The Gloucester subregion contains two distinct river systems. The Gloucester river basin drains the northern half of the Gloucester subregion and discharges into the Manning River near Bundook. The Karuah river basin drains the southern half of the Gloucester subregion and discharges into Port Stephens (Figure 4). The surface water modelling domain adopted in the bioregional assessment includes the entire basin of the Gloucester River above its junction with the Manning River and the entire basin of the Karuah River above Karuah.
The tidal limit of the Karuah River extends almost up to the town of Booral, which is more than 20 km upstream of the town of Karuah and Port Stephens. The modelling domain therefore extends well below the tidal limit of the Karuah River. The streamflow below the tidal limit is modelled as if tidal effects were non-existent. In effect, we are modelling only the river inflows into the tidal zone.
Figure 4 The surface water modelling domain for the Gloucester subregion
Data: Bioregional Assessment Programme (Dataset 1, Dataset 2)
Both the baseline and coal resource development pathway (CRDP) include simulations from 2013 to 2102. However, for both futures, the period from 1983 to 2012 is also modelled and acts as an extended spin-up period (the period of time in which the model is allowed to run prior to the period for which predictions are required – it allows the initial values of any model stores to converge (or equilibrate) towards natural conditions before the prediction period begins).
