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*Coastal and Air Pollution Department, Environment and Urban Development Division, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, P.O. Box 24885, 13109 Safat, Kuwait,

Email: krakha@kisr.edu.kw.

ABSTRACT

Kuwait Bay (KB) is located at the northwestern corner of the Arabian Gulf and accommodates many industrial and commercial activities. These activities include several outfalls discharging cooling water and other effluents into KB. KB presents a unique ecosystem and a significant nursery ground for many fishes, shrimp and marine species. It is thus important to develop a water quality model for Kuwait Bay to predict the impact of different activities on the Kuwaiti ecosystem. The flushing of a water body can be an important factor with respect to water quality for a semi-closed water body. In this paper the flushing of KB is studied using an advection dispersion model. The effect of the dispersion coefficient on the flushing is also included. The model results showed that the flushing of KB is slow and it requires over one year to completely flush. These findings will be of great importance when planning for future activities in KB.

Keywords: Tidal currents; advection dispersion; water quality; residence time.