Adelaide Coastal Waters Study

The Adelaide Coastal Waters Study (ACWS) was a A$3 million research program initiated in 2001 to provide an integrated understanding of Adelaide's coastal system.

The six-year study investigated the causes of water quality decline and the loss of more than 5 000 hectares of seagrass in Gulf of St Vincent, adjacent to Adelaide's shoreline, since the mid 1930s and 1940s.

Technical reports from the Study are available below, as well as past editions of the Study's official newsletter: City to Sea.

More information about the Adelaide Coastal Waters Study.

Final Report

• Adelaide Coastal Waters Study Final Report Vol. 1, November 2007 (PDF 2.6 MB)

Technical Reports

• ACWS Technical Report No. 1 July 2005 (PDF, 2.4 MB)
  Audit of the quality and quantity of treated wastewater discharging from Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) into the marine environment. By Jeremy Wilkinson, Meryl Pearce, Nancy Cromar and Howard Fallowfield
• ACWS Technical Report No. 2 2004 (PDF, 2.6 MB)
  A review of seagrass loss on the Adelaide metropolitan coastline. By Westphalen, G., Collings, G., Wear, R., Fernandes, M., Bryars, S. and Cheshire, A. Publication No. RD04/0073, Adelaide.
• ACWS Technical Report No. 3 June 2004 (PDF, 3.3 MB)
  Audit of contemporary and historical quality and quantity data of stormwater discharging into the marine environment, and field work programme. By Wilkinson, J., Hutson, J., Bestland, E. and H. Fallowfield
• ACWS Technical Report No. 4 September 2005 (PDF, 2.5 MB)
  Estimation of groundwater and groundwater N discharge to the Adelaide Coastal Waters Study area. By Lamontagne, S., Le Gal La Salle, C., Simmons, C., James-Smith, J., Harrington, N., Love, A., Smith, A., Hancock, G. and H. Fallowfield
• ACWS Technical Report No. 5 August 2005 (PDF, 1.7 MB)
  Distribution of Suspended Matter Using SeaWiFS Data. By Peter Petrusevics
• ACWS Technical Report No. 6 September 2005 (PDF, 12.5 MB)
  Remote sensing study of marine and coastal features and interpretation of changes in relation to natural and anthropogenic processes. By David Blackburn and Arnold Dekker
• ACWS Technical Report No. 7 May 2006 (PDF, 3.7 MB)
  In-situ field measurements for Adelaide Coastal Waters Study. By Jochen Kaempf
• ACWS Technical Report No. 8 July 2005 (PDF, 3.7 MB)
  Physical oceanographic studies of Adelaide coastal waters using high resolution modeling, in-situ observations and satellite techniques. By Charitha Pattiaratchi and Rhys Jones
• ACWS Technical Report No. 9 August 2005 (PDF, 1.6 MB)
  Responses to reduced salinities of the meadow forming seagrasses Amphibolis and Posidonia from the Adelaide metropolitan coast. By Westphalen, G., O’Loughlin, E., Collings, G., Tanner, J., Eglinton, Y., and Bryars, S.
• ACWS Technical Report No. 10 August 2005 (PDF, 638 kB)
  Reconstruction of historical stormwater flows in the Adelaide metropolitan area. By Wilkinson, J.
• ACWS Technical Report No. 11 August 2006 (PDF, 2.1 MB)
  Elevated nutrient responses of the meadow forming seagrasses, Amphibolis and Posidonia, from the Adelaide metropolitan coastline. By Greg Collings, Simon Bryars, Sasi Nayar, David Miller, Jodi Lill and Emma O’Loughlin
• ACWS Technical Report No. 12 July 2006 (PDF, 721 kB)
  Turbidity and reduced light responses of the meadow forming seagrasses Amphibolis and Posidonia, from the Adelaide metropolitan coastline. By Collings, G., Miller, D., O’Loughlin, E., Cheshire, A., and Bryars, S.
• ACWS Technical Report No. 13 August 2006 (PDF, 2 MB)
  Nutrient fluxes in the meadow forming seagrasses Posidonia and Amphibolis from the Adelaide metropolitan coast. By Sasi Nayar, Greg Collings, David Miller and Simon Bryars
• ACWS Technical Report No. 14 August 2006 (PDF, 2.7 MB)
  Field surveys 2003-2005: Assessment of the quality of Adelaide’s coastal waters, sediments and seagrasses. By Simon Bryars, David Miller, Greg Collings, Milena Fernandes, Gen Mount and Rachel Wear.
• ACWS Technical Report No. 15 August 2006 (PDF, 1.4 MB)
  Assessment of the effects of inputs to the Adelaide coastal waters on the meadow forming seagrasses, Amphibolis and Posidonia. By Simon Bryars, Greg Collings, Sasi Nayar, Grant Westphalen, David Miller, Emma O’Loughlin, Milena Fernandes, Gen Mount, Jason Tanner, Rachel Wear, Yvette Eglinton, and Anthony Cheshire.
• ACWS Technical Report No. 16 March 2007 (PDF, 5.1 MB)
  Adelaide Coastal Waters Study Coastal Sediment Budget. By Yvonne Bone, Linda Deer , Sally Edwards and Elizabeth Campbell
• ACWS Technical Report No. 17 March 2006 (PDF, 2.4 MB)
  The loads of particulate matter and atmospheric nitrogen deposited from wet and dryfall to Adelaide metropolitan coastal waters. By Jeremy Wilkinson, Erick Bestland, Lynn Smythe, Nicholas White.
• ACWS Technical Report No. 18 July 2006 (PDF, 1.1 MB)
  Volumes of inputs, their concentrations and loads received by Adelaide
  metropolitan coastal waters. By Jeremy Wilkinson, Nicholas White, Lynn Smythe, John Hutson, Erick Bestland, Craig Simmons, Sebastien Lamontagne and Howard Fallowfield.
• ACWS Technical Report No. 19 June 2006 (PDF, 2.8 MB)
  An Integrated Environmental Monitoring Program for Adelaide’s Coastal Waters. By Brent Henderson, Melissa Dobbie and Bronwyn Harch
• ACWS Technical Report No. 20 May 2007 (PDF, 5.5 MB)
  Physical oceanographic studies of Adelaide coastal waters using high resolution modelling, in-situ observations and satellite techniques. By Charitha Pattiaratchi, John Newgard and Ben Hollings

ACWS City to Sea Newsletter

• Issue 1 - Autumn 2001 (PDF, 589 kB)
• Issue 2 - Spring 2001 (PDF, 569 kB)
• Issue 3 - Summer 2002 (PDF, 667 kB)
• Issue 4 - Winter 2003 (PDF, 865 kB)
• Issue 5 - Summer 2004 (PDF, 792 kB)
• Issue 6 - Spring 2004 (PDF, 652 kB)
• Issue 7 - Winter 2005 (PDF, 820 kB)

Publications

• Research Summary 2004 (PDF, 2.3 MB)
• Consolidated Stage 2 and 3 Research Plans (PDF, 2.6MB) Aug 2004

More information about the Adelaide Coastal Waters Study.