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The annual NSW State of the Beaches 2023/24 report has just been released and shows that 95% of the 118 monitored ocean beaches in NSW have 'good' or 'very good' water quality indicating their suitability for swimming most or almost all of the time.

However, while the report from the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water said the results were good overall, it noted water quality had declined slightly from the previous year and that more than a quarter of NSW’s favourite swimming spots - including Sydney’s Coogee and Bronte beaches - had been polluted by faecal matter at some point during the previous 12 months.

With the Bureau of Meteorology predicting a wet summer, the NSW Government is urging swimmers to check its online water quality monitor for updates after its annual state of the beaches report found 28% of the 218 tracked sites experienced pollution.

As in previous years, estuaries, lakes and lagoons were the worst affected in 2023/24 as they collect large amounts of runoff compared with ocean beaches.

While 95% of the 118 monitored ocean beaches were graded as ‘very good’ (with generally excellent microbial water quality) or ‘good’ (where swimming should only be avoided the day after heavy rain), six beaches were rated ‘poor’.

The ‘poor’ beaches - those susceptible to faecal pollution and not always suitable for swimming, especially after rain - were Shelly beach in Manly, Bronte, Coogee, Malabar and Boat Harbour beaches in Sydney, and Surf beach on the south coast.

While 39, or 53%, of the 73 monitored estuarine swimming sites were graded as ‘very good’ or ‘good’, 31 were graded as ‘poor’, including Rose Bay beach and Murray Rose pool, better known as Redleaf, in Sydney Harbour.

Foreshores beach in Botany Bay and Gymea Bay baths in Port Hacking in Sydney’s south were again graded as ‘very poor’, with the NSW Government recommending avoiding swimming at these sites ‘almost all of the time’.

All five monitored freshwater sites, which include Wentworth Falls Lake beach in the Blue Mountains and Arthur Keough Reserve on the mid-north coast, were rated ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.

Rainfall is the major driver of pollution in recreational swimming sites because it generates stormwater runoff and “untreated discharges” from the wastewater treatment and transport systems, the report said.

The report warned that contamination with faecal material from animals or humans could pose “significant health problems” including gastroenteritis and respiratory tract infection because it meant bacteria and other pathogens could be in the water.

Click here to view the State of the Beaches report.

To view the Beachwatch daily forecast for reliable information on water quality visit www.beachwatch.nsw.gov.au

Main image: Sydney's Coogee Beach is among beaches rated 'poor' due to susceptibity to faecal pollution and not always suitable for swimming, especially after rain according to the State of the Beaches report. Credit: Destination NSW.

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