FAQs

Many State and Local Government agencies are involved in managing the lake. These include but are not limited to:   

As there are multiple agencies involved, the Lake Illawarra Coast Management Program (Lake Illawarra CMP) was jointly developed to ensure a coordinated approach to management of the Lake into the future. 

We also work closely with stakeholder groups such as the Lake Illawarra CMP Implementation Group (representatives from council, state government and the community) who provide advice and oversee actions. Other local community groups and community members also inform some of the decision making. 

The Lake Illawarra Coastal Management Program (CMP) was created to protect and improve the lake over the next 10 years. It is a long-term strategy for the joint management of the Lake.  

One of the actions in the CMP is: 'Investigate and finalise options to manage erosion and accretion changes in the entrance channel'.

In 2021, we received funding from Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water to review existing Lake Entrance conditions and impact and develop some options to manage these. This is currently being done by consultants UNSW Water Research Laboratory (WRL) through the Lake Illawarra Entrance Options Study. 

The tidal range in the lake will keep increasing for at least 120 years, meaning low tides will get lower and high tides will get higher. This will impact on both recreation (such as boating in areas that are already shallow), as well as increasing impacts from flooding of foreshores and infrastructure from higher water levels. Habitats like seagrass will no longer be able to grow in areas that become shallower, and foreshore habitat like saltmarsh will be inundated too often for vegetation to survive. 

The speed of tidal flows will get faster and foreshore erosion along existing foreshore structures will worsen. Impact to foreshore structures and assets (such as the bridge, wharves or jetty structures) in or along the entrance will continue, requiring ongoing expensive upgrades to foreshore protection. 

In the Final Options Assessment Report, not doing anything at all is referred to as the ‘Base Case’. 

Initial work in Stage 1 involved collecting data in and around the entrance and a literature review of the lake entrance and other similar lake systems. Then over 50 possible management options were developed and reviewed to come up with a shortlist of 5 options.  

The Stage 2 report assessed the five shortlisted options to see how they perform in addressing the problem, and any other impacts they would have, when compared against the ‘Base Case'*. This means you can consider the good and bad points about each option, including considering issues such as cost to construct and maintain and issues such as impacts recreational safety, environmental impacts and impacts to cultural heritage. 

We are now inviting the community to share their feedback on the options presented in the report, including their local knowledge, experience and what is important to them in determining the long-term management option for the lake. 

*In the Final Options Assessment Report, not doing anything at all is referred to as the ‘Base Case’.

A future management option will need to consider: 

Following on from community consultation: 

Progressing a management option/s for the entrance will take time, and if there is broad community and public authority (councils and agencies) support to progress an option or options, it may be several years before any works could occur on-site.   

Updates will continue to be provided for the community through our existing communications channels for Lake Illawarra. 

Windang Bridge crosses Lake Illawarra and is an important bridge connecting Shellharbour and Wollongong Local Government Areas.  

Since the lake entrance was opened in 2007, there has been some impact to the bridge itself. Tidal changes and faster moving water through the entrance is affecting the bridge piers. To ensure the bridge remains stable, rocks have been placed from the northern abutment up to pier 11 (or approximately one third the length of the bridge) to stabilise these piers and protect against further erosion. Further work is planned to place rocks along the full length of the bridge. 

Transport for NSW (TfNSW) will continue to inform the community about any works that need to be carried out. Keep up to date with more information here. 

Council’s adopted Infrastructure Delivery Program (FY2024-25 – FY2027-28) includes a project and has allocated a budget to commence design on the Windang Foreshore Improvement project. This project will identify potential options that are both technically feasible and cost-effective to prevent further erosion of the Windang foreshore while a long-term entrance management option to stabilise the channel is delivered. 

It is highly likely that, even following the implementation of a long-term entrance management option, this foreshore protection infrastructure will be required to protect the Windang foreshore from further erosion due to flooding.