Our water quality monitoring program has shown Little Lake (Wallaga) to have poor water quality. Find out more about the estuary and its unique features.
Little Lake (Wallaga) is a small lagoon estuary located on the south coast of New South Wales, it is classed as a lagoon with an entrance that is intermittently open and closed to the ocean.
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 Little Lake (Wallaga) was completed over the 2023–24 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.
E
Algae
D
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 poor (D)
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.
We have monitored water quality in the Little Lake (Wallaga) estuary since 2011. This table shows the water quality grades for this estuary over that time.
Year
Algae
Water clarity
Overall grade
2023–24
E
D
D
2011–12
B
A
B
Physical characteristics
Estuary type
Lagoon
Latitude
–36.34 (ºS)
Longitude
150.10 (ºE)
Catchment area
2.4 km2
Estuary area
0.1 km2
Estuary volume
44.7 ML
Average depth
0.4 m
Notes: km2 = square kilometres; m = metres; ML = megalitres.
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.