New software to aid water quality management in the catchments and waterways of the south-east Queensland region

Abstract

quality across the south-east Queensland region. It predicts daily runoff, and daily loads of total suspended sediment, total nitrogen and total phosphorous from 175 different sub-catchments within the 22,670 km 2 region. The model predictions are sensitive to changes in climate, storage operations, land use and land management practices, including point- and diffuse-source loadings and treatments. The EMSS is deployed in a GIS-like environment on a PC and has been designed for use by a range of stakeholders with varying levels of computer and technical proficiency. Three separate component models underpin the EMSS, including (i) a lumped-conceptual rainfall-runoff and pollutant export model, (ii) a flow and pollutant routing model, and (iii) a model of reservoir storage dynamics. The EMSS structure allows for existing component models to be easily replaced, and for additional ones to be added with minimal effort. THE MAIN POINTS OF THIS PAPER • The EMSS is a software tool to aid water quality management in catchments and waterways in the SEQ region. • The EMSS predicts daily runoff and pollutant loads from 175 sub-catchments, interlinked via a river network. • The EMSS is a spatial model sensitive to patterns in, and changes of, climate, land use and land management. • Stakeholders with varying levels of computer and technical proficiency can interact with the EMSS. • The EMSS can be easily adapted to include alternative or additional model components. 1.