Forecasting the Effects of Climate Change on the Swan-Canning Estuary

Forecasting the Effects of Climate Change on the Swan-Canning Estuary

Status: Complete

Researchers

• Greg Ivey
  Professor, Oceans Graduate School, UWA
• UWA Environmental Engineering Design 5552 Class (2018)

Project Summary

The aim of this project was to forecast the water quality of the Swan-Canning Estuary out to 2050 as a tool to inform long term management decisions of the system. This project was undertaken as part of the 2017/2018 Environmental Engineering Design Class, which is part of UWA’s Master of Professional Engineering (Environmental Specialisation). The specific aims of this project involved forecasting a range of possible future conditions that encompassed a variety of meteorological and catchment management scenarios. This range of future conditions was selected so as to inform decision makers about the extent of climate change on system water quality as well as the effectiveness of current management strategies including artificial oxygenation and reducing the nutrient input to the estuary.

Figure 1:  This project forecast the water quality of the Swan-Canning Estuary out to 2050 as a tool to inform long term management decisions of the system.