Pool habitats in dryland river systems are highly sensitive to changes in flow and sediment regimes, yet predicting their response to catchment disturbance remains a persistent challenge for impact assessment and management and requires approaches that move beyond single-metric or event-scale assessments. This study applied a multi-method, process-based framework to evaluate sediment dynamics within pools subject to catchment contraction associated with mine expansion in Western Australia.
The approach integrated three components:
These components were synthesised through a conceptual sediment balance model, resolving the interaction between delivery, transport, and in-pool storage.
This integration of temporal scales and processes provided a level of diagnostic capability not typically achieved through conventional assessments, enabling cumulative trends and event-driven behaviours to be interrogated within a single framework. The approach supported a defensible, semi-quantitative evaluation of impact likelihood and severity grounded in physical process representation.
By resolving how sediment systems reorganise under altered boundary conditions, this methodology provided a robust basis for anticipating and managing processes in changing dryland river systems.