Hydrodynamic modeling and Management of coastal creek A case study of ennore creek Tamil nadu

Abstract

Creeks are important coastal ecosystems and act as a shelter for flora and fauna and, in turn, help to increase the biodiversity. The nature and distribution of the flora and fauna in a creek depends on the fluctuations in the physico-chemical characteristics of water. The increase in urbanization and industrialization in the coastal zone results in adverse environmental impacts, thereby affecting the ecological integrity of creeks. The movement of water through creeks is an important factor in determining the distribution of pollutants or nutrients. Estuarine transport can be studied by field observation as well as analytical and numerical modeling. newlineEnnore Creek is located on the south-east coast of India. The domestic wastes from part of Chennai City are discharged directly into the Buckingham Canal, which passes through the creek. Industrial effluents from the Manali industrial area also find their way into the creek. Further, coolant water from the North Chennai thermal power stations (NCTPS) is also discharged into the Ennore Creek. The creek water quality is very badly affected by the above discharges. The Kamarajar Port, which is located 3km away from the mouth of the creek also changes the coastal morphology as it creates accretion. This accretion reduces the width of the creek mouth. Satellite images show that the width of the creek mouth gets changed frequently. These images indicate that closure of the creek mouth occurred during the months of February 2014 and May 2014, which fall in the pre-monsoon season. newline newline