Council scraping sandbar at Belongil Creek

Published on 28 June 2021

With wet weather predicted this week,  an excavator is scraping down the sandbar at the entrance to Belongil Creek at Byron Bay.

The creek is currently closed to the ocean with the sand bar acting as a dam, not allowing water to escape and causing inundation in some areas of the floodplain.

James Flockton, Infrastructure Planning Coordinator, said the water level in the Belongil is currently very high, 1.27m, and any heavy falls of rain will increase the risk of flooding in the catchment.

“Wherever possible we try to avoid manually opening up the Belongil because there is always the risk of a fish kill, but given the already high water level, and the prediction of rain, we are scraping the sandbar in the hope that the creek will then open naturally,” Mr Flockton said.

Belongil Creek and nearby Tallow Creek are ICOLLs, intermittently open and closed lagoon systems.

“Belongil Creek and Tallow Creek are extremely sensitive ecosystems and while our responsibility is to manage these waterways to mitigate flooding in the catchment, our aim is to have as little impact on the environment as possible,” Mr Flockton said.

“One of the big problems is that when a sandbar is opened there is often a very fast release of water from the creek and this can cause a fish kill,” he said.

“We have been continuously monitoring the water levels and we are in regular communication with authorities including the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Environment and the Marine Parks Authority.

“We have communicated to all agencies to let them know we are scraping the sandbar,” Mr Flockton said.

Tallow Creek is also closed to the ocean but there are no immediate plans to try to open the waterway to the ocean.

Information about Tallow Creek and Belongil Creek is on Council’s website.

For media enquiries contact Annie Lewis, Media and Communications Coordinator, on 6626 7320.