Our water quality monitoring program has shown Pipe Clay Creek to have fair water quality. Find out more about the estuary and its unique features.
Pipe Clay Creek is a small creek with an entrance which is intermittently closed/open to the sea. This estuary is situated near Corindi Beach on the north coast of New South Wales and is classed as a creek.
Pipe Clay Creek lies in traditional lands of the Gumbaynggirr people of Corindi and holds particular cultural significance for this 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 a subset of the estuaries located between the Queensland border and Taree every 3 years. The most recent sampling in Pipe Clay 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 fair 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 Pipe Clay Creek since 2012. 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) | –30.02 |
|---|---|---|
| Longitude (ºE) | 151.21 | |
| Catchment area (km2) | 1.6 | |
| Estuary area (km2) | 0.01 | |
| Estuary volume (ML) | 1.7 |
|
| Average depth (m) | 0.2 | |
Bathymetric and coastal topography data for this estuary are available in our data portal.
The catchment of Pipe Clay Lagoon has been highly disturbed. Although the immediate area around the estuary remains forested, the estuary receives urban runoff from Corindi and surrounding rural residential development, which have changed land use in the catchment.
Local councils manage estuaries within their area unless the estuary is attached to a marine park.
Pipe Clay Creek is managed by Coffs Harbour City Council and the NSW Department of Primary Industries as part of the Solitary Islands Marine Park. More information about the management of this estuary is available on the Council's Estuary management plans webpage.
Estuaries provide important protected environments where native plants like seagrass and mangroves grow and create habitat for fish and other animals.
Read more about the biodiversity in our estuaries.