Modeling of Turbidity Variation in Two Reservoirs Connected by a Water Transfer Tunnel in South Korea

Jae Chung Park, Myoung-Jin Um, Young-Il Song, Hyun-Dong Hwang, Mun Mo Kim and Daeryong Park
Additional contact information
Jae Chung Park: Andong Regional Office, K-water, Andong-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do 36611, Korea
Myoung-Jin Um: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Korea
Young-Il Song: Division of Climate Change and Interdisciplinary Research, Korea Environment Institute, Sejong 30147, Korea
Hyun-Dong Hwang: Human Planet Corporation, Daejeon 34077, Korea
Mun Mo Kim: Department of Civil Engineering, Shingu University, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do 13174, Korea
Daeryong Park: Department of Civil, Environmental and Plant Engineering, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Korea

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 6, 1-16

Abstract: The Andong and Imha reservoirs in South Korea are connected by a water transfer tunnel. The turbidity of the Imha reservoir is much higher than that of the Andong reservoir. Thus, it is necessary to examine the movement of turbidity between the two reservoirs via the water transfer tunnel. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the water transfer tunnel on the turbidity behavior of the two connecting reservoirs and to further understand the effect of reservoir turbidity distribution as a function of the selective withdrawal depth. This study applied the CE-QUAL-W2, a water quality and 2-dimensional hydrodynamic model, for simulating the hydrodynamic processes of the two reservoirs. Results indicate that, in the Andong reservoir, the turbidity of the released water with the water transfer tunnel was similar to that without the tunnel. However, in the Imha reservoir, the turbidity of the released water with the water transfer tunnel was lower than that without the tunnel. This can be attributed to the higher capacity of the Andong reservoir, which has double the storage of the Imha reservoir. Withdrawal turbidity in the Imha reservoir was investigated using the water transfer tunnel. This study applied three withdrawal selections as elevation (EL.) 141.0 m, 146.5 m, and 152.0 m. The highest withdrawal turbidity resulted in EL. 141.0 m, which indicates that the high turbidity current is located at a vertical depth of about 20–30 m because of the density difference. These results will be helpful for understanding the release and selective withdrawal turbidity behaviors for a water transfer tunnel between two reservoirs.

Keywords: CE-QUAL-W2; hydrodynamics; reservoirs; turbidity; water transfer tunnel; water quality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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