Our beaches given the clean tick of approval
How clean are the swimming locations in Ballina Shire?
With the exception of the aftermath of flooding last January, our swimming areas in Ballina and Lennox Head have been given the tick of approval in the Department of Environment and Climate Change’s Beachwatch Partnership Program.
In findings released today, the State of the Beaches summary reports that faecal coliform and enterococci samples were collected from all locations to assess compliance with NHMRC (1990) swimming water quality guidelines.
The nine swimming sites monitored in partnership with Ballina Shire Council were:
- The ocean beaches of Seven Mile and Shelly
- Three sites in Lake Ainsworth at Lennox Head (pictured)
- Three sites in Shaws Bay
- The Serpentine swimming area of North Creek.
The best performing location was Lake Ainsworth South which complied with the NHMRC (1990) swimming water quality guidelines in all four months monitored over the 2007-2008 summer season.
A high level of compliance was also recorded at seven of the nine locations that passed the NHMRC (1990) swimming guidelines in three of the four months.
Owing to elevated levels of enterococci, Lake Ainsworth East, Seven Mile Beach, Shelly Beach, Shaws Bay East, Shaws Bay North and The Serpentine failed the guidelines in January 2008, and Lake Ainsworth West failed the guidelines in December 2007.
Shaws Bay West complied with swimming guidelines in two of the four months.
To inform the community of water quality results during the summer swimming season, Ballina Council publishes weekly ‘star ratings’ in The Advocate and also issues regular media releases.
