Water quality assessment for a coastal zone through numerical modeling

Abstract

Water quality assessment for the Southern Coastal Fringe (SCF) of the Inner Plata River is performed based on numerical modeling. A hydrodynamic model of the whole Inner Plata River is implemented and validated based on water level and velocity measurements. It drives a water quality model for the SCF, adjacent to Buenos Aires Metropolitan Region (BAMR), from which many pollutant coastal loads emerge. This model represents the dynamics and kinetics of biological, physical, and chemical parameters, and is calibrated based on concentration data. Aptitude criteria for different water uses, in terms of limiting concentrations for modeled parameters, are established. They are applied to the model results in order to determine limited water use zones, which constitute a diagnosis for the present situation. A project scenario, with the implementation of the Remediation Master Plan formulated by the Water Company for the BAMR (which includes construction of a new outfall and extension of the present one), is eval...