Temporal and spatial variations in water flow and sediment load in Narmada River Basin, India: natural and man-made factors

The Narmada River flows through the Deccan volcanics and transports water and sediments to the adjacent Arabian Sea. In a first-ever attempt, spatial and temporal (annual, seasonal, monthly and daily) variations in water discharge and sediment loads of Narmada River and its tributaries and the probable causes for these variations are discussed. The study has been carried out with data from twenty-two years of daily water discharge at nineteen locations and sediment concentrations data at fourteen locations in the entire Narmada River Basin. Water flow in the river is a major factor influencing sediment loads in the river. The monsoon season, which accounts for 85 to 95% of total annual rainfall in the basin, is the main source of water flow in the river. Almost 85 to 98% of annual sediment loads in the river are transported during the monsoon season (June to November). The average annual sediment flux to the Arabian Sea at Garudeshwar (farthest downstream location) is 34.29×10⁶ t year⁻¹ with a water discharge of 23.57 km³ year⁻¹. These numbers are the latest and revised estimates for Narmada River. Water flow in the river is influenced by rainfall, catchment area and groundwater inputs, whereas rainfall intensity, geology/soil characteristics of the catchment area and presence of reservoirs/dams play a major role in sediment discharge. The largest dam in the basin, namely Sardar Sarovar Dam, traps almost 60–80% of sediments carried by the river before it reaches the Arabian Sea.     

Objective-Based Method for Environmental Flow Assessment in Estuaries and Its Application to the Yellow River Estuary,China

We developed an objective-based method for assessing environmental flows in estuaries; this method consists of two steps: identifying ecological objectives with temporal–spatial variability and establishing a relationship between variations in environmental factors and the alteration of freshwater inflows. Critical salinity and water depth requirements for different species in special seasons in addition to temporal variation in natural river discharge were combined as objectives with spatial and temporal variability. In a case study of the Yellow River Estuary, we determined that 15% and 101% of the natural river discharge should be provided to ensure the minimum and maximum levels of environmental flows, respectively, for successful integration of various objectives. Periods in early April, the end of June, August, and early October were identified as critical for fulfilling reasonable water requirements. Although the recommended environmental flows may not be ideal for certain types of species, they offer a boundary of environmental flows for preserving habitats and biodiversity in estuaries.     

漓江桂林市区段三氮分布特征及影响因素分析

文章为确定漓江桂林市区段三氮含量的变化趋势及其影响因素,分丰水期和枯水期在漓江干流及其支流上选择7个断面分别进行了取样,通过现场水化学指标和室内化验,对研究区三氮含量的时空分布特征和影响因素进行了探讨。分析结果表明:研究区漓江干流上C（NH3-N）和C（NO3--N）的最高值分别为0.248 3mg/L和2.251 7 mg/L,满足地表水环境质量Ⅱ类水标准,但漓江在经过研究区后三氮含量呈升高趋势;三氮含量的季节分布特征为NH3-N和NO3--N含量枯水期明显高于丰水期,而NO2--N含量枯水期略低于丰水期,丰枯季节水温的变化会影响总无机氮（TIN）中各种形态氮含量的比例,使得C(NH3-N)/ C(TIN)由丰水期的4.83%提高到枯水期的6.69%;流经农村生活区和农业地区的桃花江和小东江等支流是区内NH3-N的主要污染源,降雨后NH3-N的含量会明显升高。因此,加强区内漓江支流的综合治理、开展降雨条件下饮用水水源地取水口NH3-N含量的实时监测非常必要。      

不同洪水重现期下橡胶坝调控对洪水风险的影响

现有针对河湖水系连通伴生风险分析的方法或不具备物理过程模拟,或缺乏对风险随机性的探讨。以沂沭河水系连通工程为例,在水力学模型的基础上,考虑连通河网不同河流洪峰相关性,创建随机水情条件下河湖水系连通伴生风险分析模型。通过1 200组水情条件,对沂沭河水系上游进行洪水过程模拟,针对橡胶坝可能造成的洪峰叠加问题,提出不同洪水重现期下橡胶坝运行调度风险管控建议。结果表明:① 50年一遇与100年一遇洪水重现期条件下,均呈现出橡胶坝坝址处水位风险极高（概率P>0.8）,流速风险较低（P < 0.3）的规律,且每当橡胶坝高度升高25%的设计坝高时,沂河与沭河坝前水位风险皆提高约70%,沭河坝址处流速风险降低约50%。②若在汛前塌坝下泄蓄水,人为洪峰的叠加会使沭河中下游河段产生极高风险。③通过划分水位、流速综合洪水风险安全域,洪水重现期50年一遇时,建议沂沭河橡胶坝在汛前调节至低于50%设计坝高,且控制沭河水深和流速分别在12 m和2.23 m/s以内,可以降低水位和流速风险至低风险（P < 0.4）;洪水重现期100年一遇时,需将橡胶坝调至25%设计坝高以下,或者汛前尽早缓慢塌坝下泄蓄水,才能有效降低沂沭河水系防洪压力。     

The effect of impoundments on the structure and function of fish fauna in a highly regulated dry tropics estuary

Ross River flows through the Townsville/Thuringowa urban area in north Queensland, Australia, which has a dry tropical climate characterized by high inter-annual rainfall variation. Unregulated rivers in the Ross catchment basin deliver freshwater flows to their estuaries during both strong and weak wet seasons. The construction of a series of dams and weirs on Ross River means the wet-dry cycle is accentuated, leading to constant marine salinities throughout the estuary becoming the norm, with a lack of freshwater flow for five or more years at a time. The fish fauna of Ross River estuary was sampled in the post wet and dry seasons during an extremely dry climatic period (1994) and extremely wet climatic period (2000) using a small mesh (6 mm) pocket seine net. The fish fauna seemed to reflect seasonal differences. Catches from 1994 (dry period) were comprised entirely of 88 marine and euryhaline species, while the 69 species captured in 2000 (wet period) included 13 freshwater species. However, the freshwater species in the upper estuary were individuals washed over the weir, rather than part of a functional faunal gradient. During 1994 faunal composition was related more to site identity than to the position of the site along an upstream gradient. In contrast, during 2000 there were clear upstream faunal gradients with compositions in upstream sites heavily influenced by freshwater species, and marine and euryhaline species dominating downstream sites. Patterns of species dominance also varied between years. In contrast, trophic composition showed consistent shifts in both years, from high proportions of herbivores, carnivores and benthoplanktivores in May towards high proportions of benthivores in August. Not only do faunal composition, seasonal faunal change and ecological connectivity seem to be impaired, but ecological processes in the estuary that rely on seasonal freshwater flows are likely to be unable to operate normally in most years. The extreme seasonality in Ross River may serve as a model for many of the changes that will be experienced in dry tropics estuaries under global climate change scenarios of more extreme seasonality.     

Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and hydrologic mixing in a subtropical riverine estuary,southwest Florida,USA

Physical and chemical parameters were measured in a subtropical estuary with a blind river source in southwest Florida, United States, to assess seasonal discharge of overland flow and groundwater in hydrologic mixing. Water temperature, pH, salinity, alkalinity, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), δ¹⁸O, and δ¹³C_DIC varied significantly due to seasonal rainfall and climate. Axial distribution of the physical and chemical parameters constrained by tidal conditions during sampling showed that river water at low tide was a mixture of freshwater from overland flow and saline ground-water in the wet season and mostly saline groundwater in the dry season. Relationships between salinity and temperature, δ¹⁸O, and DIC for both the dry and wet seasons showed that DIC was most sensitive to seawater mixing in the estuary as DIC changed in concentration between values measured in river water at the tidal front to the most seaward station. A salinity-δ¹³C_DIC model was able to describe seawater mixing in the estuary for the wet season but not for the dry season because river water salinity was higher than that of seawater and the salinity gradient between seawater and river water was small. A DIC-δ¹³C_DIC mixing model was able to describe mixing of carbon from sheet flow and river water at low tide, and river water and seawater at high tide for both wet and dry seasons. The DIC-δ¹³C_DIC model was able to predict the seawater end member DIC for the wet season. The model was not able to predict the seawater end member DIC for the dry season data due to secondary physical and biogeochemical processes that altered estuarine DIC prior to mixing with seawater. The results of this study suggest that DIC and δ¹³C_DIC can provide additional insights into mixing of river water and seawater in estuaries during periods where small salinity gradients between river water and seawater and higher river water salinities preclude the use of salinity-carbon models.     

Opening and closure of a marginal Southern California lagoon inlet

Over the past 50 yr, direct observations of the inlet status (open or closed) of San Dieguito Lagoon, a typical southern California lagoon located in Del Mar, California, have shown that river flooding is the major natural determinant of inlet conditions on time scales longer than a few years. River flooding is strongly dependent on rainfall in the San Dieguito River watershed and on the influences of two water storage reservoirs in the area. Rainfall fluctuates on yearly and longer time scales and undergoes cycles of wet and dry periods. Over short time periods, ranging from a few months to several years, inlet status is primarily determined by the available tidal prism and littoral sand transport. Recognition of these factors is crucial in order to correctly evaluate the probability that a small lagoon will remain open naturally. A probability approach is essential because the variables controlling inlet conditions are random in nature. The results of our study show that the inlet will remain open naturally 34% of the time. The tendency to remain open is vastly smaller during years of dry weather (12%) versus times of above-average rainfall (66%).     

Hydrological hazards at mouths of the Northern Dvina and the Pechora rivers,Russian Federation

The article presents results of long-term monitoring, detailed studies and numerical simulation of hydrological hazards at the mouths of the Northern Dvina and the Pechora rivers. The Northern Dvina River discharges into the White Sea and the Pechora River flows into the Barents Sea. They are major rivers in northern European Russia. The main hydrological hazards at the mouths of these rivers include dangerous ice phenomena, inundations from both pure maximum stream flow and peak discharges with ice jams, surge-induced flooding, wind-induced down-surges, low-water periods and seawater intrusion into the delta branches. These hazards repeatedly caused significant socioeconomic loss and environmental damage to the riparian areas. Causes and characteristics of hydrological hazards have been evaluated and considered with respect to features, pattern and factors of their long-term, seasonal and spatial variability using statistic methods, remote sensing data and numerical simulation. Furthermore, the impact of regional climate change and economic activities is discussed. As a result, detailed information about the Northern Dvina river mouth is presented. It included the structure and the efficiency of measure for preventing ice jam formation and protecting from river discharge, ice jam and surge-induced inundations. The article also included fundamental and updated data on the structure, parameters and hydrological regime of the Northern Dvina and the Pechora river mouths and specifics of their changes in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.     

三峡水库蓄水后长江中游水沙时空变化的定量评估

定量评价三峡蓄水后长江中游流域水文情势的时空变化,为长江中游生态保护和区域水资源管理提供科学依据。采用变化范围法分析了长江干流5个水文站的流量、含沙量日均数据,定量评估了三峡工程蓄水后,长江中游水沙变化度最大的江段和水文指标类别,及其对应的生态影响。研究结果表明三峡蓄水后,下游河道含沙量的变化度远大于流量,除城陵矶站外,含沙量较蓄水前有了大幅度下降,宜昌站的含沙量下降幅度达到了一个数量级,洞庭湖对长江干流含沙量有明显的调蓄作用。流量的变化度随着与大坝距离的增加而减小,且在7~11月流量下降幅度明显。这些水文节律的变化将影响下游鱼类产卵栖息地以及滞洪区水生生物与周边植被的生长。     

Sediment–water interaction, acidity and other water quality parameters in a subtropical setting, Pimpama River, southeast Queensland

 The geological setting and landuse activities of the Pimpama River catchment are typical for many drainage systems in southeast Queensland. The river originates in coastal ranges of Late Paleozoic age, crosses a floodplain developed during the Late Pleistocene-Holocene sea-level fluctuations and flows into the southern part of the Moreton Bay. The formation of sedimentary pyrite associated with the mid-Holocene transgression is an important feature of this coastal setting. The oxidation and hydrolysis of pyrite and the consequent production of sulfuric acid are controlled by the amount and seasonality of rainfall and influenced locally by landuse activities. The acid production and the leaching of dissolved metals from river alluvium and estuarine sediments impact substantially on land and aquatic habitats. The water quality of the Pimpama River and its tributaries reflects the lithology of the bedrock and can vary largely depending on season, tidal regimes, sediment lithology, local topography and agricultural activities. Monitoring of river water for several seasons revealed four types of events, each with a different response in terms of water quality: (a) occasional showers during the dry season cause low pH and high amounts of dissolved metals in the water, (b) the first heavy rain of the wet season can produce very toxic conditions (low pH and high concentrations of metals) that can result in a fish kill, (c) towards the end of the wet season, prolonged flushing of pyrite oxidation products leads to short-term recovery of the aquatic system (neutral pH and lower amounts of dissolved metals in the water) and (d) a flood event can produce low pH, salinity and high concentrations of metals, which can represent lethal conditions for aquatic life. Assessment of saturation indexes for representative weathering and oxidation products such as clays, goethite, gibbsite and jarosite shows that these mineral phases can precipitate only when the water reaches neutral pH. Received: 21 September 1998 · Accepted: 1 December 1998     

Interaction between a dam site and karst springs: The case of Supramonte (Central-East Sardinia, Italy)

Sardinia is one of the Italian regions with the greatest number of dams per inhabitants, almost 60 for a population of only 1.5 million people. Many of these dam sites are located on non-carbonate rocks along the main rivers of the Island and their waters are used for irrigation, industrial, energy supply, drinking and flood regulation purposes.The Pedra 'e Othoni dam on the Cedrino river (Dorgali, Central-East Sardinia) is located along the threshold of the Palaeozoic basement on the Northern border of the Supramonte karst area, where water is forced to flow out of the system through several resurgences, the most famous of which is the Su Gologone vauclusian spring, used for drinking water supply. The other main outflows of the system, Su Tippari and San Pantaleo springs, are at present almost permanently submerged by the high water level of the Pedra 'e Othoni dam. In the near future water will be supplied also to other communities with a possible increase of water taken from the spring.The dam, originally meant to regulate the flooding of Cedrino river but actually used for all sorts of purposes (electricity supply, drinking water, irrigation of farmlands, industrial uses), has a maximum regulation altitude of 103 m a.s.l., only slightly less than a meter below the Su Gologone spring level (103.7 m), and 4 and 9 m respectively above the submerged Su Tippari and San Pantaleo springs.During floods of the Cedrino river, occurring on average twice a year, also the Su Gologone spring becomes submerged by the muddy waters of the lake for a time ranging between a couple of hours up to several days, making water supply impossible.The analysis of the available meteorological and hydrogeological data relative to the December 2004 flood, one of the severest of the past 100 years, suggests that the reservoir is filled in a few days time. Several flooding scenarios have been reconstructed using digital terrain models, showing that backflooding submerges most of the discharge area of the aquifer, having important repercussions also on the inland underground drainage system. The upstream flood prone areas prevalently comprise agricultural lands with some sparse houses, but also highly frequented tourist facilities. Fortunately flooding occurs outside the tourist season, thus limiting risk to a limited number of local inhabitants. Massive discharge at the dam site, instead, determines a more hazardous situation in the Cedrino coastal plain, where population density in low lying areas is much higher. To avoid flooding hazard upstream the water level in the lake should be regulated, keeping it low in the flood prone seasons, and having it filled from the end of the winter in order to have enough water stocked before the beginning of the summer. Discharge at the dam site, instead, should be done cautiously, preventing severe flooding of the coastal Cedrino plain.     

甘肃省舟曲8.7特大泥石流调查研究

本文通过对甘肃省舟曲县城后山三眼峪沟和罗家峪沟特大泥石流灾害的现场调查,从泥石流形成的地形、地质和降雨条件入手,分析了特大泥石流灾害的特征与成因:三眼峪沟和罗家峪沟泥石流形成区在2010年8月7日23～24时的1h降雨量达77.3mm,暴雨形成强大洪水依次冲毁两条沟内的天然堆石坝和人工拦挡坝,形成规模巨大的高容重黏性泥石流,泥石流冲出总量和泥沙总量分别为 144.2104m3和97.7104m3; 泥石流携带具有强大冲击力的巨石冲毁房屋5500余间; 在白龙江内形成长约550m,宽约70m,高约10m的堰塞坝并形成堰塞湖,堰塞湖回水长3km,使县城一半被淹; 泥石流造成1744人死亡和失踪。分析研究表明,三眼峪沟和罗家峪沟泥石流如果在近期遭遇强降雨还会暴发泥石流,但规模比87特大泥石流小;如果强降雨发生在数年后,暴发的泥石流规模比87特大泥石流略小;在20a或更长的时期内,没有发生新的地震影响下,在三眼峪沟和罗家峪沟经历一次大规模泥石流暴发后,泥石流的规模将回到汶川地震前的水平。     

Shallow-water simulations by a well-balanced WAF finite volume method: a case study to the great flood in 2011, Thailand

A well-balanced finite volume method for solving two-dimensional shallow water equations with weighted average flux (WAF) is developed in this work to simulate flooding. Friction source terms are estimated with a semi-implicit scheme resulting in an efficient numerical method for simulating shallow water flows over irregular domains, for both wet and dry beds. A wet/dry cell tracking technique is also presented for reducing computational time. The accuracy of these methods are investigated by application to well-studied cases. For practical purposes, the developed scheme is applied to simulate the flooding of the Chao Phraya river from Chai Nat to Sing Buri provinces in Thailand during October 13–17, 2011. The numerical simulations yield results that agree with the existing data obtained from the satellite images.     

Formation,failure, and consequences of the Xiaolin landslide dam,triggered by extreme rainfall from Typhoon Morakot,Taiwan

An extreme rainfall event on August 9, 2009, which was close to setting a world record for 48-h accumulated rainfall, induced the Xiaolin deep-seated landslide, which was located in southwestern Taiwan and had volume of 27.6?×?10⁶?m³, and caused the formation of a landslide dam. The landslide dam burst in a very short time, and little information remained afterward. We reconstructed the process of formation and failure of the Xiaolin landslide dam and also inferred the area of the impoundment and topographic changes. A 5?×?5-m digital elevation model, the recorded water stage of the Qishan River, and data from field investigation were used for analysis. The spectral magnitude of the seismic signals induced by the Xiaolin landslide and flooding due to failure of the landslide dam were analyzed to estimate the timing of the dam breach and the peak discharge of the subsequent flood. The Xiaolin landslide dam failure resulted from overtopping. We verified the longevity of the Xiaolin landslide dam at about 2 h relying on seismic signals and water level records. In addition, the inundated area, volume of the impoundment behind the Xiaolin landslide dam, and peak discharge of the flood were estimated at 92.3 ha, 19.5?×?10⁶?m³, and 17?×?10³?m³/s, respectively. The mean velocity of the flood-recession wave front due to the dam blockage was estimated at 28 km/h, and the peak flooding velocity after failure of the dam was estimated at 23 km/h. The Xiaolin landslide provides an invaluable opportunity for understanding the mechanism of deep-seated landslides and flooding processes following a landslide dam failure.     

Experimental study on cascading landslide dam failures by upstream flows

Landslide dams in mountainous areas are quite common. Typically, intense rainfalls can induce upstream flows along the sloping channel, which greatly affects the stability and failure modes of landslide dams. If a series of landslide dams are sequentially collapsed by an incoming mountain torrent (induced by intense rainfall), large debris flows can be formed in a short period of time. This also amplifies the magnitude of the debris flows along the flow direction. The catastrophic debris flows, which occurred in Zhouqu, China on August 8, 2010, were indeed caused by intense rainfall and the upstream cascading failure of landslide dams along the gullies. Experimental tests were conducted in a sloping channel to understand the dynamic process of cascading landslide dam failures and their effect on flow scale amplification. Similar to the Zhouqu conditions, the modeled landslide dams were distributed along a sloping channel and breached by different upstream flows. For each experiment, the front flows were sampled, the entrained grain sizes were analyzed, and the front discharge along the channel was measured. The results of these experiments show that landslide dams occurring along the channel can be destroyed by both high and low discharge flows, although the mechanisms are quite different for the two flow types. Regardless of flow type, the magnitude of the flows significantly increases after a cascading failure of landslide dams, resulting in an increase in both the diameter and the entrained coarse particles percentage.     

The changes in the lower Drava River water level, discharge and suspended sediment regime

Massive construction on the Drava River basin and on the river itself during the last centuries, as well as recent climate change and/or variability, has caused many different and possibly dangerous changes to its hydrological and ecological regime. Since 1975, numerous hydrotechnical works have been carried out on the 60-km long section of the Drava River from the Slovenian–Croatian border to the River Mura mouth. Three hydrotechnical power plants with three reservoirs and three long inlet and outlet canals have been built. Changes in water level, discharge and suspended sediment yield along the Drava River measured in Croatia, downstream of the three Croatian reservoirs, during the last 30–130 years are presented. The investigation focuses on changes that have occurred during the last thirty-odd years, caused by the anthropogenic influences on the Drava River watercourse and its catchment in Croatia and Hungary, and probably by climate change or variability. Methods of rescaled adjusted partial sums, statistical tests, as well as regression and correlation analyses are used to explain changes in water level, discharge and suspended sediment yield. There is evidence in the time series of decreases in the minimum, mean and maximum annual water levels, and minimum and mean discharges on the lower part of the Drava River. One of the main objectives of this study was to examine the effect of dams and reservoirs operation on the changes in the downstream suspended sediment regime. The amount of suspended sediment has been greatly reduced, which can cause serious consequences.     

塔里木河流域气候与径流变化及生态修复

从20世纪90年代中期开始,塔里木河流域气温上升、降水增加,阿克苏河、开都河等主要河流几乎同步进入持续的丰水周期时段,为塔里木河流域生态修复创造了绝好的“天时”和历史性机遇.这种大区域的气候异常变化现象引起了国内外广大学者的广泛关注,区域气候异常变化是全球气温上升影响盆地气候向温湿转型,还是一个世纪性的水文周期变化现象,一时间成为了学术界的热点议题.系统分析了塔里木河流域山区水文气象站近50 a来的气温、降水、河川径流以及塔里木河来水量变化,并系统评价了利用开都河丰水期的有利时机,向塔里木河下游应急输水及其生态修复情况.     

塔里木河流域干湿变化与大气环流关系

基于塔里木河流域39个气象站1961—2010年逐日观测数据和NCEP/NCAR再分析数据,采用标准化降水蒸散指数（Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index,SPEI）,分析了该流域近50年来干湿时空变化特征及典型干湿月份和突变前后的大气环流特征。对SPEI序列进行的趋势检验和突变分析表明,近50年来,塔里木河流域显著变湿并在1986年发生显著突变,SPEI上升趋势显著的站点较多的月份主要集中在暖季（5~10月）。对突变前后不同等级干湿事件频率变化的统计结果表明,突变后,极端干旱事件发生频率略有增加,但轻度和中度干旱事件发生频率有所减少,而不同等级的湿事件发生频率则一致地表现为增加。对典型干湿月份和突变前后对应的北半球500hPa位势高度场和风场变化的合成分析表明,暖季典型干湿月份环流系统配置存在明显差异,增加的水汽和弱不稳定大气层结构是该区域1986年后暖季变湿的原因之一。     

太湖流域雪堰镇氮素流失规律及形态特性

以太湖流域雪堰镇为例,通过2009年3月~2010年2月连续12个月及两场次降雨事件的水质监测进行分析,研究不同河流、月份、区域、汛情、土地利用类型下氮素流失规律及形态特性,分析降雨过程中不同尺度3个流域(上涧村、龙泉河、雪堰镇)氮流失特征和不同河段氮流失规律。研究结果表明,雪堰镇氮素为劣Ⅴ类,非汛期污染比汛期严重,变化幅度大,不稳定,氮以溶解态为主,溶解态氮以硝氮为主;镇区硝氮浓度较非镇区低,氨氮比非镇区高,坑塘水面氮流失最严重,有林地(乔木较多)氮流失最少,茶园硝氮占溶解态氮百分比最高,果园氨氮占溶解态氮百分比最高;降雨前期未产流前氮素流失稳定,产流后流失越来越大,不同河段氮沿程变化基本稳定。     

Freshwater requirements of a semi-arid supratidal and floodplain salt marsh

When rivers are impounded, the reduction in downstream flow can produce important and often adverse effects, especially in the estuarine environment. One or more dams have been proposed for the Olifants River system in the Western Cape, South Africa. This estuary has an extensive area of salt marsh that was examined to see whether it required occasional flooding with freshwater to wash out accumulated salts. The dominant salt marsh species,Sarcocornia pillansii, occurred in supratidal and floodplain areas where the water table was shallowest, the soil moisture highest, and the soil electrical conductivity lowest. Aerial photographs and simulated runoff data showed that no flood had covered the floodplain during the previous 80 years. The data indicate that salt marsh plants use saline groundwater during the dry months of the year in order to survive, but use the short season winter rainfall period with low salinity conditions to grow and reproduce. This study demonstrated that live roots ofS. pillansii reached the water table during the dry season. Tissue and soil water potentials, the relationship between vegetation cover, depth to the water table, and electrical conductivity of the groundwater support the conclusion that saline groundwater is the only source of water during the drier months of the year. Freshwater flooding of the river in winter may be important because it covers the supratidal area with less saline water and reduces the depth to the water table on the floodplain. This makes the groundwater more accessible to the halophytes growing on the floodplain.