Nepean Bay

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Introduction

Nepean Bay is a coastal embayment on the north coast of Kangaroo Island. It is used extensively during the summer months for recreation, commercial and recreational fishing and tourism. The town of Kingscote is on the southern coast of Nepean Bay and surrounding land use is predominantly rural. The Cygnet River discharges into Nepean Bay at Western Cove. The discharge is often highly turbid and contains nutrients washed off the land. Nepean Bay also receives discharges from Kingscote. >> More

Water quality assessment

Water quality in Nepean Bay is assessed as being in good, moderate or poor condition by interpreting water chemistry and algal (chlorophyll) data. >> More

Water quality classification for April to September 2006

Indicator	Ecosystem	Recreation	Aquaculture
Ammonia	Good	NA	Good
Oxidised Nitrogen	Good	NA	NA
Total Nitrogen	Good	NA	NA
Soluble Phosphorus	Good	NA	NA
Total Phosphorus	Good	NA	NA
Turbidity	Good	Good	NA
Chlorophyll (a)	Good	NA	NA
Heavy Metals	Good	NA	NA

Notes NA = not applicable

The water quality monitoring results for this period were generally consistent with, or lower than previous seasonal results for this site.

Water quality in Nepean Bay was classified as good throughout, however there is evidence that there is seagrass loss possibly due to elevated nutrients within sensitive areas such as Western Cove. Information on this can be found in the report Ambient Water Quality of Nepean Bay, Kangaroo Island 1999-2004 (2.8MB PDF).

>> Archived results

Download water quality graphs

• Ammonia in Nepean Bay
  
• Oxidised Nitrogen in Nepean Bay
  
• Total Nitrogen in Nepean Bay
  
• Total Phosphorus in Nepean Bay
• Soluble phosphorus in Nepean Bay
  
• Turbidity in Nepean Bay
  
• Chlorophyll (a) in Nepean Bay

Download water quality data

• Water Quality in Nepean Bay Site 10
• Water Quality in Nepean Bay Site 3
• Water Quality in Nepean Bay Site 4
• Water Quality in Nepean Bay Site 6
• Water Quality in Nepean Bay Site 8

What is being done to improve the condition of Nepean Bay?

The EPA is working with the Kangaroo Island Natural Resource Management Board to educate farmers and land owners about stream bank rehabilitation, restricting stock access to streams and promoting the sustainable use of fertilisers and pesticides.

Reports

Ambient Water Quality of Nepean Bay, Kangaroo Island 1999-2004 (2.8MB)

Links

Kangaroo Island NRM Board

This page was last modified 31-07-2007