Over the last decade, the ‘Poor’ water quality grade given to Rose Bay Beach in the annual State of the Beaches report has led to considerable concern by local and state governments, beach goers, recreational swimmers, and the broader community seeking action to improve water quality.
In response, stakeholders have taken steps towards resolving water quality issues:
- In 2017, the Rose Bay Beach Working Party was established, which included staff from the then Department of Planning and Environment, Sydney Water, Transport for NSW, Woollahra Municipal Council, the Member for Vaucluse and the local community. A Water Quality Improvement Action Plan was developed, including an action to use advanced water quality testing techniques to determine the sources of pollution.
- In February 2019, the NSW Government committed $150,000 to Rose Bay water quality by undertaking a detailed, scientific audit and analysis of the microbial pollution sources.
- In April 2019, scientists from the then Department of Planning and Environment, in collaboration with the Ocean Microbiology Group at the University of Technology Sydney, developed a work program for a water quality audit applying enterococci and genetic marker methods.
The outcomes of the research will be used to focus remediation efforts in the catchment and help Woollahra Municipal Council and Sydney Water design and implement management strategies to resolve water quality issues at the beach.
The results are presented in Towards safer swimming: Rose Bay – Summary.
There are also 3 technical reports that describe the results of the Rose Bay water quality audit research.