Hydraulic, Environmental and Ecological Assessment of a sub-tropical estuarine system in Eastern Australia

A Hydraulic, Environmental and Ecological Assessment of a Sub-tropical Stream in Eastern Australia: Eprapah Creek, Victoria Point QLD

by Hubert CHANSON (h.chanson@uq.edu.au)
M.E., ENSHM Grenoble, INSTN, PhD (Cant.), DEng (Qld), Eur.Ing., MIEAust., MIAHR, 13th Arthur Ippen awardee
Dept. of Civil Engrg., Univ. of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia

Presentation	Detailed photographs	References
Footnotes	Related links	Acknowledgments

Presentation

Eprapah Creek is a small sub-tropical stream in Eastern Australia. Located in the Redlands shire close to Brisbane QLD, the stream flows from Mount Cotton to Thornlands, where it enters Moreton Bay. The catchment is mostly urban in the lower reaches and semi rural/rural residential in the upper reaches. The creek also flows through several conservation areas hosting endangered species. The stream is basically 15 km long with about 3.8 km of micro-tidal estuarine zone. The Victoria Point sewage treatment plant discharges into the estuarine reach approximately 2.6 km from its mouth. On Friday 4th April 2003, a series of detailed hydraulic, environmental and ecological measurements were conducted in Eprapah Creek (Victoria Point QLD). The purpose of the field works was to assess the complexity of a small estuarine system, the interactions between hydraulic engineering, biology and ecology, and also an overall assessment of the estuarine system that was heavily polluted four to five years ago (1).

Field works were conducted from a low tide to the next low tide : i.e., between 6:00am and 6:00pm on Friday 4th April 2003. Observations were conducted in the estuarine zone at 4 sites along a 4 km stretch located between AMTD 0.6 and 3.8 km : i.e., from the river mouth up to Cleveland to Redland Bay Rd. They included water level, surface velocity, temperature, conductivity, pH, turbidity, DOC, fish habitat and behaviour, and bird and wildlife surveys. Some measurements were taken every 15 minutes, others every 30 minutes while wildlife and bird observations were conducted continuously. The latter included sightings of koalas, wallabies, sea eagles, mud crabs ... This series of 12 hour measurements was complemented by several vertical profiles of water quality indicators using a probe YSI6920 at three sites. These were performed at high tide and at mid ebb flow. In addition, an ADV point velocity meter and a water quality meter YSI6600 were deployed side by side at one site. The probes were continuously data logged for 3 hours from 45 minutes before high tide to 2.5 hours after. The results provide an unique and detailed snapshot of a subtropical creek system (CHANSON 2003). This single-day study included a broad range of simultaneous investigations : hydraulics and hydrodynamics, water quality, and ecology (bird and fish observations predominantly). It is believed that this is the first survey of its kind at Eprapah Creek and possibly in a sub-tropical estuarine system in Australia. The original approach of the problem sets new standards for comprehensive surveys of small estuarine systems in sub-tropical zones. The study included further the first comprehensive hydrodynamic survey of Eprapah Creek. A basic understanding of the estuary hydraulics is indeed essential to assess the flushing processes in the estuarine system, the interactions between turbulence and contaminant transport, and basic mixing and dispersion processes.

Basic results of the 4 April 2003 field work

On 4 April 2003, more than 400 fish were caught, corresponding to 21 species. The largest numbers of fish were caught between 10:00 and 17:00. It is likely that the combination of flood flow with higher dissolved oxygen contents and sun light induced significant fish activities evidenced by the number of fish captures. Almost 500 birds were sighted : that is, more than 72 bird species. Bird sightings showed a strong activity at all sites between 7:00 and 10:00. A second period of activity was between 15:00 and 18:00. The data showed also that the greatest number of species was seen between 7:00 and 10:00, with the maximum number of species detected between 8:00 and 9:00. Yet there was always a minimum of five bird species seen every hour of the day suggesting a fair diversity of the bird population in the Eprapah Creek estuarine zone. Indeed the new findings might indicate that the bird community was possibly more diversified than during a fauna survey undertaken in 1994 and 1995 in the same sections of the creek. More than 100 observations of wildlife (e.g. mammals, skink, insects) were done corresponding to more than 20 species. Three species of marsupials and two types of reptiles were seen. Overall most wildlife activity was observed during daylight.

Water quality measurements showed that dissolved oxygen contents were highest around high tide and middday, while the downstream waters were more oxygenated than the waters at the upstream sites. The trend was consistent with previous surveys showing oxygen depleted freshwater runoff while waters rich in oxygen were usually brought by the flood tide. Turbidity data showed consistently a greater water clarity at high tide and at the beginning of the ebb flow. Conductivity data followed the tidal cycle with an influx of saltwater during the flood flow and their reflux during the ebb at three sites. The pH data suggested a slight decrease in pH with increasing distance from the river mouth. Vertical profiles of water quality parameters were conducted at four sites. Vertical distributions of water temperature, dissolved oxygen content, turbidity and pH were reasonably uniform at high tide and in the early ebb flow. But all conductivity data showed some stratification with a fresh water lens of about 0.4 to 0.6 m thickness. Depth-averaged water quality parameters, calculated from each vertical profile, indicated that a decrease in average water temperature, dissolved oxygen content, conductivity and pH at both high tide and early ebb flow was observed with increasing distance from the river mouth (AMTD) (2). Depth-averaged turbidity data showed an increase in averaged turbidity with increasing AMTD at high tide, but the data during early ebb were mixed. Interestingly identical trends were observed with both surface water data and depth-averaged data.

Continuous recordings of water quality parameters, at 0.5 m beneath the free-surface at one site (AMTD 2.1 km), highlighted large short term fluctuations with characteristic time scales ranging from few minutes to half-hour. While some fluctuations were caused by the passage of boats, others resulted from flow turbulence, possibly from large-scale turbulent structures. These fluctuations of water quality parameters demonstrated that the estuarine waters were not uniformly mixed.

Further results and the detailed surveys may be found in CHANSON (2003).

Summary

Despite some encouraging findings in terms of bird and fish populations, and in terms of hydrodynamic flushing process, poor dissolved oxygen and pH levels at the upstream sites, associated with surface slick observations at one site, suggested some pollution of the eco-system. Low DO and pH levels might result from water runoff in the catchment and problems associated with the presence of industrial poultry farms, land clearance, residential and industrial developments. The large number of exotic fish at the estuary upper reach was another concern for the local environment, while the declining koala population is a major concern. A threat was possibly the current population growth in the area, which could see an increase in the level of effluent pumped into the creek by a nearby treatment plant and associated with land development for residential and commercial purposes.
Further research is underway in Epraph Creek and new detailed field investigations were undertaken in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014 (FERRIS et al. 2004, CHANSON et al. 2004, TREVETHAN et al. 2006,2007,2008, CHANSON 2008). A striking feature of the present data sets was the large and rapid fluctuations in all turbulence characteristics and of the suspended sediment fluxes during the tidal cycles (CHANSON and TREVETHAN 2010). This was rarely documented, but an important characteristic of the newer data sets is the continuous high frequency sampling over relatively long periods. The findings showed that the turbulent properties, and integral time and length scales should not be assumed constant in a shallow estuary. The integral time scales for turbulence and suspended sediment concentration were similar during flood tides, but differed significantly during ebb tides. More recently, an overview of the broad characteristics of the estuaries of South-East Queensland (Australia) was developed, where the small peri-urban estuaries like Eprapah Creek might provide an useful indicator of potential changes which might occur in larger systems with growing urbanisation (CHANSON et al. 2014).

Footnotes

(1) Company executives were jailed in 2001 in application of the EPAct 1994.
(2) AMTD = Adopted Middle Thread Distance measured upstream from the mouth.

Detailed photographs

Photo No. 1 : Eprapah Creek on 11 Dec. 2002 around AMTD 2.5 km (estuarine zone) looking upstream.
Photo No. 2 : Eprapah Creek on 11 Dec. 2002 around AMTD 3.0 km (near upstream end of estuarine zone) looking upstream.
Photo No. 3 : Eprapah Creek, downstream of the marinas, Point Halloran Conservation area on 20 Jan. 2003 around 2:30pm at low tide.
Photo No. 4 : Eprapah Creek, Redlands QLD on 18 Mar. 2003 around 3:00pm (near low tide).
Photo No. 5 : Koala in Point Halloran conservation park on 20 Jan. 2003.
Photo No. 6 : Sea eagle above Eprapah Creek on 18 Mar. 2003.

Field works on Friday 4 April 2003
Photo No. 11 : Group 1 on Fri 4 Apr 2003 around 7:30am. Photo No. 12 : Group 1 on Fri 4 Apr 2003 around 12:00noon.
Photo No. 13 : Group 2 on Fri 4 Apr 2003 around 8:30am. Photo No. 14 : Group 2 on Fri 4 Apr 2003 around 2:30pm.
Photo No. 15 : ADV velocimeter and YSI probe mounted 50 cm beneath the free-surface on Fri 4 Apr 2003 around 10:00am.
Photo No. 16 : Group 3 on Fri 4 April 2003 around 11:00am. Photo No. 17 : Group 3 on Fri 4 Apr 2003.
Photo No. 18 : Group 4 on Fri 4 April 2003 at 7:02am. Photo No. 19 : Group 4 on Fri 4 Apr 2003 around 10:30am.
Photo No. 20 : Qld EPA boat conducting a vertical profile at Site 3 on Fri 4 Apr 2003 around 11:00am.
Photo No. 21 : Koala next to Site 1 on Fri 4 Apr 2003 around 5:00pm.

Photo No. 50 : Students and EPA boat at Site 2 around the middle of the day (Courtesy of CIVL4140 Student Group 2). Photo No. 51 : water quality observations at Site 2 (Courtesy of CIVL4140 Student Group 2). Photo No. 52 : bird watching at Site 2 (Courtesy of CIVL4140 Student Group 2). Photo No. 53 : fish dip netting at Site 2 (Courtesy of CIVL4140 Student Group 2). Photo No. 54 : dissolved oxygen testing at Site 2 (Courtesy of CIVL4140 Student Group 2). Photo No. 55 : measurement preparation on the bank (Courtesy of CIVL4140 Student Group 2).

Photo No. 60 : Students at Site 1 discussing with Waterwatch people (Courtesy of CIVL4140 Student Group 3). Photo No. 61 : surface slick at Site 3 durign the flood flow (Courtesy of CIVL4140 Student Group 3). Photo No. 62 : Low tide at Site 3, note bank erosion (right bank) (Courtesy of CIVL4140 Student Group 3). Photo No. 63 : Site 3 students during the afternoon (Courtesy of CIVL4140 Student Group 3).

Photo No. 70 : Upstream snag at Site 4 (Platypus pool) (Courtesy of CIVL4140 Student Group 4). Photo No. 71 : Group work at Site 4 (Courtesy of CIVL4140 Student Group 4). Photo No. 72 : student fishing at Site 4 (Courtesy of CIVL4140 Student Group 4). Photo No. 73 : fishing at Site 4 in front of ECCLA people (Courtesy of CIVL4140 Student Group 4). Photo No. 74 : students at Site 4 (Courtesy of CIVL4140 Student Group 4).

Field works on Thursday 2 September 2004
Site 1 : Photo No. 1.1 :Site 1 students around 7:15 am. Photo No. 1.2 : Site 1 around 12:00 noon at high tide. Photo No. 1.3 : Site 1 activity around 6:30am.
Site 2 : Photo No. 2.1 : Site 2 students around 7:15 am. Photo No. 2.2 : Site 2 activties around 11:00 am.
Site 3 : Photo No. 3.1 : Site 3 student activity around 6:45 am. Photo No. 3.2 : Site around 16:30, with the EPA taking physico-chemical readings mid-stream. Photo No. 3.3 : students around 13:00.
Wildlife : Photo No. 1 : Female koala next to Site 1 on 2 September 2004 around 8:40am.
Overseas visitors: Photo No.1 : Professor Shin-ichi AOKI, Toyohashi University of Technology (Japan)

Field study in Eprapah Creek estuarine zone on Monday 28 August 2006
Site 1 : Photo No. 1.1 : Group 1 at work around 8:30am. Photo No. 1.2 : Discussion with EPA officer around 11:45am. Photo No. 1.3 : Large boat passing upstream in front of Site 1 around 11:50am.
Site 2B : Photo No. 2.1 : Group2 at work around 7:00am. Photo No. 2.2 : looking upstream at Group 2 and river bank around 2:00pm. Photo No. 2.3 : looking from left bank at Group 2 students at low tide (7:00am).
Site 3 : Photo No. 3.1 : Site 3 looking downstream with Group 3 at work around 7:40am; note rainstorm runoff waterfall in background. Photo No. 3.2 : Looking downstream at the EPA boat arriving at Site 3 at 11:00am. Photo No. 3.3 : Group 3 students working on right bank around 8:00am.
Wildlife : Photo No. 1 : Female koala and her baby feeding on an eucalyptus tree at Point Halloran Conservation area around 12:50pm. Photo No. 2 : Koala sleeping at Point Halloran Conservation area around 12:55pm.

Field study in Eprapah Creek estuarine zone on Friday 13 August 2010
Site 1 (Group 1): Photo 1.1: Group 1 at low tide at 06:10; Photo 1.2: Water sampling at end of flood tide at 10:30; Photo 1.3: swamp wallaby next to Site 1 at 15:45;
Site 2B (Group 2): Photo 2.1: Group 2 at low tide at 07:00; Photo 2.2: Group 2 at 13:40 (early ebb tide); Photo 2.3: Brahminy kite at Site 2 at 14:10;
Site 3 (Group 3): Photo 3.1: Group 3 at 12:00 (high tide); Photo 3.2: Group 3 at 14:00 (early ebb tide).

Field study in Eprapah Creek estuarine zone on Monday 3 September 2012
Site 1 (Group 1): Photo 1.1: Group 1 at 06:10; Photo 1.2: Water sampling at end of flood tide; Photo 1.3: NRM staff monitoring the water quality; Photo 1.4: Group 3 at work during ebb tide;
Site 2B (Group 2): Photo 2.1: Group 2 at work; Photo 2.2: Group 2 taking water sample;
Site 3 (Group 3): Photo 3.1: Group 3 work; Photo 3.2: Group 3 taking some water samples at end of flood tide.

Photographs of the field study in Eprapah Creek estuarine zone on Friday 12 Aeptember 2014
Site 1 (Group 1, AMTD 0.65 km): Photo 1.1: Group 1 at 09:40 on the right bank; Photo 1.2: Site 1 at 17:20 near end of ebb tide, looking downstream; Photo 1.3: Group 3 working on the right bank; Photo 1.4: Group 3 taking water saples at 17:40.
Site 2B (Group 2, AMTD 2.1 km): Photo 2.1: Group 2 at work at 08:20, early flood tide; Photo 2.2: Group 2 working on the left bank; Photo 2.3: Group 2 working on the right bank at 16:20.
Site 3 (Group 3, AMTD 3.1 km): Photo 3.1: at 07:30 during early flood tide, viewed from the right bank; Photo 3.2: Site 3 at 11:00, end of flood tide; Photo 3.3: Group 3 working on the right bank at 11:20.

Photographs of the field study in Eprapa Creek estuarne zone on Friday 18 August 2016
Site 1 (Group 1, AMTD 0.9 km): PhotoNo. 1.1: Group 1 at 06:30 on the right bank; Photo No. 1.2: water elevation reading at 11:00; Photo No. 1.3: Site 1 at 15:00.
Site 2B (Group 2, AMTD 2.1 km): Photo No. 2.1: Group 2 sampling from the left bank at 07:45; Photo No. 2.2: Group 2 at 16:30.
Site 3 (Group 3, AMTD 3.1 km): Photo No. 3.1: Group 3 at 08:40; Photo No. 3.2: Site 3 on the right bank at 16:00.

Photographs of the field study at Eprapah Creek on 14 August 2018
Site 1 (Group 1, AMTD 0.9 km): Photo No. 1.1: Group 1 about 06:15am at Site 1, right bank; Photo No. 1.2: Group 1 about 08:30am at Site 1; Photo No. 1.3: Group 1 about 08:30am at Site 1; Photo No. 1.4: Group 1 about 15:300 at Site 1.
Site 2B (group 2, AMTD 2.1 km): Photo No. 2.1: Group 2 about 07:15am at Site 2B, left bank; Photo No. 2.2: Group 2 about 07:30am at Site 2B; Photo No. 2.3: Group 2 about 10:15am at Site 2B; Photo No. 2.4: Group 2 about 16:30am at Site 2B.
Site 3 (AMTD 3.1 m): Photo No. 3.1: Site 3 about 09:15am, view from the right bank.

UQ subject CIVL4140 Mixing and Dispersion in rivers and estuaries

Resources on Eprapah Creek

Qld EPA water quality monitoring {http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/environmental_management/water/water_quality_monitoring/}
Eprapah Creek Catchment Landcare Association Inc. (ECCLA) {http://eprapah.scouting.net.au/index/projects/landcare.htm}
Waterwatch {http://www.qld.waterwatch.org.au/regions/redland.html}
The Charles S. Snow Scout Environmental training Centre {http://www.scoutsqld.com.au/Links/Activities/Environment-Eprapah.htm}
An assessment of Eprapah Creek health {http://ian.umces.edu/adrian/jones_etal_eprapahck_report_1999.pdf}
Eprapah Creek, Queensland (Australia) {http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eprapah_Creek,_Queensland_(Australia)}

Internet resources

Weather forecast BoM {http://www.bom.gov.au/}
Queensland weather forecast {http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/qld/forecasts.shtml}
Tide predictions {http://www.ntf.flinders.edu.au/TEXT/TIDES/tides.html}
Brownies Coastwatch (Qld) {http://www.browniescoastwatch.com/}
Birds of Queesnland {http://www.birdsqueensland.org.au/}
Ocean outfalls (Clean Ocean) {http://www.cleanocean.org/queensland/5001.html}
Photographs of rivers in Australia {http://www.uq.edu.au/~e2hchans/photo.html#riv_australia}

References

CHANSON, H., BROWN, R., FERRIS, J., and WARBURTON, K. (2003). "A Hydraulic, Environmental and Ecological Assessment of a Sub-tropical Stream in Eastern Australia: Eprapah Creek, Victoria Point QLD on 4 April 2003." Report No. CH52/03, Dept. of Civil Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, June, 189 pages (ISBN 1864997044). (PDF file at UQeSpace) (Download PDF files) [9.2 Mb]
CHANSON, H. (2004). "Environmental Hydraulics of Open Channel Flows." Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, UK (ISBN 0 7506 6165 8).
CHANSON, H. (2004). "The Hydraulics of Open Channel Flows : An Introduction." Butterworth-Heinemann, 2nd edition, Oxford, UK (ISBN 0 7506 5978 5).
CHANSON, H., GIBBES, B., and BROWN, R.J. (2014). "Turbulent Mixing and Sediment Processes in Peri-Urban Estuaries in South-East Queensland (Australia)." in "Estuaries of Australia in 2050 and beyond", Springer, Estuaries of the World Series, Dordrecht, Germany, E. WOLANSKI Editor, pp. 167-183 (DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-7019-5_10) (ISBN 978-94-007-7018-8 (Print) 978-94-007-7019-5 (Online)). (PDF file) (Record at UQespace)
CHANSON, H., and TREVETHAN, M. (2010). "Turbulence, Turbulent Mixing and Diffusion in Shallow-Water Estuaries." in "Atmospheric Turbulence, Meteorological Modeling and Aerodynamics", Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge NY, USA, Ed. P. R. LANG and F.S. LOMBARGO, Chapter 4, pp. 167-204 (ISBN 978-1-60741-091-1). (PDF file) (Record at UQeSpace)
BROWN, R., FERRIS, J., WARBURTON, K., and CHANSON, H. (2004). "Hydrodynamic, Water Quality and Ecological Study of Eprapah Creek Estuarine Zone: a Multi-Disciplinary, Cross-Institutional Approach." Proc. 8th National Conference on Hydraulics in Water Engineering, IEAust., Gold Coast, Australia, H. CHANSON and J. MACINTOSH Ed., 8 pages (CD-ROM) (ISBN 085825 850 1). (PDF file at UQeSpace) (Download PDF file)

Bibliography

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TREVETHAN, M., CHANSON, H., and BROWN, R. (2008). "Turbulent Measurements in a Small Subtropical Estuary with Semi-Diurnal Tides." Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 134, No. 11, pp. 1665-1670 (DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9429(2008)134:11(1665)) (ISSN 0733-9429). (PDF file at UQeSpace) (PDF file)

Acknowledgments

The writer acknowledges the help of numerous people involved in the field works. These include : (1) the University of Queensland Civil and Environmental Engineering students (CIVL4140 2003/1, CIVL4120 2004/2, 2006/2, 2008/2, 2010/2, 2012/2, 2014/2), (2) the University of Queensland Civil Engineering School staff : Mr Fraser REID, Mr Paul PEZZOPANE, Mr Clive BOOTH, Mr Jason VAN DER GEVEL, Mr Stewart MATTHEWS, Dr Carlos GONZALEZ, Dr Hang WANG, Mr Gangfu ZHANG, (3) the University of Queensland Zoology and Entomology Department staff : Dr Kevin WARBURTON, (4) the Eprapah Waterwatch group (ECCLA) : Mrs Jan ELLIS, Mrs Lynn ROBERTS, Dr Bernard STONE, Mr Boyd ESSEX, Michael BISHOP, David , Jason DORO, (5) the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) staff : Mr John FERRIS (Water Quality Monitoring Group) who deployed the YSI6920 and YSI66100 probes, Dr Ian RAMSAY, Dr Michael HOLMES, (6) the Queensland University of Technology Mechanical Engineering Staff : Dr Richard BROWN, Dave McINTOSH, Terry O'SULLIVAN and Ben LIM (Honours student), (7) the Bureau of Meteorology for providing rainfall data and (8) the Redlands Shire Council and the Eprapah Scout Association for permission to use the sites.

License

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Hubert CHANSON is a Professor in Civil Engineering, Hydraulic Engineering and Environmental Fluid Mechanics at the University of Queensland, Australia. His research interests include design of hydraulic structures, experimental investigations of two-phase flows, applied hydrodynamics, hydraulic engineering, water quality modelling, environmental fluid mechanics, estuarine processes and natural resources. He has been an active consultant for both governmental agencies and private organisations. His publication record includes over 950 international refereed papers and his work was cited over 6,000 times (WoS) to 21,500 times (Google Scholar) since 1990. His h-index is 42 (WoS), 45 (Scopus) and 72 (Google Scholar), and he is ranked among the 150 most cited researchers in civil engineering in Shanghai’s Global Ranking of Academics. Hubert Chanson is the author of twenty books, including "Hydraulic Design of Stepped Cascades, Channels, Weirs and Spillways" (Pergamon, 1995), "Air Bubble Entrainment in Free-Surface Turbulent Shear Flows" (Academic Press, 1997), "The Hydraulics of Open Channel Flow: An Introduction" (Butterworth-Heinemann, 1st edition 1999, 2nd editon 2004), "The Hydraulics of Stepped Chutes and Spillways" (Balkema, 2001), "Environmental Hydraulics of Open Channel Flows" (Butterworth-Heinemann, 2004), "Tidal Bores, Aegir, Eagre, Mascaret, Pororoca: Theory And Observations" (World Scientific, 2011), "Applied Hydrodynamics: an Introduction" (CRC Press, 2014). He co-authored three further books "Fluid Mechanics for Ecologists" (IPC Press, 2002), "Fluid Mechanics for Ecologists. Student Edition" (IPC, 2006) and "Fish Swimming in Turbulent Waters. Hydraulics Guidelines to assist Upstream Fish Passage in Box Culverts" (CRC Press 2021). His textbook "The Hydraulics of Open Channel Flows: An Introduction" has already been translated into Spanish (McGraw-Hill Interamericana) and Chinese (Hydrology Bureau of Yellow River Conservancy Committee), and the second edition was published in 2004. In 2003, the IAHR presented him with the 13th Arthur Ippen Award for outstanding achievements in hydraulic engineering. The American Society of Civil Engineers, Environmental and Water Resources Institute (ASCE-EWRI) presented him with the 2004 award for the Best Practice paper in the Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering ("Energy Dissipation and Air Entrainment in Stepped Storm Waterway" by Chanson and Toombes 2002) and the 2018 Honorable Mention Paper Award for "Minimum Specific Energy and Transcritical Flow in Unsteady Open-Channel Flow" by Castro-Orgaz and Chanson (2016) in the ASCE Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering. The Institution of Civil Engineers (UK) presented him the 2018 Baker Medal. In 2018, he was inducted a Fellow of the Australasian Fluid Mechanics Society. Hubert Chanson edited further several books : "Fluvial, Environmental and Coastal Developments in Hydraulic Engineering" (Mossa, Yasuda & Chanson 2004, Balkema), "Hydraulics. The Next Wave" (Chanson & Macintosh 2004, Engineers Australia), "Hydraulic Structures: a Challenge to Engineers and Researchers" (Matos & Chanson 2006, The University of Queensland), "Experiences and Challenges in Sewers: Measurements and Hydrodynamics" (Larrate & Chanson 2008, The University of Queensland), "Hydraulic Structures: Useful Water Harvesting Systems or Relics?" (Janssen & Chanson 2010, The University of Queensland), "Balance and Uncertainty: Water in a Changing World" (Valentine et al. 2011, Engineers Australia), "Hydraulic Structures and Society – Engineering Challenges and Extremes" (Chanson and Toombes 2014, University of Queensland), "Energy Dissipation in Hydraulic Structures" (Chanson 2015, IAHR Monograph, CRC Press). He chaired the Organisation of the 34th IAHR World Congress held in Brisbane, Australia between 26 June and 1 July 2011. He chaired the Scientific Committee of the 5th IAHR International Symposium on Hydraulic Structures held in Brisbane in June 2014. He co-chaired the Organisation of the 22nd Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference held as a hybrid format in Brisbane, Australia on 6-10 December 2020.
His Internet home page is http://www.uq.edu.au/~e2hchans. He also developed a gallery of photographs website {http://www.uq.edu.au/~e2hchans/photo.html} that received more than 2,000 hits per month since inception