Theme 4: Material budgets (Water, carbon, sediment and nutrients)

Theme Leader: 
Jon Olley

John OlleyCatchment development typically results in altered river flows and increased nutrient and sediment loads. Such changes in rivers and estuaries can have impacts on aquatic ecosystems and processes. Researchers in Theme 4 are developing models to predict the effects of land use and climate change on the sources, amounts and movement of water, carbon, sediment, and nutrients. Indicators for monitoring and assessing water quality and quantity are also being developed.


Projects

4.1: Catchment water budgets and water resource assessment
Richard Cresswell

This project aims to start measuring and calculating the different elements of water budgets in three of the TRaCK focus catchments.  To build a water budget we need to know how much water there is in the catchment, where it goes and when.  Water budgets are a useful tool for catchment managers making decisions about water extraction.  They also help us understand how aquatic systems are linked or isolated within a catchment and how other materials such as sediment and nutrients move through catchments.

4.2: Regional scale sediment and nutrient budgets
Gary Caitcheon

To manage sediment and nutrient inputs to rivers we need to identify which of the erosion processes are most important in different parts of the catchment.  This project aims to do this and so increase our understanding of how current land-uses impact the river systems in two north Australian river catchments.

4.3: Towards understanding the impacts of land management on productivity in the Daly and Flinders Rivers
Barbara Robson

A common result of human activity in catchments is an increase in the amount of sediment and nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen) found in rivers.  This project will answer questions about how changes to the sediments and nutrients found in rivers affect the processes and plant growth in rivers.

4.4: Bedload transport in large tropical rivers and its effect on dry-season pool habitat dynamics
Andrew Brooks

The pools that remain in northern Australian rivers during the long dry season provide an important refuge for stream fauna and flora and are often culturally significant. There is a common perception, however, that many of these riverine waterholes are being filled by sands. Changes in land-use upstream and the effects of climate change have been suggested as causes for sand accumulation. This project will determine, whether there is evidence for sustained infilling of pools within two north Australian river catchments.

4.5: Developing a Water Quality Monitoring Framework for the Katherine and Daly River Catchment
Simon Townsend

A Water Quality Monitoring Framework is being developed for the Katherine and Daly River Catchments in the Northern Territory.  The aim of the Framework is to provide a comprehensive and locally relevant guide to assist future water quality monitoring planning and implementation in an integrated manner.  The Framework will be consistent with the National Water Quality Management Strategy and involves consultation with stakeholders and the community.

4.6: Trial of the Framework for the Assessment of River and Wetland Health (FARWH) in the wet/dry tropics
Simon Townsend

The National Water Commission has developed a national framework that can form the basis of comparable national river and wetland health assessments, and has the capacity to bring together results of existing broad-scale assessments conducted at state, territory and basin scales. The Framework for the Assessment of River and Wetland Health (FARWH) is being trialled by TRaCK to evaluate the effectiveness of the Framework to assess river health in the wet/dry tropics, and contribute to north Australian river management.

Publications

Type: Conference Participation
Titlesort icon Type
07/2009 3D Mapping and Morphometric Investigation of Gully Erosion Using Geoinformation Approach Conference Participation
02/2008 A review of factors controlling alluvial gully erosion and a proposal for quantifying changes in gully erosion rates in the Mitchell River, northern Queensland. Conference Participation
07/2010 Alluvial gully erosion rates across the Mitchell River fluvial megafan, Queensland, Australia Conference Participation
09/2007 Alluvial gully erosion: a landscape denudation process in northern Australia. Conference Participation
07/2010 Bedload transport dynamics in the Mitchell River, northern Australia Conference Participation
09/2009 Characterising organic matter sources to the Daly River Conference Participation
08/2009 Evapotranspiration fluxes for three land cover classes in the tropical savannas of the Daly river region of Australia. Conference Participation
2009 Flow, water quality and algae in the Katherine River, tropical Australia Conference Participation
2009 Precipitation partitioning for three land cover classes in the wet-dry tropics of Australia Conference Participation
07/2008 Seasonal patterns of evapotranspiration from cleared and uncleared tropical savanna: implications for catchment water balance in the wet-dry tropics. Conference Participation
02/2008 Tropical floodplain hydrology and erosion processes: critical knowledge gaps and potential constraints on development in Northern Australia. Conference Participation
07/2009 Use of spatial technologies for analyzing vegetation and channel changes in Daly River Catchment Conference Participation
02/2008 Using Remote Sensing for sediment budget development in large tropical rivers - Mitchell River, Gulf of Carpentaria. Conference Participation
Type: Report
Titlesort icon Type
09/2009 A statistical analysis of flood hydrology and bankfull discharge for the Daly River catchment, Northern Territory, Australia. Report
01/2010 A statistical analysis of flood hydrology and bankfull discharge for the Mitchell River catchment, Queensland, Australia. Report
10/2009 Towards a Water Quality Monitoring and Management Framework for the Katherine and Daly River Catchment Report
Type: Journal Article
Titlesort icon Type
10/2009 Alluvial gully erosion: an example from the Mitchell fluvial megafan, Queensland, Australia Journal Article
Type: Corporate publication
Titlesort icon Type
09/2008 Consultation Strategy: Water Quality Monitoring Framework for the Katherine and Daly River Catchments Corporate publication
Type: Presentation
Titlesort icon Type
06/2009 Seasonal patterns of energy balance and land use change in the Daly River catchment - OzFlux meeting, Darwin, 24-26 June 2009 Presentation
Type: Conference Paper
Titlesort icon Type
12/2008 Using remote sensing to quantify sediment budget components in a large tropical river - Mitchell River, Gulf of Carpentaria Conference Paper

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