Investigating near-surface hydrologic connectivity in a grass-covered inter-row area of a hillslope vineyard using field monitoring and numerical simulations
- Krevh, Vedran, Filipović, Lana, Defterdarović, Jasmina, Bogunović, Igor, Zhang, Yonggen, Kovač, Zoran, Barton, Andrew, Filipović, Vilim
- Authors: Krevh, Vedran , Filipović, Lana , Defterdarović, Jasmina , Bogunović, Igor , Zhang, Yonggen , Kovač, Zoran , Barton, Andrew , Filipović, Vilim
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Land Vol. 12, no. 5 (2023), p.
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- Description: The interplay of surface and shallow subsurface fluxes plays a critical role in controlling water movement in hillslope agroecosystems and impacting soil and plant health during prolonged dry periods, demonstrating a need for in-field monitoring. This study was conducted for two years (2021–2022) by combining field monitoring of the grass-covered inter-row area (passive wick lysimeter, surface runoff, and meteorological data), laboratory determination of soil hydraulic properties (SHPs), and numerical modeling with the aim to explore near-surface fluxes at the SUPREHILL Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) located on a hillslope vineyard. Additionally, sensitivity analysis for basic root water uptake (RWU) parameters was conducted. The model was evaluated (R2, RMSE, and NSE) with lysimeter (hillslope) and runoff (footslope) data, producing good agreement, but only after the inverse optimization of laboratory estimated hydraulic conductivity was conducted, demonstrating that adequate parameterization is required to capture the hydropedological response of erosion-affected soil systems. Results exhibit the dependence of runoff generation on hydraulic conductivity, rainfall, and soil moisture conditions. The data suggest different soil-rewetting scenarios based on temporal rainfall variability. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that Leaf Area Index (LAI) was the most responsive parameter determining the RWU. The study offers an approach for the investigation of fluxes in the topsoil for similar sites and/or crops (and covers), presenting the methodology of self-constructed soil–water collection instruments. © 2023 by the authors.
- Authors: Krevh, Vedran , Filipović, Lana , Defterdarović, Jasmina , Bogunović, Igor , Zhang, Yonggen , Kovač, Zoran , Barton, Andrew , Filipović, Vilim
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Land Vol. 12, no. 5 (2023), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The interplay of surface and shallow subsurface fluxes plays a critical role in controlling water movement in hillslope agroecosystems and impacting soil and plant health during prolonged dry periods, demonstrating a need for in-field monitoring. This study was conducted for two years (2021–2022) by combining field monitoring of the grass-covered inter-row area (passive wick lysimeter, surface runoff, and meteorological data), laboratory determination of soil hydraulic properties (SHPs), and numerical modeling with the aim to explore near-surface fluxes at the SUPREHILL Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) located on a hillslope vineyard. Additionally, sensitivity analysis for basic root water uptake (RWU) parameters was conducted. The model was evaluated (R2, RMSE, and NSE) with lysimeter (hillslope) and runoff (footslope) data, producing good agreement, but only after the inverse optimization of laboratory estimated hydraulic conductivity was conducted, demonstrating that adequate parameterization is required to capture the hydropedological response of erosion-affected soil systems. Results exhibit the dependence of runoff generation on hydraulic conductivity, rainfall, and soil moisture conditions. The data suggest different soil-rewetting scenarios based on temporal rainfall variability. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that Leaf Area Index (LAI) was the most responsive parameter determining the RWU. The study offers an approach for the investigation of fluxes in the topsoil for similar sites and/or crops (and covers), presenting the methodology of self-constructed soil–water collection instruments. © 2023 by the authors.
A review of cascade water supply systems
- Pathberiyage, Githmi, Barton, Andrew, Kandra, Harpreet, Dassanayake, Kithsiri
- Authors: Pathberiyage, Githmi , Barton, Andrew , Kandra, Harpreet , Dassanayake, Kithsiri
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 40th Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium, HWRS 2022, Brisbane, Australia, 30 November to 2 December 2022, Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium, HWRS 2022 p. 679-694
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- Description: Cascade Water Supply Systems (CWSS) are a type of rural water supply system used in many parts of the world such as India, China, Sri Lanka, South America, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabi, Korea, Peru, Egypt, Rome, Turkey, Greece, and Thailand. They are also known as Village Tank Cascade Systems (VTCS) & Cascade Systems (CS). CWSS is typically designed to collect runoff from upper forested catchment areas to provide to downstream areas and consists of a network of linearly inter-connected 'tanks' or storages, with the supply of water often supplemented from additional catchments downstream, along with groundwater resources and diversions from other sources such as rivers. As water flows from the upper regions to the downstream segments of the system, water is utilised for various purposes such as irrigation, drinking, bathing, and other household activities. The inflows and outflows result in changes in water quality in different stretches of these systems. This paper reviews the international literature surrounding CWSS, with a particular focus on water quality and associated issues. It has been found that despite the significant social, environmental, and economic importance of CWSS, and their existence for many centuries, there is limited information on water quality characteristics over space and time. Pressures such as population growth, intensification of agricultural practices, and changing climate, affect these systems as well. This review reveals that water quality is comparatively better in the upstream sections of CWSSs and progressively worsens downstream, with the data showing that the water quality in downstream systems clearly exceeds the WHO drinking and irrigation water standards. © Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium, HWRS 2022. All rights reserved.
- Dey, Sayani, Barton, Andrew, Kandra, Harpreet, Bagirov, Adil, Wilson, Kym
- Authors: Dey, Sayani , Barton, Andrew , Kandra, Harpreet , Bagirov, Adil , Wilson, Kym
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Water Resources Management Vol. 35, no. 12 (2021), p. 4149-4165
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- Description: Challenges faced by water resource systems are multi-faceted. The problem can be even more pronounced in a dry continent like Australia where the water resources can often be afflicted by high salinity and turbidity. Therefore, modern water resource systems require to appropriately manage both water quality and quantity. This study aims to illustrate the trade-offs between water quantity and quality in a reservoir, based on decisions to harvest different inflow sources. Taylors Lake of the Grampians reservoir system in Western Victoria, Australia was chosen as the case study for this research as it is sufficiently complex and includes many of the contemporary water resources challenges seen around the world. Different operational scenarios were analysed which included increasingly stringent water quality criteria before the water was harvested or otherwise allowed to by-pass the storage. The study suggests that selective harvesting of water can be an option to improve the overall and long-term water quality within a reservoir, but stringent water quality measures can lead to an associated loss of overall water quantity. This research study provides useful insight to water planners and stakeholders in similar catchment settings around the world, to identify water harvesting regimes with competing water quality constraints. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. Correction to: Analysis of Water Quantity and Quality Trade‑Offs to Inform Selective Harvesting of Inflows in Complex Water Resource Systems (Water Resources Management, (2021), 35, 12, (4149-4165), 10.1007/s11269-021-02936-x)
- Atazadeh, Ehsan, Gell, Peter, Mills, Keely, Barton, Andrew, Newall, Peter
- Authors: Atazadeh, Ehsan , Gell, Peter , Mills, Keely , Barton, Andrew , Newall, Peter
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Environmental Science and Pollution Research Vol. 28, no. 29 (2021), p. 39805-39825
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- Description: The flow regime of the Wimmera River was substantially modified due to the construction of a water supply reservoir. Samples of diatoms and soft algae and measurements of water quality were analysed at ten sampling sites for 3 years (between February 2012 and November 2014) along the MacKenzie River, a tributary of the Wimmera River, in different seasons and under different flow regimes, to understand the spatial and temporal variation in the relationship between algal communities, water quality and stream condition. Baseline information on algal communities and water quality was collected during base flow conditions, while experiments on the effect of water releases on algal communities were based on flow regime variations (manipulated flow regimes), specifically on the algae community structure, water quality and ecosystem function. Algal species composition changed along the river under different flow regimes and different seasons. Under base flow, Bacillariophyta (diatoms) were more abundant upstream, and filamentous green algae were more abundant downstream. The results showed that the algal composition shifted downstream after water release events. Chlorophyta (green algae), Cyanophyta (blue-green algae) and Chrysophyta gradually increased from upstream to downstream under base flow conditions and before water releases, whereas diatoms were greater upstream and increased downstream after water releases. The results are presented to tailor discharge and duration of the river flows by amalgamation of consumptive and environmental flows to improve the condition of the stream thereby supplementing the flows dedicated to environmental outcomes. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.
Elevating engineering education via improved pedagogically based course structures
- Warren, Sara, Barton, Andrew
- Authors: Warren, Sara , Barton, Andrew
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 9th Research in Engineering Education Symposium and 32nd Australasian Association for Engineering Education Conference: Engineering Education Research Capability Development, REES AAEE 2021, Perth, Australia, 5-8 December 2021, 9th Research in Engineering Education Symposium and 32nd Australasian Association for Engineering Education Conference, REES AAEE 2021: Engineering Education Research Capability Development Vol. 2, p. 1068-1076
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- Description: CONTEXT In late 2018, the authors commenced a project in their School to improve the quality of student experience and enhance staff teaching within the Moodle LMS. This was motivated by the authors' interest in better meeting organisational strategic goals, related learning and teaching plans, and creating an improved pedagogical platform for their School. At the time, the University had also gone through an academic restructure, meaning that significant re-branding and realignment of disciplines had taken place. This project was timely in addressing these multi-dimensional obligations. PURPOSE The overall purpose of this high-level project was to provide course consistency in core structures and improve the educational experience for all students in the school. This consistency was to come primarily through the restructuring and alignment of the user experience, presentation, and provision of resources available to students in each course of study. An additional purpose was to provide a reduction in staff workload through the economic restructuring of resources thereby reducing time in searching for information, and the provision of additional content provided in the template, meant that minimum standards for learning and teaching online were being met at a greater extent. It was anticipated that improved levels of student engagement would also result by virtue of the improved user experience and the ability to individualise the course for each student. APPROACH To commence the project, an internal review of all course Moodle (learning management system, or LMS) shells was conducted and benchmarked against set University standards, known colloquially as Blended, Online and Digital Learning and Teaching (BOLD L&T) practices document. Courses were analysed and thematically grouped to identify where the largest gains could be made in the rollout of this work and greatest benefits realised to student and staff experience. Course priorities were moderated against University requirements and a final template was designed based on a constructivist pedagogy. Early versions of the templates were road tested by academic staff to seek feedback and to implement further template refinements. Rollout of the template commenced in 2019 and continued through 2020. ACTUAL OUTCOMES Outcomes include a consistent format that is more easily navigated by staff and students, reducing the time spent searching for information. The format has also reduced the data load on the University and student bandwidth systems by reducing the size of the up and download of each course page. The project implementation had negligible impact on academic staff workloads and occurred with minimal disruption to academic staff time. Students and staff have demonstrated their engagement and indicated their enjoyment and preference for the new interface. SUMMARY This paper presents a new LMS course template to address several student, staff and strategic requirements. Its core elements and rationale are presented, together with some preliminary statistics on its implementation and use. Some early success stories are used to provide further context. Copyright © Sara Warren, and Andrew Barton, 2021.
Importance of environmental flows in the Wimmera catchment, Southeast Australia
- Atazadeh, Ehsan, Barton, Andrew, Razeghi, Jafar
- Authors: Atazadeh, Ehsan , Barton, Andrew , Razeghi, Jafar
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Limnological Review Vol. 20, no. 4 (2021), p. 185-198
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- Description: In this paper the environment, climate, vegetation, indigenous and European settlement history, stream flow patterns, water quality and water resources development in western Victoria, Australia are studied. The last part of the paper focuses on the MacKenzie River, a tributary of the Wimmera River located on the northern slopes of the Grampians Ranges in western Victoria, Australia. Water release along the MacKenzie River was regulated to improve water quality, stream condition and river health especially in the downstream reaches. The upstream section tends to receive water most days of the year due to releases to secure the requirements of water supply for the city of Horsham and its recreational and conservation values, which is diverted into Mt Zero Channel. Below this the middle and downstream sections receive a more intermittent supply. Annually, a total of 10,000 dam3 of water is released from Wartook Reservoir into the MacKenzie River. Of this volume, only about 4,000 dam3 was released explicitly for environmental purposes. The remaining 6,000 dam3 was released to meet consumptive demands and to transfer water to downstream reservoirs. The empirical data and models showed the lower reaches of the river to be in poor condition under low flows, but this condition improved under flows of 35 dam3 per day, as indicated. The results are presented to tailor discharge and duration of the river flows by amalgamation of consumptive and environmental flows to improve the condition of the stream, thereby supplementing the flows dedicated to environmental outcomes. Ultimately the findings can be used by management to configure consumptive flows that would enhance the ecological condition of the MacKenzie River. © 2020 Ehsan Atazadeh et al., published by Sciendo 2020.
- Authors: Atazadeh, Ehsan , Barton, Andrew , Razeghi, Jafar
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Limnological Review Vol. 20, no. 4 (2021), p. 185-198
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: In this paper the environment, climate, vegetation, indigenous and European settlement history, stream flow patterns, water quality and water resources development in western Victoria, Australia are studied. The last part of the paper focuses on the MacKenzie River, a tributary of the Wimmera River located on the northern slopes of the Grampians Ranges in western Victoria, Australia. Water release along the MacKenzie River was regulated to improve water quality, stream condition and river health especially in the downstream reaches. The upstream section tends to receive water most days of the year due to releases to secure the requirements of water supply for the city of Horsham and its recreational and conservation values, which is diverted into Mt Zero Channel. Below this the middle and downstream sections receive a more intermittent supply. Annually, a total of 10,000 dam3 of water is released from Wartook Reservoir into the MacKenzie River. Of this volume, only about 4,000 dam3 was released explicitly for environmental purposes. The remaining 6,000 dam3 was released to meet consumptive demands and to transfer water to downstream reservoirs. The empirical data and models showed the lower reaches of the river to be in poor condition under low flows, but this condition improved under flows of 35 dam3 per day, as indicated. The results are presented to tailor discharge and duration of the river flows by amalgamation of consumptive and environmental flows to improve the condition of the stream, thereby supplementing the flows dedicated to environmental outcomes. Ultimately the findings can be used by management to configure consumptive flows that would enhance the ecological condition of the MacKenzie River. © 2020 Ehsan Atazadeh et al., published by Sciendo 2020.
- Dey, Sayani, Barton, Andrew, Bagirov, Adil, Kandra, Harpreet, Wilson, Kym
- Authors: Dey, Sayani , Barton, Andrew , Bagirov, Adil , Kandra, Harpreet , Wilson, Kym
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium 2021, HWRS 2021: Digital Water: Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium 2021, Virtual online, 31 August-1 September 2021, HWRS 2021: Digital Water: Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium 2021 p. 465-480
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- Description: Water of adequate quality and quantity is the key to health and integrity of the environment and fundamental to good water supply. Achieving water quality and quantity objectives can conflict and has become more complicated with challenges like, climate change, growing populations and changed land uses. Therefore, a multi-objective optimisation strategy is required for achieving optimal water quality and quantity outcomes from a water resources system. This study uses a multi-objective optimisation approach to illustrate the trade-offs occurring when water quantity and quality in a reservoir system are optimised. Taylors Lake, part of the Grampians Reservoir System in Western Victoria, Australia was chosen as the case study for this research as it is quite complex and includes many contemporary water resources challenges seen around the world, such as high turbidity and salinity. The objective functions are set in a way to maximise the water quantity available for supply, while minimising the deviation of quality parameters from the accepted limits. The water system is modelled using eWater Source® modelling platform, while optimisation is undertaken using NSGA-II optimisation technique. Daily time step data over a ten-year period was used in this work. Various optimisation runs were performed with different population sizes and generations to seek out the best trade-off curve. The optimisation results indicate trade-offs between salinity, turbidity, and quantity. Key findings for this case study show that through optimisation, stored water never exceeded 19,000 ML even though the storage capacity was 27,000 ML indicating a significant loss of water to improve quality, or alternatively, a potential asset re-design opportunity.
Temperature characteristics for a deep water supply reservoir : a case study for Lake Bellfield
- Barton, Andrew, Long, Benjamin
- Authors: Barton, Andrew , Long, Benjamin
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium 2021: Digital Water, 31 August to 1 September 2022, HWRS 2021: Digital Water: Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium 2021 p. 139-148
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- Description: Deep reservoirs are known to undergo thermal stratification driven by seasonaltemperature changes across the year. Stratified conditions can encourage poor waterquality at depth, particularly with low dissolved oxygen and associated implications fordissolved manganese, iron and other water quality parameters. Ecological impactsdue to cold water discharge can also be exacerbated where stratified conditionsprevent the water column from mixing and thus keeping temperatures artificially lowcompared to warmer surface waters.This study presents the first ever comprehensive information for Lake Bellfield, a keywater supply reservoir located in the Grampians National Park, Victoria, Australia.Three years of temperature monitoring data has been recorded, along with three yearsof meteorological data from a nearby weather station. The thermal profile over time ispresented, along with the associated weather information.Results show that the reservoir does indeed undergo stratification, and that ‘turnover’or mixing event typically occur in late April or early May of each year. The magnitudeof stratification is also shown with temperature extremes between the hypolimnion andepilimnion shown. Further information is presented on the likely predictors of thoseturnover events using the nearby weather station information.Discussion is provided on possible strategies to mitigate water quality and ecologicalissues associated with the thermal stratification.
Temperature dynamics in different body regions of decomposing vertebrate remains
- Barton, Philip, Dawson, Blake, Barton, Andrew, Joshua, Sergio, Wallman, James
- Authors: Barton, Philip , Dawson, Blake , Barton, Andrew , Joshua, Sergio , Wallman, James
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Forensic Science International Vol. 325, no. (2021), p.
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- Description: The decomposition of vertebrates is controlled largely by external temperature, yet internal temperatures can also play an important role but are generally poorly documented. In this study, we compared continuous hourly temperature recordings from the mouth, under the head, right chest and right abdomen, and in the rectum of one refrigerated human and one fresh pig cadaver during 29 days of decomposition. Each cadaver differed in its internal starting temperature, thus providing two contrasting case studies for examining temperature dynamics among body regions. We used time-series analysis methods common to hydrology to reveal key differences in internal temperature dynamics. Within both cadavers, the chest region experienced the highest average temperatures, and the mouth experienced the highest maximum hourly temperature. Temperatures exceeded 30 °C inside the pig for between 40% (rectum) and 75% (chest) of the duration of the study, but for only 20% (rectum) and 35% (chest) of the time in the human. Our study provides evidence of the different thermal trajectories occurring in different body regions, and some similarities between two cadavers despite their different starting thermal conditions. These results improve our understanding of why decomposition occurs at different rates within the same cadaver, and that the location of blowfly larvae collections should be noted to improve estimates of the post-mortem interval. © 2021 Elsevier B.V.
- Authors: Barton, Philip , Dawson, Blake , Barton, Andrew , Joshua, Sergio , Wallman, James
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Forensic Science International Vol. 325, no. (2021), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The decomposition of vertebrates is controlled largely by external temperature, yet internal temperatures can also play an important role but are generally poorly documented. In this study, we compared continuous hourly temperature recordings from the mouth, under the head, right chest and right abdomen, and in the rectum of one refrigerated human and one fresh pig cadaver during 29 days of decomposition. Each cadaver differed in its internal starting temperature, thus providing two contrasting case studies for examining temperature dynamics among body regions. We used time-series analysis methods common to hydrology to reveal key differences in internal temperature dynamics. Within both cadavers, the chest region experienced the highest average temperatures, and the mouth experienced the highest maximum hourly temperature. Temperatures exceeded 30 °C inside the pig for between 40% (rectum) and 75% (chest) of the duration of the study, but for only 20% (rectum) and 35% (chest) of the time in the human. Our study provides evidence of the different thermal trajectories occurring in different body regions, and some similarities between two cadavers despite their different starting thermal conditions. These results improve our understanding of why decomposition occurs at different rates within the same cadaver, and that the location of blowfly larvae collections should be noted to improve estimates of the post-mortem interval. © 2021 Elsevier B.V.
- Atazadeh, Ehsan, Barton, Andrew, Shirinpour, Mozhgan, Zarghami, Mahdi, Rajabifard, Abbas
- Authors: Atazadeh, Ehsan , Barton, Andrew , Shirinpour, Mozhgan , Zarghami, Mahdi , Rajabifard, Abbas
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Fundamental and Applied Limnology Vol. 193, no. 4 (2020), p. 327-345
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- Description: Rivers make a significant contribution in providing goods and services for human well-being. Today, many rivers and streams have been heavily regulated to ensure adequate provision of water resources for anthropogenic uses. Riverine ecosystems, especially those in arid and semi-arid regions, are experiencing severe stress due to the increasing demands on the ecosystem services they provide, coupled with anthropogenic catchment-scale impacts and factors associated with natural and human-induced climate variability and change. In this paper, the various flow components in regulated riverine ecosystems and the methods to determine environmental flows are reviewed. The review also focuses on the concurrent developments of eco-hydrological models and on the new opportunities for improving environmental flows of rivers by sustainably adjusting consumptive flows to fine-tune environmental flows and maximize the ecological benefit. In fact, the present paper highlights the role of consumptive flows, towards improving environmental flows, which has largely been neglected by river scientists and water managers. Indeed, consumptive flows can provide an opportunity to improve and support environmental flows in regulated riverine ecosystems. Addressing these challenges may aid water management efforts in finding sustainable solutions in riverine ecosystems by balancing environmental/ecological and human water requirements. © 2020 E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart, Germany.
- Ebbs, David, Dahlhaus, Peter, Barton, Andrew, Kandra, Harpreet
- Authors: Ebbs, David , Dahlhaus, Peter , Barton, Andrew , Kandra, Harpreet
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Water Policy Vol. 20, no. 3 (2018), p. 617-630
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Forecasting supply and demand is fundamental to the sustainability of the water system. Demand for urban water seems on an ever-upward trajectory, with use increasing twice as quickly as population throughout the 20th century. However, data from Ballarat, a city in south-eastern Australia, show that despite this conventionally held wisdom, total water usage actually peaked over 30 years ago. While the 1997–2009 ‘Millennium Drought’ had some effect, the decline commenced many years before. Initially, this was due to a reduction in external domestic water use, which correlates well with an increase in water price. However, the effect was found to not be purely economic as the price was not volumetric-based. Internal water use seems more affected by technological advances and regulatory controls. Interestingly, there was no relationship found between rainfall and water demand. The role of price, water-reduction education programmes, water-efficient technology and regulation supports previous research that a multifaceted approach is required when developing demand-reduction policies and strategies. This finding emphasises the importance of understanding the component of consumptive behaviour being targeted, and ensuring that policies being implemented are appropriate for the desired behavioural change.
- Authors: Barton, Andrew , Wilson, Kym
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Conference proceedings , Conference paper
- Relation: 2018 Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium: Water and Communities, HWRS 2018; Melbourne, Australia; 3rd-6th December 2018 p. 60-71
- Full Text: false
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- Description: This paper describes principles for the apportionment of water allocations to users of a multi-reservoir water supply system utilising a volume shared entitlement and allocation framework. The challenge of this problem is that volume shared systems determine the available water for allocation based on a total system approach. The subsequent operational challenge is to then apportion this total volume of available water to specific reservoirs to meet individual user requirements. This is an important problem as entitlement and allocation frameworks usually have the water resource assessment process and high-level water sharing principles enshrined in a set of legally binding orders and instruments. However, some systems still have a subsequent apportionment of allocation problem, not codified in any binding document, where decisions need to be made around how much allocation should be made available from particular reservoirs for the various stakeholders or user groups. In shared systems where contests over water is common, or access to allocation may vary over time, it is desirable that the agency responsible for making the resource decisions uses an objective, fair and equitable method of allocating water. To work through this problem and present the set of principles for apportionment, the Wimmera-Glenelg System located in western Victoria, Australia, is used as a case study. The Wimmera-Glenelg System is a complex water resource system with multiple reservoirs and many different user groups and stakeholders. The region is also subject to a highly variable climate with frequent dry periods and water rationing, creating periods of time where the equitable apportionment of allocation becomes incredibly important. Concepts of capacity sharing have been used to help with the development of the apportionment principles to help maximise the transparency in decision making to stakeholders and because the system does have an emerging water market where commercial and economic certainty is becoming paramount. However, capacity sharing for systems with multiple reservoirs is not common, and so even this has limitations in use. The principles described can be universally applied to reservoir systems of varying complexity, where there are multiple users, and is compatible with both capacity shared systems and newer continuous sharing or continuous accounting systems. Results are shown for the Wimmera-Glenelg System. © CURRAN-CONFERENCE. All rights reserved.
Exploring a flow regime and its historical changes downstream of an urbanised catchment
- Ebbs, David, Dahlhaus, Peter, Barton, Andrew, Kandra, Harpreet
- Authors: Ebbs, David , Dahlhaus, Peter , Barton, Andrew , Kandra, Harpreet
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 10th International Conference on Water Sensitive Urban Design: Creating water sensitive communities (WSUD 2018 & Hydropolis 2018), Perth, Western Australia p. 131-141
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- Description: The rapid growth of Ballarat's urban area, an inland city of approximately 100,000 people in south-eastern Australia, suggests that it is suitable for stormwater capture and reuse. With a threefold increase in the number of dwellings in recent decades, along with a 90% increase in their average size, it should follow that there is evidence of more flow being generated from the urban areas. However, while additional runoff from the growth of impervious areas may be occurring, the overall flow in the receiving river has dramatically reduced with a 60% decrease in the rainfall-runoff relationship since 1997. This reduction in river flow seems disproportionate to any association with the Millennium Drought which occurred during 1997 to 2009. The evidence of river flow has been complicated by other changes in the catchment. A change in the rainfall-runoff relationship has been identified in other similar catchments, and may lead to significant impacts on water resource management over the long term. To better understand the impacts on river flow downstream of an urbanised catchment, the flow has been partitioned into various components over time using the daily stream flow data available from 1957. Base flow, calculated as the stream flow after periods of four or more days without rain, has decreased. Transfers, predominantly from other catchments for use as potable supply and entering the river via the waste water treatment plant, have remained steady, but now make up the vast majority of dry weather flow. While climatic variations have impacted the river significantly the actual streamflow reduction has been twice that predicted by data from the Australian Water Resources Assessment. A significant increase in the number of small farm dams due to the expansion of peri-urban living around Ballarat explains a further portion of the flow reduction. This paper highlights multiple factors which influence river flow and demonstrates how increases in urbanised area do not necessarily create additional river flow at larger aggregate scales. The investigation therefore provides a cautionary tale around assumptions of stormwater harvesting and any perceived benefit to river flow, and provides insights into the importance of collecting water information of the correct type and scale to help inform future integrated urban water management efforts.
- Authors: Ebbs, David , Dahlhaus, Peter , Barton, Andrew , Kandra, Harpreet
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 10th International Conference on Water Sensitive Urban Design: Creating water sensitive communities (WSUD 2018 & Hydropolis 2018), Perth, Western Australia p. 131-141
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The rapid growth of Ballarat's urban area, an inland city of approximately 100,000 people in south-eastern Australia, suggests that it is suitable for stormwater capture and reuse. With a threefold increase in the number of dwellings in recent decades, along with a 90% increase in their average size, it should follow that there is evidence of more flow being generated from the urban areas. However, while additional runoff from the growth of impervious areas may be occurring, the overall flow in the receiving river has dramatically reduced with a 60% decrease in the rainfall-runoff relationship since 1997. This reduction in river flow seems disproportionate to any association with the Millennium Drought which occurred during 1997 to 2009. The evidence of river flow has been complicated by other changes in the catchment. A change in the rainfall-runoff relationship has been identified in other similar catchments, and may lead to significant impacts on water resource management over the long term. To better understand the impacts on river flow downstream of an urbanised catchment, the flow has been partitioned into various components over time using the daily stream flow data available from 1957. Base flow, calculated as the stream flow after periods of four or more days without rain, has decreased. Transfers, predominantly from other catchments for use as potable supply and entering the river via the waste water treatment plant, have remained steady, but now make up the vast majority of dry weather flow. While climatic variations have impacted the river significantly the actual streamflow reduction has been twice that predicted by data from the Australian Water Resources Assessment. A significant increase in the number of small farm dams due to the expansion of peri-urban living around Ballarat explains a further portion of the flow reduction. This paper highlights multiple factors which influence river flow and demonstrates how increases in urbanised area do not necessarily create additional river flow at larger aggregate scales. The investigation therefore provides a cautionary tale around assumptions of stormwater harvesting and any perceived benefit to river flow, and provides insights into the importance of collecting water information of the correct type and scale to help inform future integrated urban water management efforts.
Exploring the application of artificial neural network in rural streamflow prediction - A feasibility study
- Choudhury, Tanveer, Wei, Jackie, Barton, Andrew, Kandra, Harpreet, Aziz, Abdul
- Authors: Choudhury, Tanveer , Wei, Jackie , Barton, Andrew , Kandra, Harpreet , Aziz, Abdul
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Conference proceedings
- Relation: 27th IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics, ISIE 2018; Cairns, Australia; 13th-15th June 2018 Vol. 2018-June, p. 753-758
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Streams and rivers play a critical role in the hydrologic cycle with their management being essential to maintaining a balance across social, economic and environmental outcomes. Accurate streamflow predictions can provide benefits in many different ways such as water allocation decision making, flood forecasting and environmental watering regimes. This is particularly important in regional areas of Australia where rivers can play a critical role in irrigated agriculture, recreation and social wellbeing, major floods and sustainable environments. There are several hydrological parameters that effect stream flows in rivers and a major challenge with any prediction methodology, is to understand these parameter interdependencies, correlations and their individual effects. A robust methodology is, thus, required for accurate prediction of streamflow under usually unique, waterway-specific conditions using available data. This research employs an approach based on Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to provide this robust methodology. Data from readily available sources has been selected to provide appropriate input and output parameters to train, validate and optimise the neural network. The optimisation steps of the methodology are discussed and the predicted outputs are compared and analysed with respect to the actual collected values. © 2018 IEEE.
- Description: IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics
- Authors: Choudhury, Tanveer , Wei, Jackie , Barton, Andrew , Kandra, Harpreet , Aziz, Abdul
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Conference proceedings
- Relation: 27th IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics, ISIE 2018; Cairns, Australia; 13th-15th June 2018 Vol. 2018-June, p. 753-758
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Streams and rivers play a critical role in the hydrologic cycle with their management being essential to maintaining a balance across social, economic and environmental outcomes. Accurate streamflow predictions can provide benefits in many different ways such as water allocation decision making, flood forecasting and environmental watering regimes. This is particularly important in regional areas of Australia where rivers can play a critical role in irrigated agriculture, recreation and social wellbeing, major floods and sustainable environments. There are several hydrological parameters that effect stream flows in rivers and a major challenge with any prediction methodology, is to understand these parameter interdependencies, correlations and their individual effects. A robust methodology is, thus, required for accurate prediction of streamflow under usually unique, waterway-specific conditions using available data. This research employs an approach based on Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to provide this robust methodology. Data from readily available sources has been selected to provide appropriate input and output parameters to train, validate and optimise the neural network. The optimisation steps of the methodology are discussed and the predicted outputs are compared and analysed with respect to the actual collected values. © 2018 IEEE.
- Description: IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics
Losing stormwater: 60 years of urbanisation and reduced downstream flow
- Ebbs, David, Dahlhaus, Peter, Barton, Andrew, Kandra, Harpreet
- Authors: Ebbs, David , Dahlhaus, Peter , Barton, Andrew , Kandra, Harpreet
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 10th International Conference on Water Sensitive Urban Design: Creating water sensitive communities (WSUD 2018 & Hydropolis 2018), 12-15 February 2018, Perth, Western Australia p. 142-151
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The potential for stormwater to supplement traditional water supplies from upstream catchments or groundwater is high, with claims that the quantity of additional runoff from impervious surfaces in a modern city in a temperate climate is greater than the total potable water demand. To ensure the success of Integrated Urban Water Management, it must consider the broad context of catchment management and the cumulative effect of all factors including river health. Ballarat, an inland city of approximately 100,000 people in south-eastern Australia, has many attributes necessary to potentially exploit stormwater. Given the doubling of population, tripling of residences and 90% increase in average residence size over the past 60 years, over which time flow data is available for the downstream waterway, it might be expected that the flow in the river downstream of the city within the catchment would reflect additional stormwater runoff. However, no increase in flow was detected between 1957 and 1996 while flow over the past 20 years has reduced by 60%. A water balance shows this decrease was not due to extractions as the stream has been a consistent net receiver of water from other catchments. Modelling data from the Australian Water Resources Assessment indicates that the reduction in streamflow is double what might be expected due to climatic variations. Between 1957 and 1996 there was no significant difference between modelled runoff and actual flow, however from 1997 onwards there is a significant divergence. While lower runoff may be expected during the period of drought, the rainfall-runoff relationship does not return to previous levels during latter years of rainfall. The effect is greater during higher flow months, which has significance when identifying potential additional water resources. Base flow has been reduced to the point where dry weather flow is reliant on waste water treatment plant and mine discharge. This study indicates that while impervious surfaces generate higher runoff which can cause environmental damage, making stormwater an attractive water source, consideration must be given to the impacts on the whole catchment when assessing alternative supply options.
- Authors: Ebbs, David , Dahlhaus, Peter , Barton, Andrew , Kandra, Harpreet
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 10th International Conference on Water Sensitive Urban Design: Creating water sensitive communities (WSUD 2018 & Hydropolis 2018), 12-15 February 2018, Perth, Western Australia p. 142-151
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The potential for stormwater to supplement traditional water supplies from upstream catchments or groundwater is high, with claims that the quantity of additional runoff from impervious surfaces in a modern city in a temperate climate is greater than the total potable water demand. To ensure the success of Integrated Urban Water Management, it must consider the broad context of catchment management and the cumulative effect of all factors including river health. Ballarat, an inland city of approximately 100,000 people in south-eastern Australia, has many attributes necessary to potentially exploit stormwater. Given the doubling of population, tripling of residences and 90% increase in average residence size over the past 60 years, over which time flow data is available for the downstream waterway, it might be expected that the flow in the river downstream of the city within the catchment would reflect additional stormwater runoff. However, no increase in flow was detected between 1957 and 1996 while flow over the past 20 years has reduced by 60%. A water balance shows this decrease was not due to extractions as the stream has been a consistent net receiver of water from other catchments. Modelling data from the Australian Water Resources Assessment indicates that the reduction in streamflow is double what might be expected due to climatic variations. Between 1957 and 1996 there was no significant difference between modelled runoff and actual flow, however from 1997 onwards there is a significant divergence. While lower runoff may be expected during the period of drought, the rainfall-runoff relationship does not return to previous levels during latter years of rainfall. The effect is greater during higher flow months, which has significance when identifying potential additional water resources. Base flow has been reduced to the point where dry weather flow is reliant on waste water treatment plant and mine discharge. This study indicates that while impervious surfaces generate higher runoff which can cause environmental damage, making stormwater an attractive water source, consideration must be given to the impacts on the whole catchment when assessing alternative supply options.
Prediction of clogging in stormwater filters using artificial neural network
- Lin, Junlin, Kandra, Harpreet, Choudhury, Tanveer, Barton, Andrew
- Authors: Lin, Junlin , Kandra, Harpreet , Choudhury, Tanveer , Barton, Andrew
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Conference proceedings
- Relation: 27th IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics, ISIE 2018; Cairns, Australia; 13th-15th June 2018 Vol. 2018-June, p. 771-776
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Stormwater filtration technologies play a significant role in improving water quality and making treated water available for non-potable uses. However, during treatment processes, contaminants such as suspended solids would lead to clogging in storm water filters, especially those with high infiltration rates. There are several parameters that affect clogging of filters, and a major challenge is to understand the parameter interdependencies, correlations and their individual effects. A robust methodology is, thus, required to accurately predict clogging which would contribute to the development of filtration technologies and in predictive maintenance. This research employs the use of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model to predict clogging performance of stormwater filters under different operational conditions using experimental data from previous work. A single hidden layer ANN model with 19 hidden layer neurons was developed in this preliminary work.
- Description: IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics
Regression modelling for prediction of clogging in non-vegetated stormwater filters
- Meade, Ben, Khorshidi, Hadi, Kandra, Harpreet, Barton, Andrew
- Authors: Meade, Ben , Khorshidi, Hadi , Kandra, Harpreet , Barton, Andrew
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 10th International Conference on Water Sensitive Urban Design: Creating water sensitive communities (WSUD 2018 & Hydropolis 2018), 12-15 February 2018, Perth, Western Australia p. 8
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Authors: Meade, Ben , Khorshidi, Hadi , Kandra, Harpreet , Barton, Andrew
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 10th International Conference on Water Sensitive Urban Design: Creating water sensitive communities (WSUD 2018 & Hydropolis 2018), 12-15 February 2018, Perth, Western Australia p. 8
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
Testing the robustness of optimal operating plans under various future hydro-climatic scenarios
- Godoy, Walter, Barton, Andrew, Wilson, K., Perera, B.
- Authors: Godoy, Walter , Barton, Andrew , Wilson, K. , Perera, B.
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 2018 Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium: Water and Communities, HWRS 2018 p. 267-283
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: A key challenge for water resources planning processes around the world is to develop operating plans that are optimal under a range of hydro-climatic conditions. The consequences of such long term planning decisions can vary in terms of the social, economic, and environmental impacts. Given these potential impacts, it is important that operating plans are tested under a range of hydro-climatic conditions to ensure that they are sufficiently robust to withstand future changes in climate. The aim of this study is to present a procedure for testing the robustness of optimal operating plans for complex water resources systems using a combined multi-objective optimisation and sustainability assessment approach. The approach embeds an optimisation-simulation (O-S) model which is applied to an 18-objective function multi-objective optimisation problem of the Wimmera-Mallee Water Supply System (WMWSS). The WMWSS is a multi-reservoir system located in Western Victoria (Australia) which is operated to meet a range of competing interests for water using complex operating rules. The O-S model is applied to the WMWSS to search for optimal operating plans over a 100-year period into the future assuming two plausible greenhouse gas (GHG) emission levels. The two GHG emission scenarios represent lower and higher ends of the estimated range of projected GHG emissions, providing a wide range of future hydro-climatic conditions. A robustness test is used to evaluate the validity of the most sustainable optimal operating plans under the two GHG emmission scenarios and also those found previously under a historic hydro-climatic sequence. The test results show that the status quo or base case operating plan is optimal but is neither the highest nor the lowest in terms of the level of sustainability that could be achieved in the WMWSS, under historic and the higher GHG emission scenario. Moreover, the results show that the most sustainable optimal operating plans found under the three hydro-climatic scenarios are sufficiently robust to withstand the full range of hydro-climatic conditions considered whereas the base case operating plan is not as robust. The risks involved in the implementation of operating plans which exhibit large deviations from the base case operating plan are discussed. These risks highlight the importance of problem formulation and sensitivity analysis of the optimal operating plans in order to find real world solutions to real world problems. © CURRAN-CONFERENCE. All rights reserved.
- Authors: Godoy, Walter , Barton, Andrew , Wilson, K. , Perera, B.
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 2018 Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium: Water and Communities, HWRS 2018 p. 267-283
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: A key challenge for water resources planning processes around the world is to develop operating plans that are optimal under a range of hydro-climatic conditions. The consequences of such long term planning decisions can vary in terms of the social, economic, and environmental impacts. Given these potential impacts, it is important that operating plans are tested under a range of hydro-climatic conditions to ensure that they are sufficiently robust to withstand future changes in climate. The aim of this study is to present a procedure for testing the robustness of optimal operating plans for complex water resources systems using a combined multi-objective optimisation and sustainability assessment approach. The approach embeds an optimisation-simulation (O-S) model which is applied to an 18-objective function multi-objective optimisation problem of the Wimmera-Mallee Water Supply System (WMWSS). The WMWSS is a multi-reservoir system located in Western Victoria (Australia) which is operated to meet a range of competing interests for water using complex operating rules. The O-S model is applied to the WMWSS to search for optimal operating plans over a 100-year period into the future assuming two plausible greenhouse gas (GHG) emission levels. The two GHG emission scenarios represent lower and higher ends of the estimated range of projected GHG emissions, providing a wide range of future hydro-climatic conditions. A robustness test is used to evaluate the validity of the most sustainable optimal operating plans under the two GHG emmission scenarios and also those found previously under a historic hydro-climatic sequence. The test results show that the status quo or base case operating plan is optimal but is neither the highest nor the lowest in terms of the level of sustainability that could be achieved in the WMWSS, under historic and the higher GHG emission scenario. Moreover, the results show that the most sustainable optimal operating plans found under the three hydro-climatic scenarios are sufficiently robust to withstand the full range of hydro-climatic conditions considered whereas the base case operating plan is not as robust. The risks involved in the implementation of operating plans which exhibit large deviations from the base case operating plan are discussed. These risks highlight the importance of problem formulation and sensitivity analysis of the optimal operating plans in order to find real world solutions to real world problems. © CURRAN-CONFERENCE. All rights reserved.
Understanding deep aquifer responses to interseam materials of brown coal mines
- Rastogi, Sid, Barton, Andrew, Mackay, Rae, Kandra, Harpreet, Tolooiyan, Ali
- Authors: Rastogi, Sid , Barton, Andrew , Mackay, Rae , Kandra, Harpreet , Tolooiyan, Ali
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Conference proceedings , Conference paper
- Relation: 2018 Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium: Water and Communities, HWRS 2018; Melbourne, Australia; 3rd-6th December 2018 p. 711-722
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Brown coal deposits in the Latrobe Valley form part of the tertiary coal system of the Gippsland Basin, which is one of three major tertiary basins in Victoria, Australia. There are currently two operating brown coal mines in the Latrobe Valley (Yallourn and Loy Yang Mines) where coal is mined for power generation, with a third mine (Hazelwood) having recently ceased operations. An ongoing challenge in the mines is the management of geotechnical stability of the open pit batters. This includes the management of significant issues such as instability due to floor heave which is directly related to groundwater pressures of the underlying confined aquifers. The time dependent pressure distributions in the interseam layers are complex due to the complex heterogeneous stratigraphy of these layers. A model of the fine scale stratigraphy using Minescape has been developed to explore how pressure redistribution occurs and how the groundwater flow systems impact the interseam pore pressures due to pumping activity, leading to potential impacts on the mine batter movements. The objective of the preliminary groundwater modelling presented in this paper is to examine the hydraulic connectivity between the lower pumped aquifer layers and the upper sandy layers. The goal is to assess whether the connections are solely through vertical flows through the interbedded aquitard layers or whether there are lateral connections of the sandy layers that govern the vertical connections. A one-dimensional vertical flow model has been used for this purpose in conjunction with high quality groundwater head data from multiple depths in vertically sealed bores. The results suggest that the pressure redistributions vertically cannot be explained by vertical flows alone and that lateral exchange between layers is also occurring. This work will inform the next stage of modelling that will use the detailed stratigraphic modelling in three dimensions.
A weighted sustainability index for selection of optimal operating plans
- Godoy, W., Barton, Andrew, Perera, B., Szemis, J.
- Authors: Godoy, W. , Barton, Andrew , Perera, B. , Szemis, J.
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 22nd International Congress on Modelling and Simulation: Managing Cumulative Risks through Model-Based Processes, MODSIM 2017 - Held jointly with the 25th National Conference of the Australian Society for Operations Research and the DST Group led Defence Operations Research Symposium, DORS 2017 p. 1378-1384
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Project (WMPP) provides reticulated water to 36 towns and about 6000 farms across an area of approximately 2 million hectares and forms part of the Wimmera-Mallee Water Supply System (WMWSS). The WMWSS is a multi-reservoir system located in Western Victoria (Australia) which is operated to meet a range of conflicting interests for water using complex operating rules. Since completion in 2010, the pipeline has vastly improved efficiencies in the supply of water, with water savings being returned to the environment, existing consumptive use and new development. However, one of the major challenges for managers of these water recovery projects is to determine the most effective or optimal operational strategy to meet the needs of all water users. In Victoria, these often conflicting interests to water have traditionally been addressed through a consultative process supported by surface water simulation modelling. Simulation models attempt to represent all the major characteristics of a system and are suited to examine “what if?” scenarios. Whilst such models are highly effective in demonstrating the effect of changes in system operation, the modelling process is limited to finding one solution at a time for a given set of conditions. Optimisation models have also proven to be effective tools but unlike simulation models are characterised by a numeric search technique and are better suited to address “what should be?” questions. In recent times there has been growing interest in linking optimisation techniques with simulation models in order to build on the strengths of both modelling approaches in the search for optimal solutions. The general structure of this combined modelling technique provides for an iterative process; simulation outputs are used to quantify the effect of candidate solutions which are in turn passed to the search engine to find optimal solutions. The process of selecting the most preferred optimal solution brings together two aspects of multi-objective optimisation, namely; (i) the quantitative characteristics of these solutions relative to other solutions; and (ii) the higher level qualitative information in the form of stakeholders’ preferences. The aim of this study is to incorporate stakeholder preferences into a sustainability index which has been previously used to evaluate and compare optimal operating plans for the WMWSS. In that previous study, Godoy et al. (2015) applied a multi-objective optimisation and sustainability assessment approach to an 18-objective function multi-objective optimisation problem (MOOP) which represented a range of interests for water. For the present study, the same interests are described in terms of three broad categories i.e. strong environmental preferences, strong social preferences, and strong preferences for the needs of consumptive users. A weighted sustainability index is presented which incorporates these preferences in the original sustainability index formulation. This weighted sustainability index is used to select preferred optimal operating plans previously found by the optimisation-simulation modelling. The results showed that the weighted sustainability index provided a simple means to incorporate stakeholders’ preferences into the selection process and inform the decision maker of a stakeholder’s uncertainty about their values and priorities for water. © 2017 Proceedings - 22nd International Congress on Modelling and Simulation, MODSIM 2017. All rights reserved.
- Authors: Godoy, W. , Barton, Andrew , Perera, B. , Szemis, J.
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 22nd International Congress on Modelling and Simulation: Managing Cumulative Risks through Model-Based Processes, MODSIM 2017 - Held jointly with the 25th National Conference of the Australian Society for Operations Research and the DST Group led Defence Operations Research Symposium, DORS 2017 p. 1378-1384
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Project (WMPP) provides reticulated water to 36 towns and about 6000 farms across an area of approximately 2 million hectares and forms part of the Wimmera-Mallee Water Supply System (WMWSS). The WMWSS is a multi-reservoir system located in Western Victoria (Australia) which is operated to meet a range of conflicting interests for water using complex operating rules. Since completion in 2010, the pipeline has vastly improved efficiencies in the supply of water, with water savings being returned to the environment, existing consumptive use and new development. However, one of the major challenges for managers of these water recovery projects is to determine the most effective or optimal operational strategy to meet the needs of all water users. In Victoria, these often conflicting interests to water have traditionally been addressed through a consultative process supported by surface water simulation modelling. Simulation models attempt to represent all the major characteristics of a system and are suited to examine “what if?” scenarios. Whilst such models are highly effective in demonstrating the effect of changes in system operation, the modelling process is limited to finding one solution at a time for a given set of conditions. Optimisation models have also proven to be effective tools but unlike simulation models are characterised by a numeric search technique and are better suited to address “what should be?” questions. In recent times there has been growing interest in linking optimisation techniques with simulation models in order to build on the strengths of both modelling approaches in the search for optimal solutions. The general structure of this combined modelling technique provides for an iterative process; simulation outputs are used to quantify the effect of candidate solutions which are in turn passed to the search engine to find optimal solutions. The process of selecting the most preferred optimal solution brings together two aspects of multi-objective optimisation, namely; (i) the quantitative characteristics of these solutions relative to other solutions; and (ii) the higher level qualitative information in the form of stakeholders’ preferences. The aim of this study is to incorporate stakeholder preferences into a sustainability index which has been previously used to evaluate and compare optimal operating plans for the WMWSS. In that previous study, Godoy et al. (2015) applied a multi-objective optimisation and sustainability assessment approach to an 18-objective function multi-objective optimisation problem (MOOP) which represented a range of interests for water. For the present study, the same interests are described in terms of three broad categories i.e. strong environmental preferences, strong social preferences, and strong preferences for the needs of consumptive users. A weighted sustainability index is presented which incorporates these preferences in the original sustainability index formulation. This weighted sustainability index is used to select preferred optimal operating plans previously found by the optimisation-simulation modelling. The results showed that the weighted sustainability index provided a simple means to incorporate stakeholders’ preferences into the selection process and inform the decision maker of a stakeholder’s uncertainty about their values and priorities for water. © 2017 Proceedings - 22nd International Congress on Modelling and Simulation, MODSIM 2017. All rights reserved.