Council is advising beachgoers to avoid ocean recreational activity in the Culburra Beach area due to the heavy rainfall that has occurred over the last few days and the forecast predicting that this will continue.
Residents are advised to not swim, surf, or beach fish between Crookhaven Lighthouse, in the north, and Bull Hole Lookout, in the south at Kinghorne due to the uncontrollable risk of pollution from stormwater and sewerage systems.
Culburra Beach has received very high rainfall over the past few days and the local sewerage system has reached its storage capacity, resulting in unavoidable diluted sewage discharges. In addition, the flow in the Shoalhaven River has increased significantly which will impact the water quality near the entrance to the ocean at Culburra.
Council's Environmental Services Department and Shoalhaven Water have been collaborating with the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and NSW Health in relation to the situation.
Tidal current, wave motions and ocean swells will ensure that the pollution will disperse quickly once the rainfall event passes, however waterways are expected to be impacted for several days depending on the severity of the forecasted rainfall event.
Staff are continuing to closely monitor the system and are currently monitoring the river flows and sewerage operations.
