Surface Water Hydrology of the Macquarie River Catchment
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Water Assessment Hydrology Report Series Surface Water Hydrology of the Macquarie River Catchment December 2008 ISSN: 1835-9531 (Report No. WA 08/46) W at er A s s essment Branch Water Resources Division Department Of Primary Industries and Water Copyright Notice: Material contained in the report provided is subject to Australian copyright law. Other than in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 of the Commonwealth Parliament, no part of this report may, in any form or by any means, be reproduced, transmitted or used. This report cannot be redistributed for any commercial purpose whatsoever, or distributed to a third party for such purpose, without prior written permission being sought from the Department of Primary Industries and Water, on behalf of the Crown in Right of the State of Tasmania. Disclaimer: Whilst DPIW has made every attempt to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information and data provided, it is the responsibility of the data user to make their own decisions about the accuracy, currency, reliability and correctness of information provided. The Department of Primary Industries and Water, its employees and agents, and the Crown in the Right of the State of Tasmania do not accept any liability for any damage caused by, or economic loss arising from, reliance on this information. Prepared by: Suzanne Witteveen, Hydrologist Preferred Citation: DPIW (2008). Surface Water Hydrology of the Macquarie River Catchment. Water Assessment Hydrology Report Series, Report No. WA 08/46 Water Resources Division. Department of Primary Industries and Water, Hobart, Tasmania. Contact Details: Department of Primary Industries and Water Water Assessment 13 St Johns Avenue, New Town. Phone: 03 6233 6833 Web: www.dpiw.tas.gov.au Email: [email protected] Cover Page Image: The Macquarie River at Morningside (photo C.Bobbi) The Department of Primary Industries and Water The Department of Primary Industries and Water provides leadership in the sustainable management and development of Tasmania’s resources. The Mission of the Department is to advance Tasmania’s prosperity through the sustainable development of our natural resources and the conservation of our natural and cultural heritage for the future. The Water Resources Division provides a focus for water management and water development in Tasmania through a diverse range of functions including the design of policy and regulatory frameworks to ensure sustainable use of the surface water and groundwater resources; monitoring, assessment and reporting on the condition of the State’s freshwater resources; facilitation of infrastructure development projects to ensure the efficient and sustainable supply of water; and implementation of the Water Management Act 1999, related legislation and the State Water Development Plan. 2 Executive Summary This report provides relevant hydrological information supporting the development of a water management plan for the Macquarie River catchment. Water management plans provide a framework for managing catchment water resources in accordance with objectives of the Water Management Act 1999, and the State Policy on Water Quality Management 1997. The Macquarie River catchment described in this report lies upstream of Lake River in the Midlands region of Tasmania and covers an area of approximately 2,697 km2. Major tributaries of the Macquarie River include the Elizabeth, Tooms, Blackman and Isis rivers. Lake Leake, Tooms Lake and the Blackman Dam are the major man-made storages in the catchment. The Macquarie catchment experiences medium to dry climatic conditions influenced by the prominent tiers in west and east of the catchment. The average annual rainfall varies from 500 mm in low lying areas to 1,200 mm in the highlands. The catchment- wide average rainfall is around 580 mm. The annual average evaporation in the catchment is around 1,000 mm. Average floods (1 in 2 year) in the lower Macquarie River downstream of Elizabeth River peak at around 80 m3s-1. Large floods (magnitude greater than 1,200 m3s-1) observed in the lower Macquarie River have an average recurrence interval of more than 1 in 100 years. Peak discharges after a major flood event in the lower Macquarie River take approximately 10 days to recede to base flow level. Low flows in the Macquarie River and its major tributaries are common throughout the year. In the lower Macquarie the likelihood of occurrence of flows less than 35 ML/day over a five day consecutive period in a given year is around 80%. Modelled annual water yields in the five Water Management Regions (WMRs) are 132,203 ML in the Upper Macquarie; 75,388 ML in the Elizabeth; 48,030 ML in the Lower Macquarie; 30,835 ML in the Blackman; and 32,663 ML in the Isis. The estimated total annual yield in the catchment is approximately 319 GL compared to 1,500 GL input from direct rainfall and runoff. This indicates that around 80% of gross water input is lost into the system through surface and subsurface interactions. The current total annual water allocation in the Macquarie River catchment is around 77,660 ML and makes up about 24 % of the total annual yield. The bulk of the allocation (75,511 ML) is for irrigation purposes, while the remainder comprise of stock and domestic, town water supply, and recreational usage. 3 Macquarie Aquatic Environment Assessment Hydrology and Water Use 2008 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................. 3 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 5 2. CATCHMENT DESCRIPTION .............................................................................. 6 2.1 DRAINAGE .............................................................................................................................. 7 2.2 LAND USE .............................................................................................................................. 8 2.3 WATER USE ........................................................................................................................... 8 3. CATCHMENT HYDROLOGY ............................................................................ 10 3.1 RAINFALL AND EVAPORATION ........................................................................................... 10 3.2 RIVER FLOW MONITORING ................................................................................................. 12 3.3 GAUGED FLOW CHARACTERISTICS ................................................................................... 14 3.4 SPECIFIC YIELD .................................................................................................................... 17 3.5 FLOODS ................................................................................................................................ 18 3.5 FLOW RECESSION ................................................................................................................ 19 3.6 LOW FLOWS ........................................................................................................................ 20 3.7 WET AND DRY YEAR COMPARISONS ................................................................................. 22 4. CATCHMENT WATER BALANCE MODELS .................................................... 23 4.1 OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................................... 23 4.2 NATURAL AND CURRENT FLOW ESTIMATIONS ................................................................ 23 5. CATCHMENT AND SUBREGION WATER BUDGET ........................................ 25 5.1 WATER MANAGEMENT REGIONS ...................................................................................... 25 5.2 CATCHMENT WATER ALLOCATIONS ............................................................................... 25 5.3 CATCHMENT WATER YIELD .............................................................................................. 32 5.3 YIELD SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 34 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 35 APPENDIX A. DESCRIPTION AND OPERATION OF MACQUARIE RIVER CATCHMENT LAKES ................................................................................................... 36 APPENDIX B. POTENTIAL LIMITATIONS TO THE MACQUARIE RIVER CATCHMENT SURFACE WATER MODEL ............................................................................................ 41 4 1. Introduction This report provides relevant hydrological information supporting the development of a water management plan for the Macquarie River catchment. Water management plans provide a framework for managing catchment water resources in accordance with objectives of the Water Management Act 1999, and the State Policy on Water Quality Management 1997. This report presents analyses of rain, evaporation, and streamflow data from various locations around the catchment. Also presented are outputs from a catchment hydrological model. These analyses provide hydrological information for calculation of a catchment water budget, indicating the gross and net amounts of water in the catchment. Macquarie River streamflows have been analysed to show general variation in gauged flows, as well as potential flood frequencies, low flows, and flow recessions. Modelled flow data