Our water quality monitoring program has shown Cararma Creek to have excellent water quality. Find out more about the estuary and its unique features.
Cararma Creek is located on the south coast of New South Wales and flows into the north east part of Jervis Bay. It is classed as a lake.
This estuary represents a relatively natural system because the catchment and waterway are protected by conservation areas.
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 Cararma Creek was completed over the 2011–12 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.
The report card shows the condition of the estuary was excellent with:
Find out more about our estuary report cards and what each grade means. Read our sampling, data analysis and reporting protocols and find out how we calculate these grades.
Estuary type: Lake
| Entrance location |
Latitude (ºS) | –35 |
|---|---|---|
| Longitude (ºE) | 150.78 | |
| Catchment area (km2) | 6.8 | |
| Estuary area (km2) | 2.4 | |
| Estuary volume (ML) | 2767.4 | |
| Average depth (m) | 1.2 | |
Bathymetric and coastal topography data for this estuary are available in our data portal.
The catchment of Cararma Creek is almost entirely undisturbed forest in Jervis Bay National Park.
Local councils manage estuaries within their area unless the estuary is attached to a marine park. Carama Creek estuary is managed by Jervis Bay Marine Park.
The catchment of the Callala Creek estuary provides critical habitat for the endangered eastern quoll. A conservation program involves translocating this threatened species from Tasmania to this area.
Read more about the biodiversity in our estuaries.