The Record · Place
The Tuggerah Lakes system
Last updated 3 July 2026 · This page grows as we learn more.
The Tuggerah Lakes estuary is the shallow coastal lake system that defines the northern Central Coast. Per council’s description, the system is made up of three connected lakes and the waterways and upstream areas that feed them:
- The lakesTuggerah, Budgewoi, Munmorah
- Feeding waterwaysWyong River, Ourimbah Ck, Tumbi Ck, Wallarah Ck
- Ocean openingThe Entrance Channel
The lakeside towns (The Entrance, Toukley, Wyong, Budgewoi, Lake Munmorah among them) use the lakes for swimming, boating, fishing and foreshore recreation, and council describes them as central to community wellbeing and nature-based tourism.
The condition problem
Council’s environment and planning director Luke Nicholls has attributed the lakes’ water quality issues and habitat degradation to decades of vegetation clearing and urbanisation, with pressures including nutrient enrichment, sedimentation, erosion and litter.
Work under way
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Estuary improvement program (2026-2028)
$4 million from the Australian Government’s Urban Rivers and Catchments Program funds seven restoration projects over two years: saltmarsh rehabilitation (already begun), streambank stabilisation, urban stormwater treatment, wetland rehabilitation, bushland restoration, nearshore flushing trials and boat-based litter collection. Progress: Love Our Waterways project page.
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The Entrance Channel dredging
The adopted 2026-27 budget added $3.5 million over four years for Coastal Management Program implementation, which council lists as including The Entrance Channel dredging.
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