Perth Laboratory – Public Seminar Series 2008

How will the Ord River respond to changes in flows and loads?

Dr Barbara Robson
Research Scientist
Rivers and Estuaries Program
CSIRO Land and Water

Thursday 8 May 2008 at 3.30pm, CSIRO Auditorium

Abstract

As water continues to be a limiting factor in the south, development of Australia's northern water resources continues. In the Kununurra region in north-west WA, current plans include increased hydroelectric power production, which will increase dry season flows to the lower Ord River, and increased irrigation, which will increase diversion of water from the river. Predicting how these changes will impact the river is a challenge, and understanding how the Ord River and its estuary currently function in terms of physical dynamics, biochemistry and ecology is the first step. This talk describes a study of the lower Ord River and Estuary and the resulting conceptual models of the system. Coupled hydrodynamic and biogeochemical numerical models have been implemented and applied to several likely future management scenarios, and the results will be discussed.

About the speaker

Barbara Robson is a research scientist with the Rivers and Estuaries research program of CSIRO Land and Water, Canberra, with an interest in biogeochemical and ecological modelling of rivers and estuaries. She has studied the Swan-Canning Estuary, the Peel-Harvey Inlet, the Queensland Fitzroy Estuary and the Ord River, among other systems.

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