Initial Investigation Kangaroo Creek Reservoir Modifications
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Initial Investigation Kangaroo Creek Reservoir Modifications 170 Greenhill Road Parkside SA 5063 P 08 8172 1088 F 08 8271 2055 www.southfront.com.au Initial Investigation Kangaroo Creek Reservoir Modifications Adelaide & Mt Lofty Ranges NRM Board Internal Ref: 11029-2 Revision Date Approved Details A 17 June 2011 DJ Client Review B 18 July 2011 DJ Final © Southfront 2011 Contents 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Torrens Taskforce 1 1.2 Investigation Scope & Objectives 1 2 Kangaroo Creek Reservoir Modifications 2 2.1 River Torrens Flood Mitigation Scheme 2 2.2 Hydrology and Flood Plain Review 2 2.3 Potential Scenario 3 2.4 Flood Protection Assessment 3 2.5 Yield Assessment 4 2.6 Spillway Gate feasibility 5 3 Conclusions, Further Work 6 4 References 7 Tables Table 2.1 Modified Western Suburbs Flood Protection Standard 3 Table 2.2 Additional Kangaroo Creek Reservoir Yield 4 Figures Figure 2.1 Flood Frequency Comparison (Holbrooks Road) 4 Figure 2.2 Kangaroo Creek Reservoir Water Level (1980-2011) 5 Kangaroo Creek Reservoir Modifications - Initial Investigation i 1 Introduction 1.1 Torrens Taskforce The outbreak of cyanobacterial blooms over successive summers from 1998 to 2005 on the Torrens Lake as well as the difficult to manage impacts and lack of clear solutions led to the establishment of the Torrens Taskforce in September 2006. With the assistance of the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management (NRM) Board, the Torrens Taskforce was established and led by Professor Don Bursill, a local scientist and water quality management practitioner. The recommendations of the Torrens Taskforce from its first review are presented in Torrens Taskforce Summary of Findings (Torrens Taskforce, 2007), which was subsequently reviewed and updated to reflect progress in Torrens Taskforce Actions Update (Torrens Taskforce, 2009). One of the priorities of this review included: • determination of the feasibility of an ‘amenity flow’ for the Torrens Lake (including what the source water should be) to reduce or eliminate blooms The construction of large water storages and diversion structures in the upper Torrens catchment has ensured that, particularly during summer months, flows do not overtop the Gorge Weir except during extreme storm events. The provision of an amenity flow, through return of a low flow to the urban River Torrens by releases from Kangaroo Creek reservoir (or alternate sources) was proposed as a strategy which would enable a consistent turnover time in the Torrens Lake waterbody reducing the likelihood of blooms. The 2007 Taskforce report noted that “a review of the yield possible from modifying Kangaroo Creek reservoir’s flood mitigation function would be worthwhile. In the early 1980’s approximately a quarter of this dam’s capacity was sacrificed for flood control purposes (approximately 6.5GL). The resulting River Torrens Flood Mitigation Scheme provided a 200 year flood protection standard. A review of the potential to recover some of the reservoir space (yield) is warranted. Such a review could result in a compromise between lowering the flood control performance of the River Torrens Flood Mitigation Scheme and provision of an allocation of local catchment water for urban environmental flows.” This investigation has been commissioned by the Adelaide and Mt Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board to provide some initial estimates surrounding the aspects described above, to inform further consideration of the feasibility of an amenity flow. 1.2 Investigation Scope & Objectives This investigation was required to provide the following assessment: • A first order estimate to determine what additional flood risk would result if the reservoir’s capacity (full supply level and therefore annual yield) was incrementally increased This investigation is based on a review of available reports and data. The collection of field data and execution of hydrological modelling is beyond the scope of this investigation. Kangaroo Creek Reservoir Modifications - Initial Investigation 1 2 Kangaroo Creek Reservoir Modifications 2.1 River Torrens Flood Mitigation Scheme A number of floods from the River Torrens impacted on the early settlement of Adelaide, and in particular the western suburbs which remained undeveloped until the completion of the lower reach channel works (Breakout Creek) in the 1930s. Construction of the Kangaroo Creek dam was completed in 1969. This dam was built at the time to provide the dual purpose of water supply (water from Kangaroo Creek is released into the River Torrens as required to maintain the level in Hope Valley reservoir, with the water being diverted at the Gorge Weir) and some flood mitigation benefits (understood to be a 1 in 60 year standard at that time). The level of flood protection provided by the existing infrastructure was subsequently re- assessed, with high economic losses estimated to occur for any flood with a magnitude greater than a 35 year average recurrence interval (ARI) (Engineering & Water Supply Department, 1980). In 1982-83, as part of the River Torrens Flood Mitigation Scheme, modifications were carried out to the Kangaroo Creek Reservoir (along with works along the River Torrens urban reaches) to ensure protection against a 200 year ARI flood. 2.2 Hydrology and Flood Plain Review After implementation of the River Torrens Flood Mitigation Scheme, a review of both the river hydrology (Lange Dames Campbell, 1995) and flood plain (SMEC, 1998) was commissioned to: • Confirm the performance of the completed major works recommended in the 1980 Study • Utilise the additional streamflow and rainfall records within the catchment to increase confidence in peak flow estimates • Assess changes in floodplain behaviour due to changes to channel banks The reviews were also able to take advantage of improvements in modelling techniques and computational capacity since the 1980 Study. The hydrology review produced a conclusion of note that “the frequency of overtopping of the River Torrens in the western suburbs of Adelaide is estimated to be 1 in 150 years” - compared to the 1 in 200 years provided for in the works constructed following the 1980 Study. This Lange Dames and Campbell report also highlights the impact that the Kangaroo Creek reservoir level (prior to the onset of a storm) has on downstream peak flows. Consequently this Study adopted a joint probability analysis, considering a range of ARI rainfall events and reservoir start water levels. Approximately 240 combinations were modelled using the hydrological model, from which the corresponding probability of each combination was used to assign an ARI to a given flood peak discharge, at several locations along the river. Kangaroo Creek Reservoir Modifications - Initial Investigation 2 2.3 Potential Scenario This investigation seeks to assess the impact on both downstream flood protection, and reservoir yield, brought about by incrementally raising the spillway crest level to supplement the reservoir water supply storage by 1, 2, 3 and 4GL respectively. 2.4 Flood Protection Assessment To rigorously assess the effect of a change to the Kangaroo Creek reservoir outlet and compare this directly against the 1995 base case scenario would require an amendment to the hydrological model, execution of each of the combination scenarios, followed by a statistical analysis on the output. This is beyond the scope of this investigation, and hence a simplified approach has been developed to provide an initial indication of the impact of modifying the reservoir outlet condition. It should be noted that due to the nature of the assumptions made, this approach is considered to overestimate the reduction in flood protection standard. ‘Volume – Gauge Height’ and ‘Discharge – Gauge Height’ curves for the Kangaroo Creek reservoir presented in the 1995 review have been reviewed, and from these it has been estimated that: • A 1m increment in elevation above the current spillway crest level has an associated 1 GL increment in storage • A 1m increment in elevation above the current spillway crest level has an associated 32 m3/s increment in discharge rate For the purpose of this assessment, it has been assumed that peak flood outflows from the Kangaroo Creek reservoir for a given ARI will increase by the above increments. It is acknowledged that this is an overestimate due to the mitigating effect of the higher outflow rate. The peak flood flows in downstream reaches has also been assumed to increase by the corresponding increment. It is acknowledged that this may be an overestimate due to the potential for differences in timing between the peak discharge from the reservoir and the peak at a given downstream location. The increased flood flows, at Holbrooks Road, corresponding to each of the Kangaroo Creek reservoir supplementary storage scenarios are presented in Figure 2.1. This indicates that the existing 150 year ARI protection (corresponding to a flow of 410 m3/s) would be reduced to a standard as summarised in Table 2.1 below. Table 2.1 Modified Western Suburbs Flood Protection Standard Supplementary Storage (GL) Protection Standard (years) 1 130 2 100 3 80 4 70 Kangaroo Creek Reservoir Modifications - Initial Investigation 3 900 Existing 800 1GL Supplementary Storage 700 2GL Supplementary Storage /s) 3 600 3GL Supplementary Storage 500 4GL Supplementary Storage 400 300 Peak Discharge (m 200 100 0 10 100 1000 ARI (yrs) Figure 2.1 Flood Frequency Comparison (Holbrooks Road) 2.5 Yield Assessment The provision of additional water supply storage within the Kangaroo Creek reservoir will enable an increase in yield at the reservoir. An initial estimate of this increased yield has been undertaken through reference to the history of overtopping of the spillway crest, and corresponding flow volumes over the Gorge Weir. The gauge record of daily water level readings at the reservoir has been obtained (refer Figure 2.2). This record indicates that over a 31 year period, reservoir levels have surpassed the current spillway crest level on 12 occasions (ie. there is a 39% probability of a spill event occurring in any given year).