A NSW Government website

Bullengella Lake

Our water quality monitoring program has shown Bullengella Lake to have poor water quality. Find out more about the estuary and its unique features.

Bullengella Lake is a small estuary located on the south coast of New South Wales near the township of Narooma. It is classed as a lake with an intermittently closed entrance.

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 between Wollongong and the Victorian border every 3 years. The most recent sampling in Bullengella Lake was completed over the 2008–09 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.

E

Algae

B

Water clarity

D

Overall grade

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

  • algae abundance graded very poor (E)
  • water clarity graded  good (B)
  • overall estuary health graded poor (D).

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

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

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 Bullengella Lake near the township of Narooma and Handkerchief Beach

Aerial view of Bullengella Lake estuary.

Local government management

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

Eurobodalla Shire Council(link is external) manages this estuary, which is located in Batemans Marine Park(link is external).

Threatened species

Estuaries are important to our native animals as they provide food, shelter and breeding grounds.

Read more about the biodiversity in our estuaries.