A study into the export of saline water from Hervey Bay, Australia

• Published in: Estuarine, coastal and shelf science coastal and shelf science, 2006-02, Vol.66 (3), p.550-558
• Main Author: Ribbe, Joachim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Australia; Biological and medical sciences; box model; Brackish; Brackish water ecosystems; climate change; CTD observations; East Australia Current; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; estuaries; estuarine dynamics; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Hervey Bay Water; Marine; Synecology; water masses
• ISSN: 0272-7714; 1096-0015
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2005.10.012

Australia's climate is one of the world's driest and locally characterised by high year-to-year rainfall variability. Due to high evaporation and low river runoff many estuaries and embayments in the region are characterised by inverse conditions with salinity increasing toward the coast and river mouths. Such conditions were also found during the first comprehensive hydrographic survey of Hervey Bay located at the east coast of Australia in early spring 2004. The survey traced a subsurface salinity maximum that was found in earlier studies within the East Australia Current, east of Hervey Bay to the shallow southwest regions of the bay. These are identified as the most likely source region for locally produced saline Hervey Bay Water. Utilising a simple box model, mean evaporation rates and historical river runoff data, it is demonstrated that inverse conditions are likely to dominate throughout the year. The negative circulation is a climatological feature of this estuary that is not limited to the dry season of the year. Due to persistent drought and declining rainfall in coastal eastern Australia, these conditions are likely to persist into the near future and need to be considered in coastal management strategies.