ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the application of the ecological model DELFT-WAQ-ECO in Abras de Mantequilla river-wetland system. The model DELFT-WAQ-ECO has been widely applied in several aquatic environments, from coastal waters to rivers, tropical lagoons, and reservoirs. The chapter describes the evaluation of key variables of water chemistry, primary production and zooplankton components for different hydrological conditions to describe the natural variability of this river-wetland system. The ECO model is based on the open source water quality-modelling framework DELFT3D-WAQ-ECO, a mathematical model for water quality and ecology that allows the selection of a wide range of substances and processes from a quite extensive process library. The model has two different parts working together: it solves the equations for advective and diffusive transport of substances in a water body and models the water quality kinetics of chemistry, biology, and physics that determines the behaviour of substances and organisms.
