Final LDC WQ Report | Page 125

Hydrology Bowen at Myuna
Mean Annual discharge data ( 1986-2014 ) for the “ Bowen at Myuna ” catchment ( 12 ) and relevant tributaries are shown , in Table 8 . The catchment has a discharge of ~ 1000 Gigalitres , and the “ Broken River at Mount Sugarloaf ”( 3 ) supplies the majority (~ 70 %) of the observed flow . By comparison , due west of the “ Broken River ” lies the “ Little Bowen ”( 6 ), here rainfall and runoff (~ 90 mm ) are much lower . The “ Bowen River at Jacks Creek ”( 8 ) is shortly downstream from the confluence of the Little Bowen and Broken , and this site contributes ~ 80 % of the Myuna flow (~ 70 % Broken and ~ 10 % Little Bowen ). Despite its relatively large area , western draining “ Rosella Creek ”( 9 ) contributes ~ 10 % of the flow . Glenmore Creek ( 10,11 ) and other minor areas make up the remainder .
Table 8 . Mean annual discharge and runoff ( 1986-2014 ) for each contributing site / sub-catchment within the “ Bowen at Myuna ” catchment .
GBR Source Model
GBR Source Model
Gauged
%
ID
Sub Basin
Site / Sub Catchment
Catchment
Area ( km2 )
Flow ( ML )
Flow ( ML )
Runoff ( mm )
Discharge
1 Bowen Myuna Broken River
Broken River at Urannah
1,118
448,133
477,432
427
47
2
Broken River
Emu Creek
199
18,021
91
2
3
Broken River
Broken River at SugarLoaf
2,248
677,598
301
66
4
Little Bowen
Exe Creek
163
-
-
5
Little Bowen
Little Bowen River Exmoor
1,209
115,762
96
11
6
Little Bowen
Little Bowen Junction
1,462
128,094
88
13
7
Pelican Creek
Flagstone Creek
220
21,035
96
2
8
Bowen River at Jacks Creek Bowen River at Jacks Creek
4,250
840,155
198
82
9
Rosella Creek
Rosella Creek
1,425
88,631
62
9
10
Glenmore
Parrott and Cockatoo Creek
569
30,512
54
3
11
Glenmore
Ten Mile Creek
343
23,206
68
2
12 Bowen Myuna Bowen Myuna
Bowen Myuna
7,074
1,002,682
1,023,788
145
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To better , understand constituent transport and assess loads , discharge for the period was classified into events ( Dougall and Carroll 2013 ). These were defined as having a peak daily discharge greater than 20,000 megalitres ( ML ) per day . To determine the duration of the flow event , an event start date began when flow discharges increased to > 5,000 ML / d , and ended when discharge fell below 5000 ML / d . The criteria captured ~ 75 % of the total runoff at the “ Bowen at Myuna ” site with the remaining 25 % labelled as “ Other ”.
The analysis identified 54 events for the 34 year period ( 1986-2020 ). On average most years have 1 or more events , however 8 years have had zero events and these are more likely to be El-Nino years . A statistical standout was the 1998 / 1999 water year that had 6 events .
A calculation of “ likely ” hydrologic catchment sources shows that the Broken River generally dominates events . For example :
• 24 of the 54 events , had ~> 70 % of their water sourced from the Broken River ;
• 10 events are almost exclusively Broken River ;
• Only 5 events have < 30 % of Broken River discharge .
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