Recharge estimation using remotely sensed evapotranspiration in an irrigated catchment in southeast Australia

Reliable estimates of groundwater recharge are required for the sustainable management of surface and ground water resources in semi‐arid regions particularly in irrigated regions. In this study, groundwater recharge was estimated for an irrigated catchment in southeast Australia using a semi‐distributed hydrological model (SWAT). The model was calibrated under the dry climatic conditions for the period from August 2002 to July 2003 using flow and remotely sensed evapotranspiration (ET). The model was able to simulate observed monthly drain flow and spatially distributed remotely sensed ET. Recharge tended to be higher for irrigated land covers, such as perennial pasture, than for non‐irrigated land. On average, the estimated annual catchment recharge ranged between 147 and 289 mm which represented about 40% of the total rainfall and irrigation inputs. The optimized soil parameters indirectly reflected flow bypassing the soil matrix that could be responsible for this substantial amount of recharge. Overall, the estimated recharge was much more than that previously estimated for the wetter years. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of afforestation on groundwater recharge and water budgets in the western region of Uruguay

Uruguay has stimulated the development of its forest sector since the promulgation of Forest Law N° 15 939 in December of 1987. Nevertheless, the substitution of natural grasslands with forest plantations for industrial use has raised concerns regarding hydrological processes of groundwater recharge and water consumption involving evapotranspiration. The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of this substitution approach on water resources. Input data were collected from two small experimental watersheds of roughly 100–200 hectares located in western Uruguay. The watersheds are characterized by Eucalyptus Globulus ssp. Maidenni and natural grasslands for cattle use. Total rainfall, stream discharge, rainfall redistribution, soil water content and groundwater level data were collected. Groundwater recharge was estimated from water table fluctuations and from groundwater contributions to base flows. Seasonal and annual water budgets were computed from October of 2006 to September of 2014 to evaluate changes in the hydrological processes. The data show a decrease in annual specific discharge of roughly 17% for mean hydrological years and no conclusive effects on annual groundwater recharge in the forested watershed relative to the reference pasture watershed. Reduced annual specific discharge is equivalent to the mean annual interception. The computed actual annual evapotranspiration is consistent with international catchment measurements. Reduction rates vary seasonally and according to accumulated rainfall and its temporary distribution. The degree of specific discharge decline is particularly high for drier autumns and winters (32 to 28%) when the corresponding rainfall varies from 275 to 400 mm. These results are of relevance for water resources management efforts, as water uses downstream can be affected. These findings, based on a study period dominated by anomalous wet springs and summers and by dry autumns and winters, oppose earlier results based on 34 years of rainfall and discharge data drawn from Uruguayan large basins. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seepage response along an alluvial valley in a semi‐arid catchment in north‐central California

Over a period of 12 months, soil moisture content and potential was monitored in an annual‐grass‐dominated 20 ha catchment in order to determine flow paths leading to exfiltration at the catchment outlet. Water was found to enter the catchment valley either through flow originating in the slopes or through surface infiltration during rainfall events. Although subsurface flow from the slopes to the catchment outlet occurred throughout the year, surface recharge was restricted to a few events during the wet season. In the deeper saturated profile of the valley, flow was directed upwards along the valley edges and gradually became horizontal towards the central axis of the valley. During the peak of the rainfall season, horizontal flow close to the catchment outlet intercepted the gradually sloping surface, resulting in exfiltration. Plants influenced the hydrology of the catchment by removing moisture from the root zone during spring and early summer, resulting in evapotranspiration losses from the vadose zone. Heterogeneities within the valley soil were evident as variable‐permeability layers that resulted in a seasonally confined water table within the valley. This investigation shows that the vadose zone plays an important role in redistributing surface recharge and emphasizes the importance of accounting for effective moisture in low‐yielding catchments with ephemeral surface runoff. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Temporal dynamics of soil water balance components in a karst range in southeastern Spain: estimation of potential recharge

Abstract

This paper analyses the temporal dynamics of soil water balance components in a representative recharge area of the Sierra de Gádor (Almeria, southeastern Spain) in two hydrological years. Two approaches are used to estimate daily potential recharge (PR): Approach 1 based on deriving PR from the water balance as the difference between measurements of rainfall (P) and actual evapotranspiration (E) obtained by eddy covariance; and Approach 2 with PR obtained from the dynamic pattern of the soil moisture (θ) recorded at two depths in the site's thin soil (average 0.35 m thickess). For the hydrological year 2003/04, which was slightly drier than the 30-year average, E accounted for 64% of rainfall and occurred mainly in late spring and early summer. The PR estimated by Approach 1 was 181 ± 18 mm year^-1 (36% of rainfall), suggesting an effective groundwater recharge in the study area. In the unusually dry hydrological year 2004/05, E was about 215 mm year^-1, close to the annual rainfall input, and allowing very little (8 ± 12 mm year^-1) PR according to Approach 1. Estimation of PR based on Approach 2 resulted in PR rates lower than those found by Approach 1, because Approach 2 does not take into account the recharge that occurs through preferential flow pathways (cracks, joints and fissures) which were not monitored with the θ probes. Moreover, using Approach 2, the PR estimates differed widely depending on the time scale considered: with daily mean θ data, PR estimation was lower, especially in late spring, while θ data at 30 min resolution yielded a more reliable prediction of the fraction of total PR resulting from the downward movement of soil water by gravity.

Citation Cantón, Y., Villagarcía, L., Moro, M. J., Serrano-Ortíz, P., Were, A., Alcalá, F. J., Kowalski, A. S., Solé-Benet, A., Lázaro, R. & Domingo, F. (2010) Temporal dynamics of soil water balance components in a karst range in southeastern Spain: estimation of potential recharge. Hydrol. Sci. J. 55(5), 737–753.     

Definition of catchment area in karst: case of the rivers Krčić and Krka,Croatia

Abstract

The study area consists of the spring zones of the Kr?i?, Krka and Cetina river catchments located in the Dinaric karst, Croatia. Classical hydrological approaches and some newer time and frequency domain methods are used in order to validate the existing hypotheses both qualitatively and quantitatively, and these contribute to factual information about the hydrological behaviour of the catchments. The groundwater recharge rates are calculated by a mathematical model based on Palmer's soil-moisture balance method. The values of parameters of the groundwater recharge model are estimated by the spectral method. The calculated monthly and annual groundwater recharge rates form the basis for estimating the hydrological catchment areas of the spring zones and also for the determina-tion of quantitative relationships between the catchments.     

Near-surface water fluxes and their controls in a sloping heterogeneously layered volcanic soil beneath a supra-wet tropical montane cloud forest (NW Costa Rica)

Tropical montane cloud forests (TMCF) receive additional (‘occult’) inputs of water from fog and wind-driven rain. Together with the concomitant reduction in evaporative losses, this typically leads to high soil moisture levels (often approaching saturation) that are likely to promote rapid subsurface flow via macropores. Although TMCF make up an estimated 6.6% of all remaining montane tropical forest and occur mostly in steep headwater areas that are protected in the expectation of reduced downstream flooding, TMCF hillslope hydrological functioning has rarely been studied. To better understand the hydrological response of a supra-wet TMCF (net precipitation up to 6535 mm y⁻¹) on heterogeneously layered volcanic ash soils (Andosols), we examined temporal and spatial soil moisture dynamics and their contribution to shallow subsurface runoff and stormflow for a year (1 July 2003–30 June 2004) in a small headwater catchment on the Atlantic (windward) slope near Monteverde, NW Costa Rica. Particular attention was paid to the partitioning of water fluxes into lateral subsurface flow and vertical percolation. The presence of a gravelly layer (C-horizon) at ~25 cm depth of very high hydraulic conductivity (geometric mean: 502 mm h⁻¹) intercalated between two layers of much lower conductivity (7.5 and 15.7 mm h⁻¹ above and below, respectively), controlled both surface infiltration and delayed vertical water movement deeper into the soil profile. Soil water fluxes during rainfall were dominated by rapid lateral flow in the gravelly layer, particularly at high soil moisture levels. In turn, this lateral subsurface flow controlled the magnitude and timing of stormflow from the catchment. Stormflow amount increased rapidly once topsoil moisture content exceeded a threshold value of ~0.58 cm³ cm⁻³. Responses were not affected appreciably by rainfall intensity because soil hydraulic conductivities across the profile largely exceeded prevailing rainfall intensities.     

Assessment of overland flow variation and blue water production in a farmed semi-arid water harvesting catchment

Upgrading agriculture in semi-arid areas and ensuring its sustainability require an optimal management of rainfall partition between blue and green waters in the farmed water harvesting catchment. The main objective of this study is to analyze the influence of heterogeneous land use on the spatial and temporal variation of rainfall partitioning and blue water production within a typical farmed catchment located in north-eastern Tunisia. The catchment has an area of 2.6 km² and comprises at its outlet a dam, which retains the runoff water in a reservoir. Overland flow and soil water balance components were monitored during two cropping seasons (2000/2001 and 2001/2002) on a network of eleven plots of 2 m² each with different land use and soil characteristics. The hydrological balances of both the catchment and reservoir have been monitored since 1994.Observed data showed a very large temporal and spatial variability of overland flow within the catchment reflecting the great importance of total rainfall as well as land use. During the 2001/2002 season the results showed a large variation of the number of observed runoff events, from 27 to 39, and of the annual overland flow depths, from 8 mm (under vineyard on calcaric cambisols) up to 43 mm (under shrubs-pasture on haplic regosols), between the plots. The annual runoff amounts were moderate; they always corresponded to less than 15% of the annual rainfall amount whatever the observation scale. It was also observed that changes in land use in years with similar rainfall could lead to significant differences in blue water flow. An attempt for predicting the overland flow by the general linear regression approach showed an r² of 31%, the predictors used are the class of soil infiltration capacity, the initial moisture saturation ratio of the soil surface layer and the total rainfall amounts.These experimental results indicate that the variation in land use in a semi-arid catchment is a main factor of variation in soil surface conditions and explain the major role played by the former on hydrological behavior of the upstream area and on rainfall partition between overland flow and infiltration. Therefore, to predict the water harvesting capacities in terms of blue water production of a farmed catchment in semi-arid areas it seems essential to consider precisely its land use and its temporal evolution related to management practices.     

Impact of climate change on hydrological processes over a basin scale in northern Taiwan

This study investigates the impact of climate change on rainfall, evapotranspiration, and discharge in northern Taiwan. The upstream catchment of the Shihmen reservoir in northern Taiwan was chosen as the study area. Both observed discharge and soil moisture were simultaneously adopted to optimize the HBV‐based hydrological model, clearly improving the simulation of the soil moisture. The delta change of monthly temperature and precipitation from the grid cell of GCMs (General Circulation Models) that is closest to the study area were utilized to generate the daily rainfall and temperature series based on a weather generating model. The daily rainfall and temperature series were further inputted into the calibrated hydrological model to project the hydrological variables. The studies show that rainfall and discharge will be increased during the wet season (May to October) and decreased during the dry season (November to April of the following year). Evapotranspiration will be increased in the whole year except in November and December. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A simple rainfall–runoff model based on hydrological units applied to the Teba catchment (south‐east Spain)

A hydrological model (YWB, yearly water balance) has been developed to model the daily rainfall–runoff relationship of the 202 km² Teba river catchment, located in semi‐arid south‐eastern Spain. The period of available data (1976–1993) includes some very rainy years with intensive storms (responsible for flooding parts of the town of Malaga) and also some very dry years. The YWB model is in essence a simple tank model in which the catchment is subdivided into a limited number of meaningful hydrological units. Instead of generating per unit surface runoff resulting from infiltration excess, runoff has been made the result of storage excess. Actual evapotranspiration is obtained by means of curves, included in the software, representing the relationship between the ratio of actual to potential evapotranspiration as a function of soil moisture content for three soil texture classes. The total runoff generated is split between base flow and surface runoff according to a given baseflow index. The two components are routed separately and subsequently joined. A large number of sequential years can be processed, and the results of each year are summarized by a water balance table and a daily based rainfall runoff time series. An attempt has been made to restrict the amount of input data to the minimum. Interactive manual calibration is advocated in order to allow better incorporation of field evidence and the experience of the model user. Field observations allowed for an approximate calibration at the hydrological unit level. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A comparison of groundwater recharge estimation methods in a semi‐arid,coastal avocado and citrus orchard (Ventura County,California)

We assess the relative merits of application of the most commonly used field methods (soil‐water balance (SWB), chloride mass balance (CMB) and soil moisture monitoring (NP)) to determine recharge rates in micro‐irrigated and non‐irrigated areas of a semi‐arid coastal orchard located in a relatively complex geological environment. Application of the CMB method to estimate recharge rates was difficult owing to the unusually high, variable soil‐water chloride concentrations. In addition, contrary to that expected, the chloride concentration distribution at depths below the root zone in the non‐irrigated soil profiles was greater than that in the irrigated profiles. The CMB method severely underestimated recharge rates in the non‐irrigated areas when compared with the other methods, although the CMB method estimated recharge rates for the irrigated areas, that were similar to those from the other methods, ranging from 42 to 141 mm/year. The SWB method, constructed for a 15‐year period, provided insight into the recharge process being driven by winter rains rather than summer irrigation and indicated an average rate of 75 mm/year and 164 mm/year for the 1984 – 98 and 1996 – 98 periods, respectively. Assuming similar soil‐water holding capacity, these recharge rates applied to both irrigated and non‐irrigated areas. Use of the long period of record was important because it encompassed both drought and heavy rainfall years. Successful application of the SWB method, however, required considerable additional field measurements of orchard ET_c, soil‐water holding capacity and estimation of rainfall interception – runoff losses. Continuous soil moisture monitoring (NP) was necessary to identify both daily and seasonal seepage processes to corroborate the other recharge estimates. Measured recharge rates during the 1996 – 1998 period in both the orchards and non‐irrigated site averaged 180 mm/year. The pattern of soil profile drying during the summer irrigation season, followed by progressive wetting during the winter rainy season was observed in both irrigated and non‐irrigated soil profiles, confirming that groundwater recharge was rainfall driven and that micro‐irrigation did not ‘predispose’ the soil profile to excess rainfall recharge. The ability to make this recharge assessment, however, depended on making multiple field measurements associated with all three methods, suggesting that any one should not be used alone. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Groundwater recharge in the Victoria Nile basin of east Africa: support for the soil moisture balance approach using stable isotope tracers and flow modelling

Across equatorial Africa, increasing demand for groundwater has raised concerns about resource sustainability and has highlighted the need for reliable estimates of groundwater recharge. Recharge investigations in this environment are typically inhibited by a shortage of good quality meteorological and hydrogeological records. Moreover, when recharge studies are attempted they tend to rely on a single technique and frequently lack corroborating evidence to substantiate recharge predictions. In recent studies undertaken in the Aroca catchment of the Victoria Nile basin in central Uganda, the timing and magnitude of recharge determined by a soil moisture balance approach are supported by stable isotope data and groundwater flow modelling. The soil moisture balance study reveals that recharge averages in the order of 200 mm year⁻¹ and is more dependent on the number of heavy (more than 10 turn day⁻¹) rainfall events than the total annual volume of rainfall. Stable isotope data suggest independently that recharge occurs during the heaviest rains of the monsoons, and further establish that recharge stems entirely from the direct infiltration of rainfall, an assumption implicit in the soil moisture balance approach. Deforestation over the last 30 years is shown to have more than doubled the recharge estimate. Aquifer flow modelling supports the recharge estimates but demonstrates that the vast majority (over 99%) of recharging waters must be transmitted by the aquifer in the regolith rather the underlying bedrock fractures which have traditionally been developed for rural water supplies.     

Using isotopes to understand landscape-scale connectivity in a groundwater-dominated,lowland catchment under drought conditions

The Demnitzer Millcreek catchment (DMC), is a 66 km² long-term experimental catchment located 50 km SE of Berlin. Monitoring over the past 30 years has focused on hydrological and biogeochemical changes associated with de-intensification of farming and riparian restoration in the low-lying landscape dominated by rain-fed farming and forestry. However, the hydrological function of the catchment, which is closely linked to nutrient fluxes and highly sensitive to climatic variability, is still poorly understood. In the last 3 years, a prolonged drought period with below-average rainfall and above-average temperatures has resulted in marked hydrological change. This caused low soil moisture storage in the growing season, agricultural yield losses, reduced groundwater recharge, and intermittent streamflows in parts of an increasingly disconnected channel network. This paper focuses on a two-year long isotope study that sought to understand how different parts of the catchment affect ecohydrological partitioning, hydrological connectivity and streamflow generation during drought conditions. The work has shown the critical importance of groundwater storage in sustaining flows, basic in-stream ecosystem services and the dominant influence of vegetation on groundwater recharge. Recharge was much lower and occurred during a shorter window of time in winter under forests compared to grasslands. Conversely, groundwater recharge was locally enhanced by the restoration of riparian wetlands and storage-dependent water losses from the stream to the subsurface. The isotopic variability displayed complex emerging spatio-temporal patterns of stream connectivity and flow duration during droughts that may have implications for in-stream solute transport and future ecohydrological interactions between landscapes and riverscapes. Given climate projections for drier and warmer summers, reduced and increasingly intermittent streamflows are very likely not just in the study region, but in similar lowland areas across Europe. An integrated land and water management strategy will be essential to sustaining catchment ecosystem services in such catchment systems in future.     

Rainfall,run‐off,and sediment transport dynamics in a humid mountain badland area: Long‐term results from a small catchment

In this study, we investigated rainfall, run‐off, and sediment transport dynamics (414 run‐off events and 231 events with sediment information) of a humid mountain badland area—the Araguás catchment (Central Pyrenees, Spain)—from October 2005 to September 2016. Use of this long‐term database allows characterization of the hydrological response, which consist of low‐magnitude/high‐frequency events and high‐magnitude/low‐frequency events, and identification of seasonal dynamics and rainfall‐run‐off thresholds. Our results indicate that the Araguás catchment, similarly to other humid badlands, had high hydrological responsiveness (mean annual run‐off coefficient: 0.52), a non‐linear relationship of rainfall with run‐off (common in Mediterranean environments), and seasonal hydrological and sedimentological dynamics. We created and validated a multivariate regression model to characterize the hydrological variables (stormflow and peak discharge) and sedimentological variables (mean and maximum suspended sediment concentrations and total suspended sediment load). In summer and at the beginning of autumn, the response was mainly related to rainfall intensity, suggesting a predomination of Hortonian flows. In contrast, in spring and winter, the responses were mainly related to the antecedent conditions (previous rainfall and baseflow), suggesting the occurrence of saturated excess flow processes, and the contribution of neighbouring vegetated areas. The multivariate analysis also showed that total sediment load is better predicted by a multivariate regression model that integrates pre‐event, rainfall, and run‐off variables. In general, our models provided more accurate predictions of small‐magnitude/high‐frequency events than high‐magnitude/low‐frequency events. This study highlights the high inter‐ and intra‐annual variability response in humid badland areas and that long‐term records are needed to reduce the uncertainty of hydrological and sedimentological responses in Mediterranean badland areas.     

The water balance of the Betwa basin,India / Le bilan hydrologique du bassin versant de Betwa en Inde

ABSTRACT

A study of the water balance of a basin in India, where the annual monsoon season of water surplus contrasts with a longer period of deficit, shows that estimates of soil moisture recharge and groundwater recharge may be obtained in these circumstances by comparing seasonal net rainfall with runoff on two assumptions: soil moisture recharge is constant from year to year, and groundwater recharge is proportional to runoff.     

Land-use comparison of depression-focussed groundwater recharge in the Canadian prairies

In the cold semiarid Canadian prairies, groundwater recharge is focussed under numerous topographic depressions, in which snowmelt runoff converges. Agricultural land uses on the uplands surrounding the depressions affect snow accumulation, snowmelt infiltration, evapotranspiration (ET) and soil moisture dynamics, thereby influencing snowmelt runoff and depression-focussed recharge. The objective of this study is to compare the differences in hydrological processes under two common land uses in the Canadian prairies, namely grazed grass and annual crop, and examine how they affect groundwater recharge. A short-term (3 years) paired catchment study was used for detailed observation of hydrological processes in two depressions, supplemented by a longer-term (17 years) data set covering a larger scale to quantify the differences in snowmelt runoff between the two land uses. Compared to the grazed grassland, the cropland had a shorter and more intense period of ET, and root water uptake restricted to the shallower (top 0–80 cm) soil zone. The amount of snowmelt runoff was greater in the grazed grassland primarily due to a higher amount of snow accumulation, which was dictated by differences in topography. This finding was contrary to previous studies in the Canadian prairies that indicated substantially smaller snowmelt runoff in ungrazed grassland, but was consistent with the larger-scale remote sensing results, which showed only a marginal difference between grazed grasslands and croplands. Groundwater recharge rates were estimated using the chloride mass balance method for the present condition using “modern” pore water containing tritium. The rates were similar between the grazed grassland and croplands, implying similarity in snowmelt runoff characteristics. These results suggest that groundwater recharge will continue to be focussed under depressions in the future, though the amount and seasonality of recharge may be influenced by warmer winters.     

Improved Recharge Estimation from Portable,Low‐Cost Weather Stations

Groundwater recharge estimation is a critical quantity for sustainable groundwater management. The feasibility and robustness of recharge estimation was evaluated using physical‐based modeling procedures, and data from a low‐cost weather station with remote sensor techniques in Southern Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. Recharge was determined using the Richards‐based vadose zone hydrological model, HYDRUS‐1D. The required meteorological data were recorded with a HOBO^TM weather station for a short observation period (about 1 year) and an existing weather station (Abbotsford A) for long‐term study purpose (27 years). Undisturbed soil cores were taken at two locations in the vicinity of the HOBO^TM weather station. The derived soil hydraulic parameters were used to characterize the soil in the numerical model. Model performance was evaluated using observed soil moisture and soil temperature data obtained from subsurface remote sensors. A rigorous sensitivity analysis was used to test the robustness of the model. Recharge during the short observation period was estimated at 863 and 816 mm. The mean annual recharge was estimated at 848 and 859 mm/year based on a time series of 27 years. The relative ratio of annual recharge‐precipitation varied from 43% to 69%. From a monthly recharge perspective, the majority (80%) of recharge due to precipitation occurred during the hydrologic winter period. The comparison of the recharge estimates with other studies indicates a good agreement. Furthermore, this method is able to predict transient recharge estimates, and can provide a reasonable tool for estimates on nutrient leaching that is often controlled by strong precipitation events and rapid infiltration of water and nitrate into the soil.     

Hydrological processes in macrocatchment water harvesting in the arid region of Tunisia: the traditional system of tabias/Processus hydrologiques au sein d’un aménagement de collecte des eaux dans la région aride tunisienne: le système traditionnel des tabias

Abstract

Abstract In arid Tunisia, a tabia system is a traditional macrocatchment water harvesting system. It consists of a runoff area, which occupies two thirds of the slope and is traditionally used for grazing; and one to five cropped plots within U-shaped soil banks arranged in a cascade in the third downstream area. These ?run-on? areas accumulate and store the occasional runoff. Each soil bank is constructed with a discharge weir that allows modification of the flooded area and discharge of excess water towards downstream plots. Such a harvesting system, located in an area with 140 mm annual rainfall, was instrumented during four hydrological years (1995–1999) and 45 rainfall events were recorded. Eleven of these events gave a measurable inflow to at least one of the four plots. The observations showed that the traditional tabia system reduced total surface runoff from the catchment to essentially zero. The harvesting system significantly reduced peaks of surface runoff within the catchment, which also reduced erosion hazards. The cultivated area of about 5% of the total catchment could be supplied by a harvested water amount corresponding to about seven times the amount of each rainfall event larger than 20 mm.     

Hydrological behaviour of a drained agricultural peat catchment in the tropics. 2: Time series transfer function modelling approach

Abstract

Transfer function models of the rainfall–runoff relationship with various complexities are developed to investigate the hydrological behaviour of a tropical peat catchment that has undergone continuous drainage for a long time. The study reveals that a linear transfer function model of order one and noise term of ARIMA (1,0,0) best represents the monthly rainfall–runoff relationship of a drained peat catchment. The best-fitted transfer function model is capable of illustrating the cumulative hydrological effects of the catchment when subjected to drainage. Transfer function models of daily rainfall–runoff relationships for each year of the period 1983–1993 are also developed to decipher the changes in hydrological behaviour of the catchment due to drainage. The results show that the amount of rain water temporarily stored in the peat soil decreased and the catchment has become more responsive to rainfall over the study period.

Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz; Associate editor D. Hughes

Citation Katimon, A., Shahid, S., Abd Wahab, A.K., and Shabri, A., 2013. Hydrological behaviour of a drained agricultural peat catchment in the tropics. 2: Time series transfer function modelling approach. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 58 (6), 1310–1325.     

The influence of hydroelectrical development on the flow regime of the karstic river Cetina

The Cetina River is a typical karst watercourse in the deep and well‐developed Dinaric karst. The total length of the Cetina River open streamflow from its spring to the mouth is about 105 km. Estimated mean annual rainfall is 1380 mm. The Cetina catchment is built of Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous carbonate strata. The western part of the catchment by the Cetina River is referred to as the ‘direct’ or topographic catchment. It was defined based on surface morphologic forms, by connection between mountain chain peaks. This part of the catchment is almost entirely situated in the Republic of Croatia. The eastern part of the catchment is referred to as the ‘indirect’ catchment, and is mainly situated in Bosnia‐Herzegovina. Water from the ‘indirect’ catchment emerges from the western ‘direct’ catchment in numerous permanent and temporary karst springs. Since 1960, numerous hydrotechnical works have been carried out on the Cetina River and within its catchment. Five hydroelectric power plants (HEPPs), five reservoirs, and three long tunnels and pipelines have been built. Their operation has significantly altered the natural hydrological regime. The Cetina River is divided into two hydrological reaches. In the 65 km upstream, the hydrological regime was redistributed within the year: low flows had increased and high flows had decreased, although the mean annual discharge remained the same. Part of the Cetina watercourse downstream from the Pran?evi?i Reservoir lost the majority of its flow. The mean annual discharges dropped from 100 m³ s^?1 to less than 10 m³ s^?1 because of the Zaku?ac HEPP development. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrological response of a medium-sized mountainous catchment to climate changes

Abstract

The long term hydrological response of a medium-sized mountainous catchment to climate changes has been examined, The climate changes were represented by a set of hypothetical scenarios of temperature increases coupled with precipitation and potential evapotranspiration changes. Snow accumulation and ablation, plus runoff from the study catchment (the Mesochora catchment in central Greece) were simulated under present (historical) and altered climate conditions using the US National Weather Service snowmelt and soil moisture accounting models. The results of this research obtained through alternative scenarios suggest strongly that all the hypothetical climate change scenarios would cause major decreases in winter snow accumulation and hence increases in winter runoff, as well as decreases in spring and summer runoff. The simulated changes in annual runoff were minor compared with the changes in the monthly distribution of runoff. Attendant changes in the monthly distribution of soil moisture and actual evapotranspiration would also occur. Such hydrological results would have significant implications on future water resources design and management.