Welcome to the first issue of the St Georges Basin Stormwater Action Program Newsletter!  The purpose of this newsletter is to keep you informed of the stormwater project activities of Shoalhaven City Council in your local area in 2001.

We all live in a catchment……
but what is a catchment?

A "catchment" is an area of land that drains to a waterway.  When rain falls it soaks into the ground, evaporates or flows downhill into a waterway.  The overland flow of water is called stormwater.  Stormwater drains are also part of the catchment.  They carry the water that runs off our homes, driveways, footpaths and roads into the local waterways.

St Georges Basin Catchment

The Effects of
Stormwater Pollution


Stormwater pollution can kill plants and animals that live in the water. For example:

  • sediment in the water reduces light penetration and affects the ability of plants to use light as their source of energy;
  • when green waste decays in water, it uses up oxygen, taking vital oxygen away from plants, fish and other aquatic animals;
  • soil makes waterways cloudy and can suffocate fish by clogging their gills;
  • litter clogs waterways and causes toxicity as it breaks down. It affects the health of birds, fish and other animals and plants that live in the waterways.
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Stormwater is an important and natural part of the water cycle.  Soil, nutrients and other material is collected by stormwater as it passes over the land surface.  The environment can cope with these natural processes.  However, human activity can change the way stormwater flows through the environment.

Removing vegetation and replacing it with roads and buildings increases the amount and the speed of stormwater runoff.  Gutters and drains take rainwater from the streets straight into local waterways.  So, when it rains stormwater runoff can carry with it pollution from around our homes and streets…..into the waterways in which we swim, sail and fish, and where animals and plants live.  Even natural things like leaves, garden clippings and soil in excessive quantities can harm our waterways.

Stormwater pollution is the biggest single threat to the health of the St Georges Basin waterways.  When it rains, water washes cigarette butts, dog droppings, soil, litter, plastic bags, fertilisers, leaves, oil, grease, pesticides, heavy metals and other types of pollution down the stormwater drains in Basin View, St Georges Basin, Sanctuary Point, Erowal Bay and Old Erowal Bay.  These drains all empty directly into St Georges Basin.

What you do on our streets ends up in our waterways.  Healthy waterways mean a healthy future for the environment and the economy --
and for the people of St Georges Basin.


Shoalhaven City Council receives grant to improve stormwater quality.



The Stormwater Trust is an initiative of the NSW Government and has recently provided grant funding to SCC for a range of activities to improve the water quality in St Georges Basin.  The proposed activities were formulated in the Shoalhaven Urban Stormwater Management Plan as a means of enhancing and protecting the environmental values that, in the consultation process, the community indicated were important.  Council adopted the Shoalhaven Urban Stormwater Management Plan in 2000 and in line with this plan, will use the grant funding to build pollution trapping devices and to inform and educate the local community about ways to help improve the stormwater quality in the St Georges Basin.


Shoalhaven Urban
Stormwater Management Plan


The Shoalhaven Urban Stormwater Management Plan has identified that rapid growth in urban development is placing increased pressure on local waterways in the City of Shoalhaven.  The objective of the plan is to manage stormwater problem areas to achieve ecologically sustainable development (ESD).  That is, development that allows future generations to meet their environmental, economic and social needs.  The plan has recognized a number of locations that require attention in the St Georges Basin area and these areas will be targeted in the St Georges Basin Stormwater Action Program.

The objectives of the Stormwater Management Plan are to improve the quality of stormwater runoff that enters St Georges Basin.  The installation of pollution traps and pipes, bank stabilisation work, turfing and an education campaign will go towards achieving these objectives.  It is hoped these measures will reduce the amount of litter (gross pollutants), sediment (erosion materials) and other materials that are carried by stormwater into the St Georges Basin waterways.

Project Locations: St Georges Basin Stormwater Action Program 2001

Other Planned Activities
Other activities planned for 2001 in St Georges Basin include:

  • Drain stencilling.
  • Workshops involving local schools,
organisations and industry.
  • Water quality monitoring.
  • Ongoing drain stabilisation works.
  • Road Sealing -  Old Erowal Bay, Basin View.
  • Kerb and Gutter Construction -
St Georges Basin.
  • Foreshore Restoration Works -
Under Council's Estuary Program.