Lessons from the 2018 drought for management of local water supplies in upland areas: A tracer-based assessment

Climate change, combined with industrial growth and increasing demand, could result in serious future water shortages and related water quality and temperature issues, especially for upland and humid areas. The extreme 2018 drought that prevailed throughout Europe provided an opportunity to investigate conditions likely to become more frequent in the future. For an upland rural catchment utilised by the distilling industry in North-East Scotland, a tracer-based survey combined discharge, electrical conductivity, stable water isotopes and temperature measurements to understand the impacts of drought on dominant stream water and industry water sources, both in terms of water quantity and quality (temperature). Results showed that water types (groundwater, ephemeral stream water, perennial stream water and water from small dams) were spatially distinct and varied more in space than time. With regards to the drought conditions we found that streams were largely maintained by groundwater during low flows. This also buffered stream water temperatures. Water types with high young water fractions were less resilient, resulting in streams with an ephemeral nature. Although our results demonstrated the importance of groundwater for drought resilience, water balance data revealed these storage reserves were being depleted and only recovered towards the end of the following year because of above average rainfall in 2019. Increased storage depletion under continued trends of extreme drought and water abstraction could be addressed via informed (nature based) management strategies which focus on increasing recharge. This may improve resilience to droughts as well as floods, but site specific testing and modelling are required to understand their potential. Results could have implications for management of water volumes and temperature, particularly for the sustainability of an historic industry, balancing requirements of rural communities and the environment.     

Water resources in mountain regions: a methodological approach to assess the water balance in a highland‐lowland‐system

Mountains and highlands are typically areas that provide considerable quantities of water, the latter being an important resource for the lowlands. These run‐off quantities remain discernible in the superior‐scale river systems and significantly contribute to the global water resources. Therefore, mountain regions ought to be given specific consideration with regard to management endeavours. Although well known in principle, details of water resources originating from mountains remain under discussion. A new approach has been introduced, which depicts the water balance of Switzerland in a spatially distributed manner, based on catchments of about 150 km². The main feature of this approach is the areal precipitation, which is calculated using run‐off, evaporation and storage change of glaciers, instead of being derived from gauged precipitation values. This methodology was selected because measurement and regionalization of precipitation remain subject to large uncertainties in mountainous areas. Subsequently, the view is widened to the European Alps, which, as compared with the surrounding lowlands, contribute considerably higher annual discharge, especially in the summer months. Finally, the focus is put on the hydrological significance of mountains in general. In dry regions, mountains, in particular, are indispensable contributors to the water resources downstream. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Groundwater–surface water interactions in a large semi‐arid floodplain: implications for salinity management

Flow regulation and water diversion for irrigation have considerably impacted the exchange of surface water between the Murray River and its floodplains. However, the way in which river regulation has impacted groundwater–surface water interactions is not completely understood, especially in regards to the salinization and accompanying vegetation dieback currently occurring in many of the floodplains. Groundwater–surface water interactions were studied over a 2 year period in the riparian area of a large floodplain (Hattah–Kulkyne, Victoria) using a combination of piezometric surface monitoring and environmental tracers (Cl⁻, δ²H, and δ¹⁸O). Despite being located in a local and regional groundwater discharge zone, the Murray River is a losing stream under low flow conditions at Hattah–Kulkyne. The discharge zone for local groundwater, regional groundwater and bank recharge is in the floodplain within ∼1 km of the river and is probably driven by high rates of transpiration by the riparian Eucalyptus camaldulensis woodland. Environmental tracers data suggest that the origin of groundwater is principally bank recharge in the riparian zone and a combination of diffuse rainfall recharge and localized floodwater recharge elsewhere in the floodplain. Although the Murray River was losing under low flows, bank discharge occurred during some flood recession periods. The way in which the water table responded to changes in river level was a function of the type of stream bank present, with point bars providing a better connection to the alluvial aquifer than the more common clay‐lined banks. Understanding the spatial variability in the hydraulic connection with the river channel and in vertical recharge following inundations will be critical to design effective salinity remediation strategies for large semi‐arid floodplains. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluating sulfur dynamics during storm events for three watersheds in the northeastern USA: a combined hydrological,chemical and isotopic approach

Concerns related to climate change have resulted in an increasing interest in the importance of hydrological events such as droughts in affecting biogeochemical responses of watersheds. The effects of an unusually dry summer in 2002 had a marked impact on the biogeochemistry of three watersheds in the north‐eastern USA. Chemical, isotopic and hydrological responses with particular emphasis on S dynamics were evaluated for Archer Creek (New York), Sleepers River (Vermont) and Cone Pond (New Hampshire) watersheds. From 1 August to 14 September 2002, all three watersheds had very low precipitation (48 to 69 mm) resulting in either very low or no discharge (mean 0·015, 0·15 and 0·000 mm day^?1 for Archer Creek, Sleepers River and Cone Pond, respectively). From 15 September to 31 October 2002, there was a substantial increase in precipitation totals (212, 246 and 198 mm, respectively) with increased discharge. Archer Creek was characterized by a large range of SO₄^2? concentrations (152 to 389 µeq L^?1, mean = 273 µeq L^?1) and also exhibited the greatest range in δ³⁴S values of SO₄^2? (?1·4 to 8·8 ‰ ). Sleepers River's SO₄^2? concentrations ranged from 136 to 243 µeq L^?1 (mean = 167 µeq L^?1) and δ³⁴S values of SO₄^2? ranged from 4·0 to 9·0 ‰ . Cone Pond's SO₄^2? concentrations (126–187 µeq L^?1, mean = 154 µeq L^?1) and δ³⁴S values (2·4 to 4·3 ‰ ) had the smallest ranges of the three watersheds. The range and mean of δ¹⁸O‐SO₄^2? values for Archer Creek and Cone Pond were similar (3·0 to 8·9 ‰ , mean = 4·5 ‰ ; 3·9 to 6·3 ‰ , mean = 4·9 ‰ ; respectively) while δ¹⁸O‐SO₄^2? values for Sleepers River covered a larger range with a lower mean (1·2 to 10·0 ‰ , mean = 2·5). The difference in Sleepers River chemical and isotopic responses was attributed to weathering reactions contributing SO₄^2?. For Archer Creek wetland areas containing previously reduced S compounds that were reoxidized to SO₄^2? probably provided a substantial source of S. Cone Pond had limited internal S sources and less chemical or isotopic response to storms. Differences among the three watersheds in S biogeochemical responses during these storm events were attributed to differences in S mineral weathering contributions, hydrological pathways and landscape features. Further evaluations of differences and similarities in biogeochemical and hydrological responses among watersheds are needed to predict the impacts of climate change. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A method for estimating soil moisture storage in regions under water stress and storage depletion: a case study of Hai River Basin,North China

Soil moisture is a consideration for soil conservation, agricultural production and climate modelling. This article presents a simple method for estimating soil moisture storage under water stress and storage depletion conditions. The method is driven by the common agro‐hydrologic variables of precipitation (PPT), irrigation (IRR) and evapotranspiration (ET). The proposed method is successfully tested for the 152 000 km² floodplain region of Hai River Basin using 48 consecutive months (2003–2006) of data. Soil moisture data from global land data assimilation system/Noah land surface model are validated with ground‐truth data from 102 soil moisture monitoring sites. The validated soil moisture is used in combination with in situ groundwater data to quantify total water storage change (TWSC) in the region. The estimated storage change is in turn compared with gravity recovery and climate experiment‐derived TWSC for the study area. The soil moisture and TWSC terms show favourable agreements, with discrepancies of < 10% on the average. While there is no consistent seasonal trend in soil moisture, TWSC shows a strong seasonality. It is low in spring and high in summer. This trend corresponds with the IRR–PPT season in the study area. Change in groundwater and total water storage indicates storage depletion in the basin. Storage depletion in the region is driven mainly by groundwater IRR and ET loss. Despite the low PPT and high ET, there is narrowing seasonal trend in soil moisture. This is achieved at the expense of groundwater storage. IRR pumping has induced extensive groundwater depletion in the basin. It is therefore vital to develop cultivation strategies that aim at limiting IRR pumping and ET loss. Water management practices that not only reduce waste but also ensure high productivity and ecological sustainability could also mitigate storage depletion in the region. These measures could reduce further not only the seasonal trend in soil moisture but also that in groundwater storage. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.