Illawarra beaches received a big tick of approval from the state government last week, with every swimming beach in the region given top grades for cleanliness.
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The new State of the Beaches report from the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage rated all 21 Illawarra swimming sites as “good” or “very good”.
The results were a big improvement for Shellharbour’s Entrance Lagoon Beach, which was graded “poor” in last year’s report but bumped up to “good” this year.
Shellharbour council’s stormwater management programs have been praised for this turn around, however the environment office has once again cautioned against swimming following light rainfall.
“It is recommended that swimming … be avoided during and for at least one day following rainfall or if there are signs of stormwater pollution such as discoloured water or floating debris.”
Also in the Shellharbour council area, Warilla and Shellharbour beaches received a “very good” cleanliness rating, while, in Kiama, Werri Beach got top marks.
“[Werri Beach] had excellent water quality and was suitable for swimming almost all the time.”
In Wollongong, the cleanest spots are Stanwell Park, Coledale, Woonona, Wollongong City, Coniston and Fishermans beaches with all rated “very good” by the NSW Government.
This means they are good for swimming almost all the time, even after rainfall.
Thirroul, Bulli, Bellambi, Corrimal, North Wollongong and Port Kembla beaches were graded as “good”.
The report noted these these sites had several potential sources of pollution from stormwater drains and creeks or lagoons.
Each year, the State of the Beaches report rates about 250 beaches, estuarine beaches and lagoon or lake swimming spots around NSW by testing regular water samples at each site.
In Sydney, five out of 96 swimming areas were graded as "poor", while Foreshores Beach, near Sydney Airport's third runway, was the only Sydney swimming spot to be graded as "very poor".
The best ranked were Clovelly Beach, Maroubra Beach and Nielsen Park.