Receiving Water Quality Model (RWQM)
Managing Water Quality in the Moreton Bay System
The Receiving Water Quality Model project was initiated by the South East Queensland Regional Water Quality Management Strategy (SEQRWQMS) to determine strategies for managing and remediating water quality in the Moreton Bay system. A primary component of the project involves the development and application of mathematical models relating the sources of pollutants to their concentration in water and sediment. The Receiving Water Quality Model (RWQM2) is one such model, integrating the complex transport and fate processes involved in determining mass balances of modelled constituents.
The calibrated and verified RWQM2 was used to predict impacts of a variety of management scenarios with the aim of producing pertinent information for the determination of economic and environmental consequences before the commitment of resources. The numerical models described here are applied to Moreton Bay and its tributaries. The Moreton Bay system has four major rivers flowing into the Bay. The domain of the models includes the Moreton Bay catchment area, the waterways connecting the catchment to the Bay, and the Bay itself.
Current development of the RWQM - version 3
A pilot stage of the third-generation Receiving Water Quality Model (RWQM v3) for SEQ waterways, coasts and Moreton Bay is now available to support the ongoing development and review of regional and local management strategies. The model will offer interesting new insights into the interactions between loads from point sources, upstream and coastal catchments, and the relative roles of light and nutrient limitation in controlling phytoplankton biomass and seagrass distribution in Moreton Bay. The final milestone report for Phase 1 outlines the implementation of all four models that make up the RWQM v3: hydrodynamic/transport, wave, sediment and biogeochemical/ecological models. The high-resolution 3-D hydrodynamic model allows a more realistic representation of the distribution and fate of freshwater plumes and loads associated with flood events. The report is currently under review by the Partnership's Modelling Advisory Panel and will be finalised and released to partners by the end of July 2010.
Interaction between partners and the RWQM team
The pilot RWQM v3 was presented during the Modelling Advisory Panel, Modelling Technical Advisory (stakeholder-represented) meetings and a workshop of scientists conducting research in Moreton Bay. During these meetings, the ability for this model to assist in the development of management scenarios to achieve healthy waterways, as well as the business case for the acquisition of data to calibrate the model, were discussed.
The model forms a crucial part in an integrated decision support framework for the development of Total Water Cycle Management plans for South East Queensland.
For more information, please contact Dr Mara Wolkenhauer.
The Five Sub Models
Application of the modelling process utilises five sub-models: