Author(s): J. Parsa; A. Etemad-Shahidi; E. Jabbari
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Keywords: Empirical models; Salinity intrusion; Tide; Bahmanshir estuary
Abstract: Estuaries are important water bodies in coastlines as the main water resources for various drinking, agricultural and industrial purposes. Construction of dams and other water control structures for supplying water for municipal and industrial purposes decreases the flow rate in the downstream reaches of rivers. In addition to these circumstances, salinity intrusion originated from sea-water, decreases the quality of water which becomes more severe under the high tides. Although due to the ever-increasing technology progresses, computer models are extensively used for simulating these water systems, it is preferred to use the simple and rapid assessment techniques in the water management policies. In most estuarine management decisions, it is important to use the rapid assessment tools for evaluation of different design alternatives and their effects on the salinity distribution along the estuary. In this paper the empirical models presented by several researches are briefly described and their limitations are discussed. Then these models are applied to estimate the salinity intrusion length in Bahmanshir estuary. The comparison of the obtained results from empirical models and the field data from measurement campaign indicates the relatively acceptable performance of the Van der Burgh’s model and its capability for prediction of salinity intrusion in the Bahmanshir estuary.
Year: 2005