hydrology envrionmental flows Flashcards
what are the basin states
NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, ACT
what are sustainable diversion limits
amount of water that can be extracted from rivers and groundwater that is still sustainable
how much water is needed for the environment
~3000 GL
has the MBD plan provided enough water for the environment
since implementation, there is more water in the wetlands relative to the inflow however because of the variability of the flow a big-time series is needed to understand the effects which is not yet available
what are key environmental assets
hydrological indicator sites, idea that through providing water directly to these key assets other subsequent assets will also be provided with water (key asset is usually far away from dams, therefore, other places will be provided with water along the way)
how is water released to key environmental assets
water is released from dams to mimic natural flow duration curve (timing, magnitude and frequency) at the wetlands
what is the water ACT 2007
provides legislative framework ensuring the MBD is managed in the best interest of the environment and economy
what is the MBD plan and what are the 6 key elements of the plan
a plan to manage the basin as a whole system
- sustainable diversion limits
- water resource plans
- water for the environment
- water trade
- compliance
- monitoring and reporting
what is an environmental water holder
a federal body that can buy and sell water, it focuses on buying water licences in the market to provide water for the environment
what are transmission losses
also considered environmental water, water released (conveyance) from dams for irrigation travels through system and losses occur along the way.
how long can you store water under a license
2 years
what are the 2 types of environmental water
- HEW (held environmental water - licenses from all environmental holders)
- PEW (planned environmental water - water sharing
- RMIF (river Murray increased flows)
what is the difference between a licence and an allocation?
a licence is the right to extract your share of water
allocation is the amount of water available for a given year (dependent on availability and precipitation etc)
what are the 5 different types of water licences
- domestic and stock: guaranteed water not used for irrigation
- town supply water: drinking guaranteed
- conveyance: government water
- high-security first priority water, guaranteed regular, more expensive, less volume than general
- general security: not guaranteed related to available water. everyone has this and the environment
what is supplementary water
how much water is allowed if the water is flooding
what is water accounting
understanding the flows and stores of water in a catchment
how do you assess a river
hydrology, ecology and geomorphology
whole river approach needed to give overall score however things change quickly.
how to identify a threshold value
impact/disturbance over health defines threshold value when resilience is breached
method to assessing environmental flows (FDC) limitations
before and after of flow duration curve (or FDC impacted/nonimpacted
- high variability before and after is difficult
- setting point of change difficult
- what type of flow (eg low, high) to compare
method to assessing environmental flows (index of hydrological alteration) limitations
there are 33 indies to describe the analysis of FDC therefore need complete flow data including
monthly means, annual magnitude, timing, frequency and duration
1. doesn’t include climate variability therefore need large time series
what is the hydrological alteration factor
HAF
positive or negative comparing post to pre flows
what is the range of variability approach
RVA
how 3 parts of flow have changed
lower, middle and upper
what is AUSRIVAS
habitat simulation program of healthy unaltered sites that become the benchmark to compare against similar sites to establish targets.
linked to citizen science
what is piggybacking
adding environmental flows to irrigation releases to account for conveyance losses
what are water managers concerned about when discussing agricultural flows in relation to drinking water at warragamba dam
- total suspended solids (turbidity)
2. associated nurtients ie N, P, salinity
what are 3 management actions that could be implemented to secure clean drinking water for sydney
- related to source, mobilization and delivery of pollutant/ concern, therefore, managers can change the source (fertilisers), mobilisation (groundcover) and delivery (riparian zones)
how does residence time impact water quality
higher residence time of runoff increases infiltration therefore transformation and uptake by plants to decrease centration of pollutant into surface water
what are riparian zones
areas that border a stream (vegetation)
what are the positive impacts of riparian zones
- filter hillsope (uptake of nutrients)
2. slows velocity (heavy particles drop out) =more inflitration
