2.6.1.2 Review of existing models

Summary

There is an existing river system model of the Richmond River that uses Department of Primary Industries’ (DPI Water’s) Integrated Quantity and Quality Model (IQQM), although neither IQQM (Simons et al., 1996) nor Source IMS (Welsh et al., 2013) will be used in bioregional assessments (BAs). The Richmond river basin has low levels of stream regulation, so the routing parameters in IQQM are not needed for impact predictions, as well as for the reasons outlined in companion submethodology M06 (as listed in Table 1) for the surface water modelling (Viney, 2016).

The Integrated Quantity and Quality Model (IQQM) is a daily time step river system model which simulates many impacts on river flow including inflows, storage management, fixed demands, irrigation and industrial extractions, as well as water sharing rules (Simons et al., 1996). There is an existing IQQM of the Richmond River developed by DPI Water (formerly the NSW Office of Water), although neither IQQM (Simons et al., 1996) nor the integrated modelling environment software known as Source IMS (Welsh et al., 2013) will be used in bioregional assessments (BAs). The Richmond river basin has low levels of stream regulation, so the routing parameters in IQQM are not needed for impact predictions, as well as for the reasons outlined in companion submethodology M06 (as listed in Table 1) for surface water modelling (Viney, 2016).

The surface water modelling has been undertaken using a rainfall-runoff model – the Australian Water Resources Assessment landscape model (AWRA-L) – which has been calibrated against observed streamflow at several gauging stations. For a discussion of the reasons for the choice of AWRA-L in the Bioregional Assessment Programme, see companion submethodology M06 (as listed in Table 1) for surface water modelling (Viney, 2016).

Last updated:
18 October 2018
Thumbnail images of the Clarence-Moreton bioregion

Product Finalisation date

2016