Abstract
The lower Ord River is a wet-dry tropical river functioning as a perennial dry tropical river as a result of regulation. It is currently one of the few heavily regulated rivers in Australia’s tropical north, providing water for hydroelectrical production and irrigation. Current plans call for an increase in the area of irrigated land surrounding the lower Ord River and its estuary. The estuary is highly turbid and subject to very strong tides. It can be conceptualised as five connected physical zones – the Riverine Zone, the Tidal Freshwater Zone, the Transitional (Maximum Turbidity) Zone, the Estuary Mouth, and the Tidal Creeks and Flats Zone – distinguished by geomorphology, flow and tidal influence. Each of these physical zones functions as a distinct biogeochemical and ecological functional zone. Here, we describe how these zones function, how they interact, and how the estuary as a whole may respond to the changes expected in the mid-term future.
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Notes
- 1.
Residence times were calculated using a one-dimensional hydraulic model of the river, which is described by Robson and Webster submitted.
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Acknowledgments
Much of the data and analysis presented in this chapter is the product of original research, funded by the Australian Government, Government of Western Australia, and Rangelands NRM Coordinating Group and is gratefully acknowledged. In-kind support was provided by CSIRO, Griffith University and the Department of Water (DoW), Government of Western Australia.
The support of the Rangelands NRM Coordinating Group and its co-ordinator, Liz Brown, in linking us with interested stakeholders is gratefully acknowledged.
Thanks are due to Scott Goodson (DoW) for field support and for introducing us to the Miriuwung-Gajerrong community, the Traditional Owners of the region. Thanks to Ian Loh (DoW) for his comments regarding the history and planned future of water allocation in the river, and for working with us to model future scenarios.
Particular thanks are due to John Parslow, Nugzar Margvelashvili and John Volkman (all CSIRO) for their contributions to the initial study design, 2002–2003 fieldwork, and subsequent discussions. DoW staff also assisted with field work.
Technical support in laboratory analyses was provided by Rebecca Esmay and Stephane Armand (CSIRO).
Finally, thanks to Andrew and Kate McEwen and their team for providing a great field operation work area and accommodating our ever-changing needs.
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Appendix: Calculation of Suspended Sediment and Nutrient Budgets
Appendix: Calculation of Suspended Sediment and Nutrient Budgets
Suspended sediment and nutrient loads reaching the lower river were calculated by multiplying daily flows from Kununurra Diversion Dam by estimated nutrient and sediment concentrations at the furthest upstream monitoring site, then adding similarly calculated loads from Dunham River and from the small volume of irrigation return flow entering the river a few kilometres downstream, at D2, D4 and D6 (Fig. 1).
Monthly water quality samples are unfortunately not sufficient to allow precise estimates of daily suspended sediment and nutrient concentrations. Given wide variations in flow, simple interpolation between observations is not satisfactory. Daily suspended sediment and nutrient concentration estimates were therefore derived, where possible, from empirical relationships between available water quality observations and observed flows. Logistical considerations and the unpredictability of rainfall events prohibited a precise definition of flow-concentration relationships in the river, but in most cases, there were sufficient data from the observation program to define some approximate relationships.
Concentrations of particulate phosphorus (PP), and total suspended sediments (TSS) in Dunham River correlated reasonably well with flow in Dunham River (r2 = 0.65 for PP, r2 = 0.69 for TSS with 32 degrees of freedom). The correlation between flow and particulate nitrogen (PN) was poor (r2 = 0.26), however better data were not available. Daily estimates of PN as well as PP and TSS in Dunham River were therefore obtained from quadratic regressions fit to the available flow and concentration data.
Water quality in outflow from Kununurra Diversion Dam (KDD) is not directly monitored, but was assumed to match water quality just downstream of the dam, at site 15 (Ivanhoe Crossing, Fig. 1). Gaps in the monitoring record at this site were filled with data from the nearest downstream site – usually site 13 (Tarrara Bar).
Suspended sediment and nutrient concentrations downstream of the dam showed no clear relationship with flows from the dam. Similarly, suspended sediment and nutrient concentrations in the irrigation drains (D2, D4 and D6, Fig. 1) did not correlate with flows in these drains. Correlations were found, however, between TSS, PN and PP at these sites and flow measured in Dunham River. PN, PP and TSS concentrations in all tributaries were thus specified as fitted quadratic functions of flow in the Dunham River.
For concentrations just downstream of Kununurra Diversion Dam, these functions provided an acceptable fit (r2 for PP = 0.71; r2 for TSS = 0.74 and r2 for PN = 0.30, with 32 degrees of freedom). The strength of the relationships between water quality and flow in the irrigation drains (D2, D4 and D6) was weak, however the contribution of these drains to the total suspended sediment and total nutrient loads is relatively small, so the high error in this approximation does not contribute greatly to the uncertainty of the overall nutrient and sediment budgets. For concentrations in D4 vs. Dunham River flow, r2 for PP = 0.57; r2 for TSS in D4 = 0.27 and r2 for PN = 0.15, with 22 degrees of freedom. For concentrations in D2 vs. Dunham River flow, r2 for PP = 0.22, for TSS = 0.13, and for PN = 0.19, with 21 degrees of freedom.
No correlation was found between concentrations of dissolved organic or dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus, and flow. Hence, dissolved nutrient concentrations (DIN and DIP) for each tributary were set to a constant value equal to the mean concentration observed in that tributary.
A numerical model of flows, sedimentation and biogeochemical transformations (Robson et al. 2008b; Robson and Webster submitted), calibrated against observed water quality in the lower river and estuary, was used to determine the quantity of suspended sediments and nutrients reaching the estuary, given the calculated loads reaching the lower river.
Sources and sinks within the river were calculated by taking the difference between the calculated loads entering the river from tributaries and drains and the modelled loads delivered to the estuary.
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Robson, B.J., Gehrke, P.C., Burford, M.A., Webster, I.T., Revill, A.T., Palmer, D.W. (2013). The Ord River Estuary: A Regulated Wet-Dry Tropical River System. In: Wolanski, E. (eds) Estuaries of Australia in 2050 and beyond. Estuaries of the World. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7019-5_8
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