Abstract
For many years stability theories have been used both to design inlets and to appraise the performance of them. There are a variety of approaches to the formulation of stability criteria ranging from the purely empirical (Stevenson, 1884 - cited by Bruun & Gerritsen, 1958; O'Brien, 1931; Bruun, 1977) to the generalised analytical (Escoffier, 1940; Bruun & Gerritsen, 1958; Keulegan, 1967; O'Brien and Dean, 1972). In 1966 a seemingly small perturbation made to the inlet of Wallis Lake resulted in significant changes to the estuary. The direct application of existing stability theories was of marginal value in explaining these changes and predicting the stable regime that the estuary may ultimately reach.
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