A NSW Government website

Georges River

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

Georges River estuary is situated within the Sydney Metropolitan region of New South Wales. This estuary is classed as a drowned river valley and is the main tributary of Botany Bay.

Two large water storages, the Woronora Dam and Prospect Reservoir, are situated in this catchment and are used for Sydney’s water supply. Liverpool Weir defines the upper tidal limit of the Georges River estuary.

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 Taree and Wollongong every 3 years. The most recent sampling in the Georges River was completed over the 2022–23 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 numerical scores for these 2 indicators are averaged to give the overall grade.

C

Algae

B

Water clarity

B

Overall grade

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

  • algae abundance graded fair (C)
  • 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.

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 Georges River flowing into Botany Bay surrounded by Sydney's southern suburbs

Aerial view of Georges River

Seafood harvest area status

The NSW Food Authority website lists the current status of oyster/shellfish harvest areas(link is external).

Local government management

Local councils manage estuaries within their area. Where an estuary is attached to a marine park, marine park management teams are responsible for ensuring compliance with marine park zoning.

Wollondilly, Campbelltown, Liverpool, Fairfield, Canterbury–Bankstown, Bayside, Sutherland and Georges River councils manage parts of this catchment.

Threatened species

Georges River supports an endangered ecological community of shorebirds(link is external) on the relict tidal delta sands at Taren Point.

Find out more about the biodiversity in our estuaries(link is external).