2012 – Sediment Monitoring in Lake Argyle confirms success of Ord catchment management

Categories: 2012, Papers Tags: 2012, catchment management, Lake Argyle, monitoring, Ord River, RNM Nixon, Robert Wark, Sediment

Robert Wark, R.N.M. Nixon

Sediment inflows to Lake Argyle, the reservoir formed by the construction of the Ord River Dam, were seen as a significant threat to the Ord Irrigation Project when the scheme was being developed through the 1960s. Sediment monitoring was built into the operation of Lake Argyle when the Ord River Dam was completed in 1971. The paper describes the strategies that have been in place to assess sediment loads and monitor sediment build up in the reservoir.

Spectacular reduction in sediment flows has been achieved through developing a comprehensive catchment management program. The program commenced in the early 1960s and was adapted and modified as progress was made. The paper describes the steps taken to identify the areas of the catchment at risk, the measures implemented and the current status of the catchment.

A key feature of the catchment management program has been the willingness to critically review progress and adapt the program. A variety of sediment tracing techniques have been used to help confirm the sources of sediment in the catchment, and the paper describes these, and the broad range of results and how they have helped direct the work on catchment management.

Keywords: Sediment, monitoring, catchment management, Lake Argyle, Ord River

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2012 Papers

2012 – 1D/2D Modelling of a complex floodplain for prtfolio risk assessment
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Gurmeet Singh, Nanda Nandakumar, Md Atiquzzaman, Andrew Richardson

This paper describes the flood modelling of the Lachlan River floodplain and highlights the impacts of complex terrain and concurrent tributary flows on river hydraulics for extreme design flood event. This study was undertaken as part of Portfolio Risk Assessment of dams operated by State Water Corporation.
It is demonstrated how a one dimensional/two dimensional coupled model can provide realistic spatial distribution of hydraulic parameters for consequence assessment and emergency flood risk management.
Keywords: 1D/2D coupled hydraulic model, time to peak, duration of flooding, rate of rise.
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2012 Papers

2012 – Decommissioning of Water Supply Dams – Worldwide State of Knowledge
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Stephen Newman

In recent years the option to decommission water supply dams has had renewed focus due to a number of drivers. These include the increased costs of upgrading aging infrastructure against their provided value, climate change reducing the effectiveness of some dams as a reliable water source, greater value placed on environmental outcomes and changing demands for the water including power in case of Hydropower dams. In addition the recent construction of large coastal desalination plants as an alternate water source for large urban areas, particularly in Australia, has reduced the need for some dam assets.

In response to this changing dynamic in the Industry, ICOLD formed a technical committee in 2007 to prepare a bulletin on dam decommissioning for use by those considering the option of decommissioning a dam. The purpose of the bulletin or guideline was not as a design manual but to provide industry with information and guidance to better understand the key drivers of decommissioning and the issues around decommissioning. It is probably a fair summation of the practice to date, that issues associated with decommissioning of major dams have not always been well understood prior to this option being selected. This has on occasion resulted in dramatic increases in the cost of decommissioning, extended timelines and not least, strong community and other stakeholder resistance. Hence the ICOLD decision to prepare a bulletin. The Author of this paper was a part of this committee and has also been involved with a number of dam decommissionings and assisting regulators in developing their own guidelines.

In this paper the key findings from development of the ICOLD bulletin will be presented including illustration of various key issues via case studies from this region and internationally. In particular, the true cost of decommissioning. The final draft of bulletin is currently under review.
Keywords: Decommissioning, ICOLD, community, stakeholder, water supply, hydropower, cost.
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2012 Papers

2012 – Rock Erosion Experiences in the Wivenhoe Dam Spillway
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Eric Lesleighter, Peyman Andaroodi, Colleen Stratford

In January 2011 major flooding was experienced across a large part of Southern Queensland. The flood discharges through the Wivenhoe Dam spillway caused extensive erosion of the rock in the plunge pool. While not an issue in relation to the spillway structure’s security, the rock erosion experience was dramatic for a number of reasons. The paper presents details of the extent of erosion under head conditions that can be classed as moderate only when compared with many taller dams. The discharges over several days resulted in a pile of huge rock blocks downstream of the plunge pool.
The paper describes the plunge pool design dimensions, the geology, the hydrology of the releases, the hydraulics of the plunge pool, the surveys of the pool and rock mound, and moves on to discuss the mechanism of the fracturing and transport of the rock. Similar relevant experiences will be cross referenced, especially from details of recent experiences at the Kariba Dam and the study of remedies in the context of the dam’s actual safety.
From an actual major experience of erosion, and the sheer volume of rock that was lifted up and out of the plunge pool, the occurrence stands as a timely demonstration of what can happen in similar spillway situations, and suggests the type of awareness that spillway design needs to accommodate for energy dissipation facilities in unlined spillways plunge pool.
Keywords: Spillways, plunge pools, rock erosion, scour, plunging jets, pressure transients.
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2012 Papers

2012 – Design and construction of seismic enhancement works for Stuart Macaskill Lakes, Upper Hutt, New Zealand
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M C N Taylor, Dr H E Cherrill, S F Croft, S F Eldridge

The Stuart Macaskill Lakes are two raw water storage lakes with a combined storage of approximately 3280 ML supplying Wellington City, New Zealand. The lakes are High Potential Impact Category (PIC) earth embankment dams constructed on terrace gravel deposits adjacent to the Hutt River and located within approximately 20 to 50 metres of the Wellington Fault Deformation Zone. Construction of the lakes began in 1982 and they were commissioned in 1985.
In early 2008, the lake’s owner Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), embarked on a programme to supplement Wellington City’s water supply storage. Whilst that study is ongoing, GWRC engaged Tonkin & Taylor (T&T) to investigate the feasibility of increasing the Stuart Macaskill Lakes capacity as an interim measure.
The feasibility study concluded in late 2009 that the lake dam embankments could be raised by up to 1.3 metres in height to gain an approximate additional 450 ML of water storage. An important finding of that feasibility study has been that the seismic requirements have increased significantly since the construction of the lakes. To address this issue GWRC is currently constructing Stage Two of a two stage construction programme to both raise the lakes and to incorporate seismic resistant features into the lakes.
The primary design features are downstream rock buttressing in the critical areas of the lakes and synthetic lining the inside of the lake embankments. The buttressing works were completed in early 2011 and the lining and crest raising works are due for completion in 2013.
This paper summarises the design, laboratory testing and construction to enhance the lakes performance during very strong seismic accelerations (Peak Ground Accelerations of up to 1.08g) expected during a maximum design earthquake originating from the Wellington Fault.
Keywords: Water Reservoir, Seismic Design, Geomembrane, Rock Buttressing, Seismic Risk Assessment, Wellington Fault
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2012 Papers

2012 – Enlarged Cotter Dam Diversion Gate Design – The Challenge and the Test
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Frank Nitzsche

This paper highlights the importance of hydraulic diversion control structures during construction of large dams and the value of allocating sufficient resources during project planning and implementation.
The design of the diversion gate for construction of the Enlarged Cotter Dam presented various challenges, including operation for up to 38m head for discharge into a 3m diameter conduit and the need to serve as an upstream concrete form during eventual diversion closure.
The short duration of operation allowed acceptance of increased level of operational risk and a higher level of design uncertainty. The design used generally accepted gate design methods, but no hydraulic modelling. The hydrodynamic forces were estimated using published data. After installation, a 1 in 100 AEP flood event resulted in the gate being subjected to 90% of its design head while operating in conditions close to the maximum design down-pull force. Attempts to raise the gate succeeded only after increasing the hydraulic pressure above the design value.
Keywords: Guard gate design, outlet works, dam, construction.

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