Our water monitoring program has shown the Clyde River estuary to have good water quality. Find out more about this estuary and its unique features.
The Clyde River is classed as a drowned river valley estuary with an open entrance situated in the Southern Rivers district.
The river flows over 100 kilometres through 3 national parks and 10 state forests out to Batemans Bay and is a significant focal point for the local community.
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 2 sites on a monthly basis over summer each year in the Clyde River. The most recent sampling was completed over the 2021–22 summer.
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 reflect good water quality. This report card shows the condition of the estuary was good with:
Eurobodalla Shire Council have a long-term water quality monitoring program in the Clyde River, based on the same sampling and reporting methods as our state-wide program. The results of the monitoring program, including a detailed water quality report card, are available on the Eurobodalla Shire Council website.
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 the Clyde River estuary each year since 2007. This table shows the water quality grades for this estuary over that time.
Grades for algae and water clarity are represented as:
Estuary type: Barrier river
| Entrance location |
Latitude (ºS) | –35.71 |
|---|---|---|
| Longitude (ºE) | 150.18 | |
| Catchment area (km2) | 1722.9 | |
| Estuary area (km2) | 17.5 | |
| Estuary volume (ML) | 50736.6 | |
| Average depth (m) | 3 | |
Tidal exchange volume or tidal prism data is available for this estuary. This tidal prism was recorded in 1996.
| Tide state | Flow (106 m3) |
Local tidal range (m) |
Sydney Harbour
tidal range (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ebb flow | 18.74 | 1.28 | 1.42 |
| Flood flow | 20.36 | 1.44 | 1.58 |
Bathymetric and coastal topography data for this estuary are available in our data portal.
The large catchment of Clyde River drains into Batemans Bay and remains relatively undisturbed. Up to 95% of the catchment is forest, with the upper reaches located in Morton National Park. Grazing and urban areas that include Runnyford, Nelligen and Currowan, combine to form less than 5% of the catchment.
Find out about water use in the Clyde River, including information about major water users, real-time flow data, and environmental and water sharing plans.
The NSW Food Authority website lists the current status of oyster/shellfish harvest areas.
Local councils manage estuaries within their area unless the estuary is attached to a marine park.
Eurobodalla Shire Council manage this estuary, which is located in Batemans Marine Park.
Clyde River National Park has patches of rare forest red gum, Eucalyptus tereticornis. It also has endangered ecological communities such as river-flat eucalypt forest on coastal floodplains, and provides habitat for the threatened glossy black cockatoo.
Find out more about biodiversity in our estuaries.