Use of IQQM simulation model for planning and management of a regulated river system

he Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) is Australia?s largest river system. Within the MDB, rivers are generally managed as independent regulated systems. The Department of Land and Water Conservation (DLWC) is responsible for planning and management of rivers in New South Wales. To incorporate short-term variability of flows, DLWC developed a daily-time step integrated quantity quality model (IQQM) for investigation of water-sharing issues. The increasing environmental degradation of rivers within the MDB has prompted the government to impose a policy that limits water extractions to a specified level of development. The Lachlan River Management Committee and DLWC used IQQM to develop and test new river management rules for the Lachlan River of MDB to comply with this policy. This paper introduces IQQM and demonstrates its capabilities using the Lachlan River system as an example. IQQM has proven to be a useful tool for the development, evaluation, and selection of new operational rules.