scholarly journals Climate change impacts on hydrology and water resources of Indian River basin

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umesh Kumar Singh ◽  
Balwant Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Groundwater Recharge ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emission ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Runoff Generation

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emission is altering the global hydrological cycle due to change in rainfall pattern and rising temperature which is responsible for alteration in the physical characteristics of river basin, melting of ice, drought, flood, extreme weather events and alteration in groundwater recharge. In India, water demand for domestic, industrial and agriculture purposes have already increased many folds which are also influencing the water resource system. In addition, climate change has induced the surface temperature of the Indian subcontinent by 0.48 ºC in just last century. However, Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna (GBM) river basins have great importance for their exceptional hydro-geological settings and deltaic floodplain wetland ecosystems which support 700 million people in Asia. The climatic variability like alterations in precipitation and temperature over GBM river basins has been observed which signifies the GBM as one of the most vulnerable areas in the world under the potential impact of climate change. Consequently, alteration in river discharge, higher runoff generation, low groundwater recharge and melting of glaciers over GBM river basin could be observed in near future. The consequence of these changes due to climate change over GBM basin may create serious water problem for Indian sub-continents. This paper reviews the literature on the historical climate variations and how climate change affects the hydrological characteristics of different river basins.

scholarly journals Separate and Combined Impacts of Land Cover and Climate Changes on Hydrological Responses of Dhidhessa River Basin, Ethiopia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gizachew Kabite ◽  
Misgana Muleta ◽  
Berhan Gessesse
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Groundwater Recharge ◽  
Land Cover Change ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Surface Runoff ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Hydrologic Responses ◽  
Soil And Water

Land cover and climate changes greatly influence hydrologic responses of a basin. However, the response vary from basin to basin depending on the nature and severity of the changes and basin characteristics. Moreover, the combined impacts of the changes affect hydrologic responses of a basin in an offsetting or synergistic manner. This study quantified the separate and combined impacts, and the relative contributions of land cover and climate changes on multiple hydrological regimes (i.e., surface runoff, streamflow, groundwater recharge evapotranspiration) for the Dhidhessa Subbasin. Land cover and climate change data were obtained from a recent study completed for the basin. Calibrated Soil and Water Analysis Tool (SWAT) was used to quantify the impacts. The result showed that SWAT model performed well for the Dhidhessa Subbasin in predicting the water balance components. Substantial land cover change as well as an increasing temperature and rainfall trends were reported in the river basin during the past three decades. In response to these changes, surface runoff, streamflow and actual evapotranspiration (AET) increased while groundwater recharge declined. Surface runoff was more sensitive to land cover than to climate changes whereas streamflow and AET were more sensitive to climate change than to land cover change. The combined impacts played offsetting effect on groundwater recharge and AET while inconsistent effects within study periods for other hydrologic responses. Overall, the predicted hydrologic responses will have negative impacts on agricultural production and water resources availability. Therefore, the implementation of integrated watershed management strategies such as soil and water conservation and afforestation could reverse the negative impacts.

scholarly journals Assessment of the impact of climate change on the freshwater availability of Kaduna River basin, Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gloria C. Okafor ◽  
Kingsley N. Ogbu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
Kendall Test ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Trend Test ◽  
Climate Indices ◽  
The Impact

AbstractChanges in runoff trends have caused severe water shortages and ecological problems in agriculture and human well-being in Nigeria. Understanding the long-term (inter-annual to decadal) variations of water availability in river basins is paramount for water resources management and climate change adaptation. Climate change in Northern Nigeria could lead to change of the hydrological cycle and water availability. Moreover, the linkage between climatic changes and streamflow fluctuations is poorly documented in this area. Therefore, this study examined temporal trends in rainfall, temperature and runoff records of Kaduna River basin. Using appropriate statistical tools and participatory survey, trends in streamflow and their linkages with the climate indices were explored to determine their amplifying impacts on water availability and impacts on livelihoods downstream the basin. Analysis indicate variable rainfall trend with significant wet and dry periods. Unlike rainfall, temperature showed annual and seasonal scale statistically increasing trend. Runoff exhibit increasing tendency but only statistically significant on annual scale as investigated with Mann–Kendall trend test. Sen’s estimator values stood in agreement with Mann–Kendall test for all variables. Kendall tau and partial correlation results revealed the influence of climatic variables on runoff. Based on the survey, some of the hydrological implications and current water stress conditions of these fluctuations for the downstream inhabitants were itemized. With increasing risk of climate change and demand for water, we therefore recommend developing adaptive measures in seasonal regime of water availability and future work on modelling of the diverse hydrological characteristics of the entire basin.

Estimating the economic impacts of drought on agriculture through models and surveys in the Po river basin (Northern Italy)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iolanda Borzì ◽  
Beatrice Monteleone ◽  
Brunella Bonaccorso ◽  
Mario Martina
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Economic Impacts ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Po River ◽  
Po River Basin

<p>Drought economic impacts, even if non-structural, are a significant threat for those sectors highly dependent on water resources. Agricultural production is highly sensitive to extreme weather events such as droughts and heatwaves.  Climate change is expected to exacerbate the frequency and the severity of droughts, as stated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which raises concerns about food security for the next decades.</p><p>The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated that between 2005 and 2015, 83% of all drought-related losses were absorbed by agriculture. The huge monetary losses are mainly due to crop yield reduction because of high temperatures and reduced precipitation, which are linked to additional expenses for field irrigation.</p><p>This study aims at estimating the economic impacts of drought on the agricultural sector. The investigation has been carried out for a specific case study area within the Po river basin (Northern Italy). The Po valley is the largest agricultural area in Italy and accounts for 35% of Italian agricultural production. It has experienced multiple droughts over the past 20 years, with the long and severe drought from 2003 to 2008 that caused relevant impacts to the agricultural sector. The total economic impact of the 2005-2007 drought was estimated to be around 1.850M€. Climate change projections over the Italian peninsula from the PRUDENCE regional experiments showed that the frequency and the severity of droughts in Northern Italy will increase in the next century due to a decrease in precipitation during critical crop growing seasons (spring and summer).</p><p>The proposed methodology consists of two steps. At first, farmers have been subjected to surveys for assessing the monetary losses they experienced during past drought events and the cost associated with the mitigation strategies implemented to reduce the economic impacts of the extreme event, with special attention to irrigation practices.</p><p>Secondly, the crop growing season and yields have been estimated using the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM), calibrated with local yields retrieved from the Italian National Institute for Statistics (ISTAT) over the period from 2006 to 2020. Weather parameters for simulations in APSIM were derived from remote-sensing images. The comparison between the average growing season and the ones with low yields allows the identification of the crop growing stages that experienced stress. Among the identified stresses, the ones related to water shortages are considered. The economic costs associated with agricultural practices are computed to obtain an estimation of farmers' expenses. Besides, farmers' income is computed based on crop prices and simulated yield. The reduced income obtained by farmers during the previously identified water-related stresses represents their loss due to drought.</p><p>Results reveal that the use of the developed methodology to identify drought stress in combination with the information coming from surveys helps in quickly assessing the economic impacts of past and present droughts in the Po river basin and represents a useful tool to evaluate which cultivations and which areas suffered the highest economic impacts of droughts.</p>

scholarly journals Snow-Cover Area and Runoff Variation under Climate Change in the West Kunlun Mountains

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 2246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ma ◽  
Yan ◽  
Zhao ◽  
Kundzewicz
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Snow Cover ◽  
River Basin ◽  
River Flow ◽  
Initial Increase ◽  
Runoff Generation ◽  
The West ◽  
Snow Cover Area ◽  
Kunlun Mountains ◽  
West Kunlun

In recent years, the climate in the arid region of Northwest China has become warmer and wetter; however, glaciers in the north slope of the West Kunlun Mountains (NSWKM) show no obvious recession, and river flow is decreasing or stable. This contrasts with the prevalent response of glaciers to climate change, which is recession and initial increase in glacier discharge followed by decline as retreat continues. We comparatively analyzed multi-timescale variation in temperature–precipitation–snow cover-runoff in the Yarkant River Basin (YRK), Karakax River Basin (KRK), Yurungkax River Basin (YUK), and Keriya River Basin (KRY) in the NSWKM. The Mann–Kendall trend and the mutation–detection method were applied to data obtained from an observation station over the last 60 years (1957–2017) and MODIS snow data (2001–2016). NSWKM temperature and precipitation have continued to increase for nearly 60 years at a mean rate of 0.26 °C/decade and 5.50 mm/decade, respectively, with the most obvious trend (R2 > 0.82) attributed to the KRK and YUK. Regarding changes in the average snow-cover fraction (SCF): YUK (SCF = 44.14%) > YRK (SCF = 38.73%) > KRY (SCF = 33.42%) > KRK (SCF = 33.40%). Between them, the YRK and YUK had decreasing SCA values (slope < −15.39), while the KRK and KRY had increasing SCA values (slope > 1.87). In seasonal variation, the SCF of the three of the basins reaches the maximum value in spring, with the most significant performance in YUK (SCF = 26.4%), except for YRK where SCF in spring was lower than that in winter (−2.6%). The runoff depth of all river basins presented an increasing trend, with the greatest value appearing in the YRK (5.78 mm/decade), and the least value in the YUK (1.58 mm/decade). With the runoff response to climate change, temperature was the main influencing factor of annual and monthly (summer) runoff variations in the YRK, which is consistent with the runoff-generation rule of rivers in arid areas, which mainly rely on ice and snow melt for water supply. However, this rule was not consistent for the YUK and KRK, as it was disturbed by other factors (e.g., slope and slope direction) during runoff generation, resulting in disruptions of their relationship with runoff. This research promotes the study of the response of cold and arid alpine regions to global change and thus better serve regional water resources management.

scholarly journals Expected changes in water resources availability and water quality with respect to climate change in the Elbe River basin (Germany)

2005 ◽  
Vol 36 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 321-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Krysanova ◽  
Fred Hattermann ◽  
Anja Habeck
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Water Discharge ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Elbe River ◽  
Elbe River Basin ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Elbe River

Reliable modelling of climate–water interactions at the river basin and regional scale requires development of advanced modelling approaches at scales relevant for assessing the potential effects of climate change on the hydrological cycle. These approaches should represent the atmospheric, surface and subsurface hydrological processes and take into account their characteristic temporal and spatial scales of occurrence. The paper presents a climate change impact assessment performed for the Elbe River basin in Germany (about 100 000 km2). The method used for the study combines: (a) a statistical downscaling method driven by GCM-predicted temperature trend for producing climate scenarios, and (b) a simulation technique based on an ecohydrological semi-distributed river basin model, which was thoroughly validated in advance. The overall result of the climate impact study for the basin is that the mean water discharge and the mean groundwater recharge in the Elbe basin will be most likely decreased under the expected climate change and diffuse source pollution will be diminished. Our study confirms that the uncertainty in hydrological and water quality responses to changing climate is generally higher than the uncertainty in climate input. The method is transferable to other basins in the temperate zone.

Response of Hydrological Process to Climate Change of Basins with Different Glacier Ratio in the Tibet Plateau

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Wang ◽  
Fan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Hydrological Processes ◽  
Tibet Plateau ◽  
Hydrological Process ◽  
Snow Melt ◽  
Rainfall Runoff

&lt;p&gt;The glacier ratio influences both the contribution of meltwater runoff and the response of the basin's hydrological processes to climate change. In this study, the Karuxung, the Tuotuo and the Babao river basins with glaciers accounting for 20.7%, 2.1% and 0.38% respectively, were selected to study their hydrological processes under the climate change. Based on the daily runoff data of 30 years and MODIS snow cover products, the J2000 model was applied to quantify the contribution of meltwater and rainfall runoff, analyze the temporal and spatial variation characteristics of runoff and clarify the influence of climate change on these three basin. The main findings are as follows: (1) The contribution of glacier and snow melt runoff for the Karuxung, Tuotuo and Babao river basin was 60.7%, 25.3% and 19.9%, respectively. The contribution of rainfall runoff for the three basins was 39.3%, 74.7% and 81.1%, respectively. (2) The peak of glacier and snow melt runoff converted from summer to spring with the glacier ratio decreasing. (3) The runoff supplies in the Karuxung, Tuotuo and Babao river basin were from the 5500m-6500m, 4500m-5500m zone, and 3500m-4500m elevation zone, respectively. (4) The runoff and its components in the Karuxung and Tuotuo river basins showed significant increasing trends while the Babao river basin showed no significant change trends. (5) In the Karuxung river basin with large glacier ratio, the increase in temperature mainly caused the increase of meltwater and runoff, showing a positive impact on runoff. For the Tuotuo and Babao river basin with small glacier ratios, the increase in temperature mainly caused increased evaporation and reduced runoff, showing a negative impact on runoff.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Water infiltration rate in the soil under different uses and covers in the Poxim River basin, Sergipe, Brazil

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 321-339
Author(s):  
Lucas dos Santos Batista ◽  
Raimundo Rodrigues Gomes Filho ◽  
Clayton Moura de Carvalho ◽  
Alceu Pedrotti ◽  
Igor Leonardo Nascimento Santos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Recharge ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Infiltration Rate ◽  
Water Dynamics ◽  
Water Infiltration ◽  
Infiltration Rates ◽  
No Till ◽  
Soil Water Infiltration

Watersheds are units of planning and environmental management having a great importance in the management of water resources and their use. To this end, knowledge about the soil's physical and water attributes is of paramount importance in the context of water dynamics in aquifer recharge areas. Water infiltration rate into the soil is considered an important variable in the hydrological cycle, as the increase in this process can lead to a reduction in erosion and consequently greater groundwater recharge. Thus, the present work aimed to evaluate the soil water infiltration rate in the phytophysiognomy of the Poxim River basin in the State of Sergipe, in the agriculture, eucalyptus and forest areas, and to observe the effect of the infiltration water rate in areas of no-till, minimum and conventional cultivation. The soil water infiltration rate was obtained through the use of double cylinder infiltrometer and estimated through the mathematical models of Kostiakov, Kostiakov-Lewis, Horton and Philip. When making comparisons between the models for estimating of soil water infiltration rates, the Horton model showed a better fit compared to the other models used, and the type of soil cover that obtained the highest infiltration rate was the forest. No-till areas provided higher water infiltration rates in the soil, contributing to greater groundwater recharge.

scholarly journals Contrasting dynamics of hydrological processes in the Volta River basin under global warming

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moctar Dembélé ◽  
Mathieu Vrac ◽  
Natalie Ceperley ◽  
Sander J. Zwart ◽  
Josh Larsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
River Basin ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emission ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Hydrologic Model ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Low Flow

Abstract. A comprehensive evaluation of the impacts of climate change on water resources of the West Africa Volta River basin is conducted in this study, as the region is expected to be hardest hit by global warming. A large ensemble of twelve general circulation models (GCM) from CMIP5 that are dynamically downscaled by five regional climate models (RCM) from CORDEX-Africa is used. In total, 43 RCM-GCM combinations are considered under three representative concentration pathways (RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5). The reliability of each of the climate datasets is first evaluated with satellite and reanalysis reference datasets. Subsequently, the Rank Resampling for Distributions and Dependences (R2D2) multivariate bias correction method is applied to the climate datasets. The corrected simulations are then used as input to the fully distributed mesoscale Hydrologic Model (mHM) for hydrological projections over the twenty-first century (1991–2100). Results reveal contrasting changes in the seasonality of rainfall depending on the selected greenhouse gas emission scenarios and the future projection periods. Although air temperature and potential evaporation increase under all RCPs, an increase in the magnitude of all hydrological variables (actual evaporation, total runoff, groundwater recharge, soil moisture and terrestrial water storage) is only projected under RCP8.5. High and low flow analysis suggests an increased flood risk under RCP8.5, particularly in the Black Volta, while hydrological droughts would be recurrent under RCP2.6 and RCP4.5, particularly in the White Volta. Disparities are observed in the spatial patterns of hydroclimatic variables across climatic zones, with higher warming in the Sahelian zone. Therefore, climate change would have severe implications for future water availability with concerns for rain-fed agriculture, thereby weakening the water-energy-food security nexus and amplifying the vulnerability of the local population. The variability between climate models highlights uncertainties in the projections and indicates a need to better represent complex climate features in regional models. These findings could serve as a guideline for both the scientific community to improve climate change projections and for decision makers to elaborate adaptation and mitigation strategies to cope with the consequences of climate change and strengthen regional socio-economic development.

scholarly journals Water assessment in transboundary river basins: the case of the Medjerda River Basin

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrianirina Sedera Rajosoa ◽  
Chérifa Abdelbaki ◽  
Khaldoon A. Mourad
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Transboundary River Basins ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Over Exploitation

AbstractWater resources in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA region) face over-exploitation and over-pollution due to population growth, climate change and the lack of advanced water governance approaches. These challenges become more serious in transboundary river basins and may lead to conflict between riparian countries. The main objective of this paper is to assess water resources and needs at the Medjerda River Basin (MRB), shared by Tunisia and Algeria using the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) system between 2020 and 2050. Four scenarios were built to assess the current and future status of the water supply and demands in both countries. The results show that water demands, and shortages are increasing, and some demand sites will face real water scarcity in the future due to climate change and development practices. Therefore, new allocation and management plans should be examined at the regional level based on real collaboration among all stakeholders.

scholarly journals Changes of Hydrological Components in Arctic Rivers Based on Multi-Source Data during 2003–2016

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 3494
Author(s):  
Hao Wu ◽  
Min Xu ◽  
Mengyan Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Surface Flow ◽  
Base Flow ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Current Case ◽  
Annual Cycles ◽  
Earth’S System

The hydrological cycle of the Arctic river basin holds an important position in the Earth’s system, which has been significantly disturbed by global warming. This study analyzed recent changes in the hydrological components of two representative Arctic river basins in Siberia and North America, the Lena River Basin (LRB) and Mackenzie River Basin (MRB), respectively. The trends were diagnosed in hydrological components through a comparative analysis and estimations based on remote sensing and observational datasets during 2003–2016. The results showed that the annual precipitation decreased at rates of 1.9 mm/10a and 18.8 mm/10a in the MRB and LRB, respectively. In contrast, evapotranspiration (ET) showed increasing trends, with rates of 9.5 mm/10a and 6.3 mm/10a in the MRB and LRB, respectively. Terrestrial water storage (TWS) was obviously decreased, with rates of 30.3 mm/a and 18.9 mm/a in the MRB and LRB, respectively, which indicated that more freshwater was released. Contradictive trends of the runoffs were found in the two basins, which were increased in the LRB and decreased in the MRB, due to the contributions of the surface water and base flow. In addition, the mean annual cycles of precipitation, ET, TWS, runoff depth, surface flow and base flow behaved differently in both magnitudes and distributions in the LRB and MRB, the trends of which will likely continue with the pronounced warming climate. The current case studies can help to understand the recent changes in the Arctic hydro-climatology and the consequence of global warming in Arctic river basins.

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