Author(s): R. K. Laursen; B. Gibbes; A. Grinham; D. Gale; J. Udy; D. Lockington
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Keywords: Lakes; Water level fluctuations; Water quality; ELCOM-CAEDYM
Abstract: South East Queensland is one of six regions in Australia expected to be highly impacted by predicted future climate change. The annual precipitation is likely to decline and rainfall patterns are expected to shift with more intense rainfall events separated by longer dry periods. These shifting patterns are likely to induce more frequent and larger water level fluctuations in water supply reservoirs than are currently experienced. The implications of these fluctuations for reservoir water quality are unclear. In this study a combination of field measurements and numerical simulations are used to investigate how large water level fluctuations may affect the mixing between the epilimnion and hypolimnion, as well as overall water quality in a small subtropical reservoir. The implications of such water level variations for water resource managers are discussed.
Year: 2011