Streamflow Forecast and Reservoir Operation Performance Assessment Under Climate Change

This study attempts to investigate potential impacts of future climate change on streamflow and reservoir operation performance in a Northern American Prairie watershed. System Dynamics is employed as an effective methodology to organize and integrate existing information available on climate change scenarios, watershed hydrologic processes, reservoir operation and water resource assessment system. The second version of the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis Coupled Global Climate Model is selected to generate the climate change scenarios with daily climatic data series for hydrologic modeling. Watershed-based hydrologic and reservoir water dynamics modeling focuses on dynamic processes of both streamflow generation driven by climatic conditions, and the reservoir water dynamics based on reservoir operation rules. The reliability measure describes the effectiveness of present reservoir operation rules to meet various demands which are assumed to remain constant for the next 100 years in order to focus the study on the understanding of the structure and the behaviour of the water supply. Simulation results demonstrate that future climate variation and change may bring more high-peak-streamflow occurrences and more abundant water resources. Current reservoir operation rules can provide a high reliability in drought protection and flood control.     

Runoff Simulation Under Future Climate Change Conditions: Performance Comparison of Data-Mining Algorithms and Conceptual Models

Water Resources Management - Water resources in arid and semi-arid regions are susceptible to alteration in hydro-climatic variables, especially under climate change which makes runoff simulations...     

A Novel Approach to Identify the Characteristics of Drought under Future Climate Change Scenario

Water Resources Management - Climate change is one of the primary drivers that alters the natural balance of hydrologic cycle and leads to the onset of hydrologic extreme situations. In general,...     

未来气候情景下覆被变化对径流量的影响

以陆浑水库控制流域为研究对象,利用流域DEM、土地利用数据、1987—2001年气候和水文观测数据,在率定SWAT模型参数的基础上,以SCS模型参数的变化来反映覆被变化,分析了未来气候变化情景及覆被变化情景对径流的影响。结果表明:2011—2050年在流域落叶林地面积退化30%情况下径流量将增大7.02%,落叶林地面积增加20%情况下径流量将减少8.48%。     

Evaluating Future Joint Probability of Precipitation Extremes with a Copula-Based Assessing Approach in Climate Change

Changes in climate extremes may cause the variation of occurrence and intensity of floods and droughts. To investigate the future changes in joint probability behaviors of precipitation extremes for water resources management, an approach including three stages for analyzing the spatial variation of joint return periods of precipitation extremes is proposed in this paper. In the first stage, a weather generator model (WGM) was conducted with general circulation models (GCMs) under representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenarios to generate daily rainfall time series during 2021–2040 (S) and 2081–2100 (L) based on the statistics of the observed rainfall data. Four extreme precipitation indices are defined to represent extreme precipitation events. In the second stage, copula methods are adopted to establish the joint distribution of the precipitation extreme indices. The watershed-scale assessment of flood and drought applied in Shih-Men reservoir in northern Taiwan is conducted to demonstrate the possible change of joint return period. In the third stage, the change rates of joint return periods for bivariate extreme indices are demonstrated to present the occurrence possibility of floods or droughts in the future. The results indicate that floods and droughts might occur more frequently in the upstream region of the reservoir during the twenty-first century. The reservoir operations would be more important for water supply and flood mitigation. In conclusion, the possible changes of future joint probability of the precipitation extremes should be paid attention to for water resources management and draft plans to confront potential challenges in the future.     

基于模型联用评估气候变化对径流特征的影响

应用流域模型与气象发生器模型联用的方法,评估了未来气候变化对泾河源头流域径流量的影响。使用泾川水文站2006—2014年的实测月流量资料,校准并验证了通用流域污染负荷模型(GWLF)的水文传输参数集。使用崆峒气象站1955—2014年逐日气象资料,对气象发生器(LARSWG 5)模型参数进行了率定与评估。基于HADCM3气候模式结果,针对IPCC定义的A1B、A2、B1三种温室气体排放情景,使用校准后的LARSWG 5模型进行降尺度分析,生成反映研究区域21世纪50年代和21世纪80年代气候状态的日降水与气温序列,并将其作为输入数据代入校准后的GWLF模型,分析对应时间段流域径流特征的响应变化。结果表明:未来气候变化会显著影响泾河源头流域径流过程,流域蒸散发作用会随气温升高而显著增强,水体经由地表径流进入河道的通量会增大,而经由浅层地下潜流的通量会减小,未来流域水量的增大主要集中在秋冬季节。     

Potential Effects of Climate Change on Ecologically Relevant Streamflow Regimes

We assessed the climate‐driven changes in ecologically relevant flow regimes expected to occur by the year 2100 in streams across the conterminous United States. We used long‐term daily flow measurements from 601 gauged streams whose watersheds were in relatively natural condition to characterize spatial variation in 16 flow regime variables selected for their ecological importance. Principal component analysis of these 16 variables produced five uncorrelated factors that described patterns of spatial covariation in flow regimes. These five factors were associated with low flow, magnitude, flashiness, timing, and constancy characteristics of the daily flow regime. We applied hierarchical clustering to the five flow factors to classify the 601 streams into three coarses and eight more finely resolved flow regime classes. We then developed a random forest model that used watershed and climate attributes to predict the probabilities that streams belonged to each of the eight finely resolved flow regime classes. The model had a prediction accuracy (per cent correct classification) of 75%. We used the random forest model with downscaled climate (precipitation and temperature) projections to predict site‐specific changes in flow regime classes expected by 2100. Thirty‐three per cent of the 601 sites were predicted to change to a different flow regime class by 2100. Snow‐fed streams in the western USA were predicted to be less likely to change regimes, whereas both small, perennial, rain‐fed streams and intermittent streams in the central and eastern USA were predicted to be most likely to change regime. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Integrated Reservoir Management System for Flood Risk Assessment Under Climate Change

Operations of existing reservoirs will be affected by climate change. Reservoir operating rules developed using historical information will not provide the optimal use of storage under changing hydrological conditions. In this paper, an integrated reservoir management system has been developed to adapt existing reservoir operations to changing climatic conditions. The reservoir management system integrates: (1) the K-Nearest Neighbor (K-NN) weather generator model; (2) the HEC-HMS hydrological model; and (3) the Differential Evolution (DE) optimization model. Six future weather scenarios are employed to verify the integrated reservoir management system using Upper Thames River basin in Canada as a case study. The results demonstrate that the integrated system provides optimal reservoir operation rule curves that reflect the hydrologic characteristics of future climate scenarios. Therefore, they may be useful for the development of reservoir climate change adaptation strategy.     

Evaluation of the Best Management Practices at the Watershed Scale to Attenuate Peak Streamflow Under Climate Change Scenarios

The objectives of this study are (1) to develop a calibrated and validated model for streamflow using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for the Lower Pearl River Watershed (LPRW) located in southern Mississippi, and (2) to assess the performance of parallel terraces, grassed waterways, and detention pond BMPs at attenuating peakflows at the watershed-scale under changes in precipitation, temperature, and CO₂ concentrations. The model was calibrated and validated for streamflow at 4 USGS gauge stations at the daily scale from 1994 to 2003 using the Sequential Uncertainty Fitting (SUFI-2) optimization algorithm in SWAT-CUP. The model demonstrated good to very good performance (R²?=?0.49 to 0.90 and NSE?=?0.49 to 0.84) between the observed and simulated daily streamflows at all 4 USGS gauge stations. This study found that grassed waterways had the highest peak flow reduction (?8.4 %), followed by detention ponds (?6.0 %), and then parallel terraces (?3.1 %) during the baseline climate scenario. Combining the different BMPs yielded greater reduction in average peak flow compared to implementing each BMP individually in both the current and changing climate scenarios. This study also found that the effectiveness of BMPs to reduce peakflows decreases significantly when increased rainfall or increased CO₂ concentrations are introduced in the watershed model. When increasing temperatures or decreasing rainfall is incorporated in the model, the peakflow reductions caused by BMPs generally does not change significantly.     

Drought Occurrence Probability Analysis Using Multivariate Standardized Drought Index and Copula Function Under Climate Change

This study aims to investigate the effect of climate change on the probability of drought occurrence in central Iran. To this end, a new drought index called Multivariate Standardized Drought Index (MSDI) was developed, which is composed of the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and the Standardized Soil Moisture Index (SSI). The required data included precipitation, temperature (from CRU TS), and soil moisture (from the ESA CCA SM product) on a monthly time scale for the 1980–2016 period. Moreover, future climate data were downloaded from CMIP6 models under the latest SSPs-RCPs emission scenarios (SSP1-2.6 and SSP5-8.5) for the 2020–2056 period. Based on the normalized root mean square error (NRMSE), Cramer-von mises statistic (S_n), and Nash Sutcliffe (NS) evaluation criteria, the Galambos and Clayton functions were selected to derive copula-based joint distribution functions in both periods. The results showed that more severe and longer droughts will occur in the future compared to the historical period and in particular under the SSP5-8.5 scenario. From the derived joint return period, a drought event with defined severity or duration will happen in a shorter return period as compared with the historical period. In other words, the joint return period indicated a higher probability of drought occurrence in the future period. Moreover, the joint return period analysis revealed that the return period of mild droughts will remain the same, while it will decrease for extreme droughts in the future.

     

Comparison of the Calculated Drought Return Periods Using Tri-variate and Bivariate Copula Functions Under Climate Change Condition

Water Resources Management - Concerning the various effects of climate change on intensifying extreme weather phenomena all around the world, studying its possible consequences in the following...     

Streamflow Response to Climate Change in the Brahmani River Basin,India

Climate change can significantly affect the water resources availability by resulting changes in hydrological cycle. Hydrologic models are usually used to predict the impacts of landuse and climate changes and to evaluate the management strategies. In this study, impacts of climate change on streamflow of the Brahmani River basin were assessed using Precipitation Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) run under the platform of Modular Modeling System (MMS). The plausible hypothetical scenarios of rainfall and temperature changes were used to assess the sensitivity of streamflow to changed climatic condition. The PRMS model was calibrated and validated for the study area. Model performance was evaluated by using joint plots of daily and monthly observed and simulated runoff hydrographs and different statistical indicators. Daily observed and simulated hydrographs showed a reasonable agreement for calibration as well as validation periods. The modeling efficiency (E) varied in the range of 0.69 to 0.93 and 0.85 to 0.95 for the calibration and validation periods, respectively. Simulation studies with temperature rise of 2 and 4°C indicated 6 and 11% decrease in annual streamflow, respectively. However, there is about 62% increase in annual streamflow under the combined effect of 4°C temperature rise and 30% rainfall increase (T4P30). The results of the scenario analysis showed that the basin is more sensitive to changes in rainfall as compared to changes in temperature.     

气候变化情景下黄河天然径流预测研究

1961—2000年黄河天然径流量呈减小趋势,且径流变化与降水量变化过程基本一致。选用IPCC提出的A2、B2两种温室气体排放方案,并采用北京大学在黄河流域未来气候情景研究中的降尺度成果,以黄河流域未来气候情景模式和预测成果为基础,建立黄河水量平衡模型,预测黄河主要断面的未来天然径流量并分析其时空变化。结果表明:黄河径流量2050年将减少29.3亿～61.1亿m3,2100年将减少42.2亿～71.2亿m3;从空间分布来看,上游兰州以上主要产水区的降水量、径流量有较大幅度减小,其他区域产流量有所增加;从径流年内分配来看,冬季、春季略有增加或基本不变,夏季、秋季减少明显。     

Water Resources Under Climate Change in Himalayan Basins

Water Resources Management - Climate change has significant implications for glaciers and water resources in the Himalayan region. There is an urgent need to improve our current knowledge and...     

Identification of Streamflow Response to Climate Change and Human Activities in the Wei River Basin,China

In this study, the calibration and validation period with stable underlying surface conditions was determined by using a statistically significant change point of the annual streamflow in several catchments of the Wei River basin (WRB). The effects of climate changes and human activities on streamflow were estimated by using the sensitivity-based method and the dynamic water balance model, respectively. The contributions of climate effects and human activities effects on streamflow were also investigated. The results showed that almost all the catchments exhibited significant decreasing trend of streamflow in the early 1990s. The streamflow was more sensitive to changes in precipitation than changes in potential evapotranspiration (PET). Effects of climate due to changes in precipitation and PET are weak in Linjiacun, Weijiabao and Xianyang catchments, while it is strong in the catchments controlled by other hydrological stations, accounting for more than 40 % of streamflow reduction. Effects of human activities on streamflow in Linjiacun, Weijiabao, Xianyang and Zhangjiashan catchments accounted for more than 50 % of the streamflow reduction. The study provides scientific foundation to understand the causes of water resources scarcity and useful information for the planning and management of water resources in the ecological fragile arid area.     

Spatial Scale Resolution of Prognostic Hydrological Models: Simulation Performance and Application in Climate Change Impact Assessment

Water Resources Management - In this paper, long-term hydrological response of a watershed to climate change was investigated taking into account the spatial scale effect on the performance of...     

Impact of Climate Change on Mediterranean Irrigation Demand: Historical Dynamics of Climate and Future Projections

Global warming is causing important changes in climate conditions, which must be studied in detail and locally in those zones where irrigated agriculture is developed—the major consumer of water worldwide. This study proposes the climatic characterization of a historical series (1971–2000) and its future projections (2011–2099) for an Irrigation District located in the Middle Ebro Valley (Spain), for three different scenarios: low, medium, and high global emission levels of greenhouse gases. Analysis of historical series reveals a significant increase in reference evapotranspiration (3.3 mm/year²; 2.4 ‰) along with a decrease in precipitation (2.5 mm/year²; 5.6 ‰). A comparison was carried out between real historical data and the scenarios produced by the climate models and it was observed that the most adequate climate model to predict climate in the study zone is MPI-ECHAM5. For the XXI century, MPI-ECHAM5 predicts cyclic climate trends but with a general increment in aridity, which intensifies according to the scenario chosen. Changes in climate are affecting agriculture doubly, since evapotranspiration requirements increase at the same time that water resources decrease. These effects are felt especially in irrigated agriculture, since the growing cycles of the main crops coincide with the months most affected by climate change.     

The Impacts of Climate Variability and Future Climate Change in the Nile Basin on Water Resources in Egypt

This paper describes the application of hydrologic models of the Blue Nile and Lake Victoria sub-basins to assess the magnitude of potential impacts of climate change on Main Nile discharge. The models are calibrated to simulate historical observed runoff and then driven with the temperature and precipitation changes from three general circulation model (GCM) climate scenarios. The differences in the resulting magnitude and direction of changes in runoff highlight the inter-model differences in future climate change scenarios. A 'wet' case, 'dry' case and composite case produced +15 (+12), -9 (-9) and + 1(+7) per cent changes in mean annual Blue Nile (Lake Victoria) runoff for 2025, respectively. These figures are used to estimate changes in the availability of Nile water in Egypt by making assumptions about the runoff response in the other Nile sub-basins and the continued use of the Nile Waters Agreement. Comparison of these availability scenarios with demand projections for Egypt show a slight surplus of water in 2025 with and without climate change. If, however, water demand for desert reclamation is taken into account then water deficits occur for the present-day situation and also 2025 with ('dry' case GCM only) and without climate change. A revision of Egypt's allocation of Nile water based on the recent low-flow decade-mean flows of the Nile (1981-90) shows that during this period Egypt's water use actually exceeded availability. The magnitude of 'natural' fluctuations in discharge therefore has very important consequences for water resource management regardless of future climate change.     

Assessment of Water Resources Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change

This paper provides an overview of the 'standard' methodology developed for the United States Country Studies Program on the Assessment of Water Resources Vulnerability and Adaptation to Clim ate Change. The methodology is described in more detail in accompanying articles in this issue. A standard methodology was developed for two reasons. First, for countries with little or no experience in hydrologic and water resources modelling, it provided a simple, yet appropriate set of modelling tools that could be quickly learned and applied with a limited data set. Second, it provided a consistent methodology for synthesizing results for regional and global assessments as well as cross-country and cross-regional comparisons.     

气候变化条件下山东省未来水资源情势预估

利用山东省实测降水资料、政府水资源公报数据,采用小波分析、数理统计等方法,预估了山东省未来水资源情势。结果表明:从目前到2030年左右,山东省降水将处于相对枯水期,受降水量减少和极端降水强度增大的影响,当地水资源量将减少、水资源开发利用难度将增大;黄河水和长江水等客水资源受到干流上游来水量减少、脆弱性增强、调蓄工程不完善、水价成本高等因素限制,未来情势不容乐观;目前山东省非常规水资源利用潜力较大,应在增大非常规水资源利用力度的同时,做好建设节水型社会、完善现代水网工程、提高水利工程调蓄能力等工作。