Flat Top Point Creek is situated on the southern outskirts of Woolgoolga on the north coast of New South Wales. It is classed as a lagoon with an intermittently closed/open entrance.
This estuary is also sometimes named Willis Creek.
Our water quality monitoring program has shown Flat Top Point Creek to have very poor water quality. Find out more about the estuary and its unique features.
Flat Top Point Creek is situated on the southern outskirts of Woolgoolga on the north coast of New South Wales. It is classed as a lagoon with an intermittently closed/open entrance.
This estuary is also sometimes named Willis Creek.
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 Flat Top Point Creek was completed over the 2021–22 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:
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 Flat Top Point Creek since 2009. This table shows the water quality grades for this estuary over that time.
Grades for algae, water clarity and overall are represented as:
Estuary type: Creek
Entrance location |
Latitude (ºS) | –30.13 |
---|---|---|
Longitude (ºE) | 153.2 | |
Catchment area (km2) | 2.6 | |
Estuary area (km2) | 0.02 | |
Estuary volume (ML) | 4.7 | |
Average depth (m) | 0.2 |
Bathymetric and coastal topography data for this estuary are available in our data portal.
Flat Top Point Creek catchment is highly disturbed with the main pressures being industrial and urban development. The upper catchment is used mostly for banana plantations and blueberry growing. The nearby sewerage treatment plant released treated sewerage into the creek from 1973 to 2005.
Local councils manage estuaries within their area unless the estuary is attached to a marine park. Flat Top Point Creek is managed by Solitary Islands Marine Park and Coffs Harbour City Council, and is referred to as Willis Creek by the council.
The Willis Creek Estuary Coastal Zone Management Plan and Estuary Management Study Willis Creek are available on the council’s website
The joint entrance area Flat Top Point Creek and Hearnes Lake is a significant little tern breeding site.
Read more about the biodiversity in our estuaries.