BEARES BEACH OUTFALL

Click the photograph for a enlarged view

Physical Environment

Landscape  

The headlands in the vicinity of Beares Beach consist of (undifferentiated) Ordovician bedrock, which is made up of slate, phyllite, siltstone, sandstone, schist, quartzite, greywacke and limestone (Bega Geological Series Sheet SJ 55-4). To the north is of the outfall is Beares Beach. To the south are rocky cliffs, Breakaway Beach and then more cliffs until Jerimbut Point is reached.

Bathymetry & Substrate  

The outlet consists of a 200 mm diameter cast iron pipe, inclined down the face of the headland and discharging onto a rock shelf about 4.5 m above mean sea level. From here effluent drains into the ocean in a relatively small exposed cove.

Currents, Winds and Waves  

Oceanographic, wind and local hydrographic data (MHL734 1995) indicate:

• depths 10m from the shoreline are between 4 to 5 m below AHD.

• local winds were the main mechanism driving the local currents, however, Bermagui local current speeds tended to be lower than at other sites on the NSW coast.

• under periods of low mixing in the nearshore zone initial dilutions were of the order of 10.

• within 50m of the outfall site dilutions were in the range of 80 to 140.

• there was no accumulation of reclaimed water in the mixing cove at the outfall site.

Beares Beach

(Bear_5) Last updated June 2000