Sydney’s wettest year on record has seen only a slight decline in the water quality at beaches and swimming spots, according to a new report from the Department of Planning and Environment’s Beachwatch.
Welcoming the results of Beachwatch’s State of the beaches 2021–22 report, Minister for Environment, James Griffin said the annual Report found 94 per cent of monitored ocean beaches and 80 per cent of all monitored swimming spots were graded as good or very good.
Mr Griffin said the Report provided an overview of water quality at 214 swimming locations across the State.
He said State of the Beaches had five categories of water quality rating: very good, good, fair, poor or very poor.
“Despite the wettest summer in a decade, and Sydney’s wettest year on record, there’s been only a slight decline on last year’s results,” Mr Griffin said.
“In 2021–22, 172 (80 per cent) of the 214 swimming sites in NSW were graded as good or very good, indicating they were suitable for swimming most of the time,” he said.
“With more than 85 per cent of people in NSW living within 50 kilometres of the coast, heading to a local swimming spot is a way of life for many of us.”
Mr Griffin said rainfall was the major driver of pollution in recreational waters, as it generated storm water runoff and triggered discharges from wastewater treatment systems.
He said many estuarine, lake and lagoon swimming sites did not perform as well as ocean beaches as they were more susceptible to wet weather impacts.
The Minister said the Report found 94 per cent of the 123 ocean beaches were graded as ‘good’ or ‘very good’; all five ocean baths were graded as ‘good’ or ‘very good’; 68 per cent of the 69 estuarine swimming sites were graded as ‘good’ or ‘very good’; and 24 per cent of the 17 lake/lagoon swimming sites were graded as ‘good’ or ‘very good’.
The 38-page State of the beaches 2020-21 report can be accessed at this PS News link.
