) | 150.92 | |
Catchment area (km2) | 6.5 | |
Estuary area (km2) | 0.02 | |
Estuary volume (ML) | 3.4 | |
Average depth (m) | 0.2 |
Water depth and survey data
Bathymetric and coastal topography data for this estuary are available in our data portal.
Land use
Urban development is the dominant land use in the Bellambi Gully catchment, which includes the towns Bellambi and Russell Vale. Over 80% of the catchment is disturbed for urban development, grazing and areas of rural residence. About 12% of the upper catchment is forested.
National and marine parks
- There is no conservation area in this catchment.
- There is no marine park associated with the Bellambi Gully estuary.
Community involvement
- Landcare Illawarra is a community based organisation that supports volunteers who want to get involved in conservation and environmental work.
- There are over 60 bushcare groups in the Wollongong area. Bushcare volunteers help regenerate and care for local bushland.
Local government management
Local councils manage estuaries within their area unless the estuary is attached to a marine park.
Wollongong City Council manage this estuary.