Our water quality monitoring program has shown Wonboyn River to have good water quality. Find out more about the estuary and its unique features.
Wonboyn River is located on the far south coast of New South Wales, south of the township of Eden. It is classed as a barrier river with an intermittently closed entrance.
Wonboyn River winds through forested coastal ranges for about 10 kilometres before meeting the sea at Disaster Bay. The estuary supports an significant oyster industry.
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 Bellambi Lake was completed over the 2008–09 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 good 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 Wonboyn River since 2011. 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: Barrier river
| Entrance location |
Latitude (ºS) | –37.25 |
|---|---|---|
| Longitude (ºE) | 149.97 | |
| Catchment area (km2) | 335.4 | |
| Estuary area (km2) | 4.2 | |
| Estuary volume (ML) | 9809.1 | |
| Average depth (m) | 2.7 | |
Tidal exchange volume or tidal prism data is available for this estuary. This tidal prism was measured in 1997.
| Tide state | Flow (106 m3) |
Local tidal range (m) |
Sydney Harbour
tidal range (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ebb flow | 0.62 | 0.14 | 1.54 |
| Flood flow | 0.56 | 0.16 | 1.58 |
Bathymetric and coastal topography data for this estuary are available in our data portal.
The catchment of Wonboyn River is forested except for a small patch of urban and grazing land associated with the townships of Wonboyn and Narrabarba. Most of the forested land is managed by Forestry Corporation and a small section forms part of Ben Boyd National Park.
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. Bega Valley Shire Council manage this estuary.
This estuary supports Australian saltgrass habitat, which is endangered in New South Wales.
Read more about the biodiversity in our estuaries.