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Meringo Creek

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

Meringo Creek is a small back-dune lagoon with an intermittently closed entrance located on the south coast of New South Wales. This estuary is surrounded by the Eurobodalla National Park.

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 a subset of the estuaries between Wollongong and the Victorian border every 3 years. The most recent sampling in Meringo Creek was completed over the 2021–22 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.

D

Algae

A

Water clarity

B

Overall grade

The report card shows the condition of the estuary was fair with:

  • algae abundance graded poor (D)
  • water clarity graded excellent (A)
  • 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.

Historical water quality grades

We have monitored water quality in Meringo Creek since 2014. This table shows the water quality grades for this estuary over that time.

YearAlgaeWater clarityOverall grade
2014-15ECD
2018-19DCC
2019-20ECD
2020-21DBC
Physical data

Physical characteristics

Estuary typeBack-dune lagoon
Latitude (ºS)–35.98
Longitude (ºE)150.15
Catchment area (km2)5.3
Estuary area (km2)0.1
Estuary volume (ML)23.6
Average depth (m)0.3

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

Water depth and survey data

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

Land use

Almost 20% is used for urban development at Meringo. Over half of the catchment remains forested, including some of Eurobodalla National Park.

Get involved

National and marine parks

Citizen science projects

  • iNaturalist’s Plants of Eurobodalla is a citizen science project that monitors plants found in the Eurobodalla region.

Community involvement

Aerial view of Meringo Creek with its winding path through green fields, leading to its mouth at a sandy beach adjacent to the clear blue ocean.

Aerial view of Meringo Creek estuary

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

Estuaries provide an important protected environment for salt-tolerant plants like sea grasses and mangroves.

Read more about the biodiversity in our estuaries.