University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+ University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2017 Hydrodynamic and Salinity Simulation in the Lower Lakes, South Australia and Proposed Coastal Reservoir Jianli Liu University of Wollongong Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses1 University of Wollongong Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. The University does not authorise you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. You are reminded of the following: This work is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this work may be reproduced by any process, nor may any other exclusive right be exercised, without the permission of the author. 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Recommended Citation Liu, Jianli, Hydrodynamic and Salinity Simulation in the Lower Lakes, South Australia and Proposed Coastal Reservoir, Doctor of Philosophy thesis, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, 2017. https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses1/143 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] Hydrodynamic and Salinity Simulation in the Lower Lakes, South Australia and Proposed Coastal Reservoir A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy From UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG by Jianli Liu (B.Sc., M.Sc.) School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences 2017 CERTIFICATION I, Jianli Liu, declare that this thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Civil, Mining&Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Informatics Science at the University of Wollongong, and is wholly my own work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged. The document has not been submitted for qualifications to any other academic institution. Jianli Liu 13 November 2017 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I express my sincere appreciation to my supervisor Associate Professor Shuqing Yang. He is a great advisor and tremendous mentor for me. He gives me his enthusiastic support and constant encouragement to help me overcome the challenges during my PhD study. His supervision and supports are highly appreciated. I also thank my co-supervisor, Associate Professor Muttucumaru Sivakumar for his enthusiastic and unconditional help and encouragement in all aspects of this research project. His prompt response to my emails, professional supervision and rigorous thinking styles have all help train me to be a professional scholar. He has also set a great model for me in terms of research integrity. I am deeply grateful to him. Sincere appreciation is dedicated to my co-supervisor, Associate Professor Brian Jones, for his supportive guidance and great advice. His patience, calmness, and warm support to me really soften my heart and make me more confident. His availability, whenever needed with his heavy workload, is gratefully appreciated. Thanks also go to the University of Wollongong Faculty of Engineering whose efforts made the access to the relevant software used possible, as well as the DHI Group for giving permission to use the MIKE software and their support to my modelling study. I also extend my sincere gratitude to the administration staff at the University of Wollongong, Rhondalee Cambareri, Leonie McIntyre, for their support. Sincere acknowledgements are expressed to Associate Professor Ting Ren, Errol Mclean, and Keith Enever, for their constant support. I extend my great appreciation to Rohan Hudson from BMT WBM for his selfless help during my study. Special thanks to Jason Higham from Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR), Government of South Australia (SA), for his suggestions and comments on my study. I thank the officers from DEWNR for providing the bathymetry data and Water Connect, SA for providing water level and salinity data. I am also grateful to the officers from Murray Darling Basin Authority for providing relative information. I thank all of my friends who supported and accompanied me during my PhD study. I extend my great gratitude to my lovely colleagues: Dr Nadeesha Keembiye Liyana Gamage, Dr Yu ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Han and Yahong Kuang. I thank all my friends for supporting me throughout all my studies: Dr Linda Tie, Liang Zhang, Jixuan Li, Jie Zhang, Jian Li, Jun Zhang, Hui Wang, Su Huang and so on. Special thanks to Darshika Palamakumbure and Yihe Wang for their encouragement and support. Last but not least, I thank my husband Dr Tongfei Tian, my daughter Yiran Olivia Tian, my mother and father, my mother-in-law and father-in-law. In the past a year, a variety of things have happened to me. My dear grandpa who I highly respect passed away; the pregnancy with my second baby was terminated due to the baby’s health issue. My families comforted and encouraged me. It’s their understanding, unwavering support, and sacrifices to help me to complete this thesis. iii ABSTRACT ABSTRACT Water resources are irreplaceable resources for human survival and development, which is the foundation for sustainable environmental, economic and social development. Currently, global water resources are facing a huge crisis. Increasingly industrial and agricultural production and human activities consume a large amount of water. Climatic factors and geographic reasons lead to uneven space-time distribution of water resources. These issues are of great concern for policymakers and researchers. This study discusses the current existing water supply sources and proposes a coastal reservoir strategy to provide water for people by storing water from runoff, which is otherwise going to the sea, to solve water shortage crisis. Adelaide was taken as a case study. It is one of the driest state capital cities in Australia, which receives 60%-70% of its water supply in normal years and 80%-90% of its water supply in drought years from the Murray River. From 09/2001 until 2008, the Murray- Darling Basin experienced a severe rainfall deficiency, the second driest seven-year period in its recorded history. This drought aggravated the water crisis in South Australia, especially in the Adelaide area. The strategy of building a coastal reservoir in the Lower Lakes is to alleviate Adelaide water shortage. The Lower Lakes (Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert), located about 100 km south-east of Adelaide, are a set of large, shallow, fluvial lakes at the downstream end of the Murray- Darling Basin, Australia. This research firstly investigates hydrodynamic and numerical salinity simulations in the Lower Lakes through setting up 1D and 2D models by using MIKE software. A 1D model is applied for five barrage structures while a 2D model was used to reproduce the hydrodynamic processes and salinity changes in the Lower Lakes. The time period from 08/12/2010 to 01/03/2011 (increasing inflow period) was chosen for model calibration. The time period from 01/03/2011 to 21/05/2011 (decreasing inflow period) was used for model performance assessment . The measured and simulated values (calibration process and validation process) are compared and analysed. The collinearity for water level and salinity between the measured and simulated values are separately above 94% and 83%, which indicates the model is able to predict future changes in water level and salinity for future conditions. As the Lower Lakes are shallow lakes, wind plays an important role in hydrodynamic processes and also affects salinity transport. The thesis uses the 2D model to simulate eight iv ABSTRACT different wind direction (from 0° to 360°) scenarios to study hydrodynamic mechanisms in the Lower Lakes and the characteristics for the transmission between Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert. It is found that when wind direction was from the north (0°), northeast (45°), east (90°) or southeast (135°), the main flow field in Lake Alexandrina was from northeast to southwest. When wind direction came from the south (180°), southwest (225°), west (270°) and northwest (315°) a sub-circulation pattern was found along the northern shoreline of Lake Alexandrina that caused perturbation in the circulations of the lake. However, the predominant circulation was still from northeast to southwest. For flows between Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert, when wind direction was north (0°), northeast (45°) or northwest (315°), the water transportation was oriented from Lake Alexandrina to Lake Albert. When wind direction came from the south (180°), southeast (135°) or southwest (225°), flow was dominantly from Lake Albert to Lake Alexandrina. When the wind direction was from the east (90°) or west (270°), there were back and forth flows between the two lakes. All of the above models reveal the hydrodynamic circulation rules in the Lower Lakes, which also implicates salinity transport rules for the Lower Lakes. The hydrodynamic cycles and salinity transport help to clarify the characteristics of the Lower Lakes and provides the research basis for the coastal reservoir design. Based on this study, two coastal reservoir designs are proposed. One is based on the hydrodynamic characteristics of the Lower Lakes to set a coastal reservoir in the northeast part of Lake Alexandrina.