A NSW Government website

Clyde River

Our water monitoring program has shown the Clyde River estuary to have good water quality. Find out more about this estuary and its unique features.

The Clyde River is classed as a drowned river valley estuary with an open entrance situated in the Southern Rivers district.

The river flows over 100 kilometres through 3 national parks and 10 state forests out to Batemans Bay and is a significant focal point for the local community.

Water quality report card

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 2 sites on a monthly basis over summer each year in the Clyde River. The most recent sampling was completed over the 2021–22 summer.

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 reflect good water quality.

B

Algae

B

Water clarity

B

Overall grade

This report card shows the condition of the estuary was good with:

  • algae abundance graded good (B)
  • water clarity graded good (B)
  • overall estuary health graded good (B).

Grades for algae, water clarity and overall are represented as: 

  • A – excellent 
  • B – good 
  • C – fair 
  • D – poor 
  • E – very poor.

Go to estuary report cards to find out what each grade means, read our sampling, data analysis and reporting protocols, and find out how we calculate these grades.

Eurobodalla Shire Council have a long-term water quality monitoring program in the Clyde River, based on the same sampling and reporting methods as our statewide program. The results of the monitoring program, including a detailed water quality report card, are available on the Eurobodalla Shire Council website.

Historical water quality grades

We have monitored water quality in the Clyde River estuary each year since 2007. This table shows the water quality grades for this estuary over that time.

YearAlgaeWater clarityOverall grade
2007–08BAB
2008–09AAA
2009–10AAA
2010–11ABB
2011–12AAA
2012–13AAA
2013–14BAA
2014–15ABB
2015–16AAA
2016–17AAA
2017–18AAA
2018–19BAB
2019–20BAB
2020–21BAA
Physical data

Physical characteristics

Estuary typeBarrier river
Latitude–35.71 (ºS)
Longitude150.18 (ºE)
Catchment area1722.9 km2
Estuary area 17.5 km2
Estuary volume50736.6 ML
Average depth3 m

Tidal exchange volume 

Tidal exchange volume or tidal prism data is available for this estuary. This tidal prism was recorded in 1996.

Tide stateFlow (ML)Local tidal range (m)Sydney Harbour tidal range (m)
Ebb flow18,4401.281.42
Flood flow20,3601.441.58

Notes: km2 = square kilometres; m = metres; m3 = cubic metres; ML = megalitres.

Water depth and survey data 

Bathymetric and coastal topography data for this estuary are available in our data portal.

Land use

The large catchment of Clyde River drains into Batemans Bay and remains relatively undisturbed. Up to 95% of the catchment is forest, with the upper reaches located in Morton National Park. Grazing and urban areas, which include Runnyford, Nelligen and Currowan, combine to form less than 5% of the catchment.

Water use

Find out about water use in the Clyde River, including information about major water users, real-time flow data, and environmental and water sharing plans.

Get involved

National and marine parks

Citizen science projects

  • The Budawang Coast Nature Map is an online data platform the community can use to record and identify biodiversity. Data collected is used to map the distribution of native plant and animal species from Moruya up almost to Kiama.
  • iNaturalist’s Plants of Eurobodalla is a citizen science project that monitors plants found in the Eurobodalla region. 

Community involvement

A view of the Clyde River flowing into the sea at Batemans Bay

Aerial view of Clyde River

Seafood harvest area status

The NSW Food Authority website lists the current status of oyster/shellfish harvest areas.

Local government management

Local councils manage estuaries within their area unless the estuary is attached to a marine park.

Eurobodalla Shire Council manages this estuary, which is located in Batemans Marine Park.

Threatened species

Clyde River National Park has patches of rare forest red gum, Eucalyptus tereticornis. It also has endangered ecological communities such as river-flat eucalypt forest on coastal floodplains, and provides habitat for the threatened glossy-black cockatoo.

Find out more about biodiversity in our estuaries.