23-06-2015

Estuary event details

Estuary	Barham River Estuary
Region	Corangamite CMA
Event type	Weather Event
Date and time	23 June 2015 10:00am
Description	South West of the Barham river mouth the beach profile was very low after a June 2012 storm. With settled weather the beach profile has been steadily rising since that time and is still high at the River Mouth [NE] end of the beach. At the monitoring pole [No 3] near the toilet block the sand height on: 05/04/2015 was 3.21 mAHD 06/06/2015 was 2.71mAHD 23/06/2015 was 1.93mAHD Sand loss was all in May and June. It is usual for the winter minimum estuary height to be below 0.5mAHD. The minimum estuary height recorded this year is 0.69mAHD on the 24/07/2015. Otherwise > 0.8mAHD has been a common minimum estuary level. I believe this is a result of large sand movements around the river mouth.

Car Park beach access 23/06/2015: Past dune erosion has been most severe at the car park beach access [Near Pole 2] and sandbags were installed as a result. The sandbags are proving a success in protecting the dune at this point and keeping the access open.

Past dune erosion has been most severe at the car park beach access [Near Pole 2] and sandbags were installed as a result. The sandbags are proving a success in protecting the dune at this point and keeping the access open.

The beach access near Pole 3 is heavily eroded and closed.

The beach profile had dropped by a half metre since the beginning of May.

The beach profile has dropped a further 0.78 metres since 06/06/2015. In the mid areas of the Marengo beach the dunes are vulnerable to erosion. Much of the beach at time is black from an Ilmenite seam being opened.