To avoid any adverse influences on the downstream aquatic lives or agricultural production due to low-temperature water discharging from a large reservoir,it is necessary to predict accurately the stratified water temperature distributions in the deep water region before a high dam.The 3 D turbulence mathematical model was proposed to simulate water temperature with the boundary condition and the initial condition obtained from a 2 D turbulent water temperature model.A case study was conducted at the constructed Ertan reservoir within a range of 1 km from the dam.A comparison analysis was conducted between water temperature from the simulation model and the site observations.The simulation of water temperature fits with the observation quite well.Therefore,the proposed 3 D turbulent mathematical model can satisfactorily predict the stratified water temperature and the flow structures within the deep reservoir in front of the dam.
