In response to growing concerns about the management of Tuggerah Lakes by Wyong Shire Council the Community Environmental Network established "Friends of Tuggerah Lakes" to provide a forum that educated and informed the community on what was the best way to ensure we had an ecologically sustainable lake system.

The Friends of Tuggerah Lakes was a group concerned about the environmental health and public amenity of the Tuggerah Lakes system in Wyong.

The aim of this page was to help in the understanding of the Tuggerah Lakes System, which is in fact three Intermittently Closed and Open Lagoons ( ICOLs ). A lagoon is a shallow body of water protected from a larger body of water, usually the ocean, by sandbars, barrier islands, or coral reefs. Lagoons are often called estuaries, sounds, bays, or even lakes.

Tuggerah Lakes meets the criteria to be called a lagoon because it is very shallow with an average depth of approximately 1.98 m. Lakes are generally deeper, not part of the ocean, and therefore are distinct from lagoons.