scholarly journals Assessing the Impacts of Climate Change on Surface Water Resources Using WEAP Model in Narok County, Kenya

2022 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. O. Opere ◽  
Ruth Waswa ◽  
F. M. Mutua

Narok County in Kenya is the home to the Maasai Mara Game Reserve, which offers important habitats for a great variety of wild animals, hence, a hub for tourist attraction, earning the county and country an extra income through revenue collection. The Mau Forest Complex in the north is a source of major rivers including the Mara River and a water catchment tower that supports other regions as well. Many rivers present in the region support several activities and livelihood to the people in the area. The study examined how the quantity of surface water resources varied under the different climate change scenarios, and the sensitivity of the region to a changing climate. Several datasets used in this study were collated from different sources and included hydro–meteorological data, Digital Elevation Model (DEM), and Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) climate projections. The WEAP (Water Evaluation and Planning) model was applied using the rainfall–runoff (soil moisture method) approach to compute runoff generated with climate data as input. All the calculations were done on a monthly time step from the current year account to the last year of the scenario. Calibration of the model proceeded using the PEST tool within the WEAP interface. The goodness of fit was evaluated using the coefficient of determination (R2), percentage bias (PBIAS), and Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) criterion. From the tests, it was clear that WEAP performed well in simulating stream flows. The coefficient of determination (R2) was greater than the threshold R2 > 0.5 in both periods, i.e., 0.83 and 0.97 for calibration and validation periods, respectively, for the monthly flows. A 25-year mean monthly average was chosen with two time slices (2006–2030 and 2031–2055), which were compared against the baseline (1981–2000). There will be a general decrease in water quantity in the region in both scenarios: −30% by 2030 and −23.45% by 2055. In comparison, RCP4.5 and Scenario3 (+2.5°C, +10% P) were higher than RCP8.5 and Scenario 2 respectively. There was also a clear indication that the region was highly sensitive to a perturbation in climate from the synthetic scenarios. A change in either rainfall or temperature (or both) could lead to an impact on the amount of surface water yields.

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andre R. Erler ◽  
Steven K. Frey ◽  
Omar Khader ◽  
Marc d'Orgeville ◽  
Young‐Jin Park ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 353-363
Author(s):  
Bui Xuan Thong ◽  
Le Tuan Dat ◽  
Truong Viet Chau

Climate change in terms of marine meteorological extreme values has direct impact on distribution of surface water resources on the island. Based on a series of marine meteorological data collected in the period 1985 - 2012 at the Ly Son station we have determined some extreme values such as maximum precipitation, evaporation, air temperature, sea level and other oceanographic elements. The present study tries to reveal some relationships between marine meteorological extreme values and distribution of surface water resources under condition of Ly Son island. The precipitation of < 50 mm, 50 - 100 mm and > 100 mm has the frequency of 57.8%, 20.7%, and 21.5% respectively. Due to climate change, the air temperature has the increasing tendency for all three states of medium, maximum and minimum values. Sea level and other oceanographic phenomena also have the increasing tendency. The calculation results show that the average annual surface runoff is 13.9 million m3/year and the water volume per capita reaches 678 m3/person/year. According to criteria of International Water Resources Association, a country with a water volume per capita off less than 4,000 m3/person/year is considered as country of water shortage.


2013 ◽  
Vol 405-408 ◽  
pp. 2167-2171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhou Li ◽  
Xiao Yan Li ◽  
Juan Sun

Climate is an important factor which formed and affected surface water resources. Through sensitivity analysis of natural runoff towards climate change, assuming the main factors effect runoff are precipitation and temperature, then according to the possible tendency of climate changes in the future, set climate scenarios, and use the hydrological model simulate the changes trend of runoff under different climate scenarios, thereby analyze the climate change impacts on surface water resources. The results show that annual runoff will be increased with the increasing annual precipitation, and it will be reduced with rise of annual temperature, the sensitivity that annual runoff towards the change of precipitation and temperature are equally notable, both of them are two major factors impact on the change of runoff and the precipitation change impacts on annual runoff will be even more obvious in flood season. Last, with the global warming trend, put forward the corresponding adaptive measures of energy conservation and emissions reduction。


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (17) ◽  
pp. 4764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Sperotto ◽  
Josè Luis Molina ◽  
Silvia Torresan ◽  
Andrea Critto ◽  
Manuel Pulido-Velazquez ◽  
...  

With increasing evidence of climate change affecting the quality of water resources, there is the need to assess the potential impacts of future climate change scenarios on water systems to ensure their long-term sustainability. The study assesses the uncertainty in the hydrological responses of the Zero river basin (northern Italy) generated by the adoption of an ensemble of climate projections from 10 different combinations of a global climate model (GCM)–regional climate model (RCM) under two emission scenarios (representative concentration pathways (RCPs) 4.5 and 8.5). Bayesian networks (BNs) are used to analyze the projected changes in nutrient loadings (NO3, NH4, PO4) in mid- (2041–2070) and long-term (2071–2100) periods with respect to the baseline (1983–2012). BN outputs show good confidence that, across considered scenarios and periods, nutrient loadings will increase, especially during autumn and winter seasons. Most models agree in projecting a high probability of an increase in nutrient loadings with respect to current conditions. In summer and spring, instead, the large variability between different GCM–RCM results makes it impossible to identify a univocal direction of change. Results suggest that adaptive water resource planning should be based on multi-model ensemble approaches as they are particularly useful for narrowing the spectrum of plausible impacts and uncertainties on water resources.


2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-61
Author(s):  
Leszek Kuchar ◽  
IWAŃSKI SŁAWOMIR ◽  
Leszek Jelonek ◽  
Wiwiana Szalińska

Abstract Climate change, regardless of the causes shaping its rate and direction, can have far-reaching environmental, economic and social impact. A major aspect that might be transformed as a result of climate change are water resources of a catchment. The article presents a possible method of predicting water resource changes by using a meteorological data generator and classical hydrological models. The assessment of water resources in a catchment for a time horizon of 30-50 years is based on an analysis of changes in annual runoff that might occur in changing meteorological conditions. The model used for runoff analysis was the hydrological rainfall-runoff NAM model. Daily meteorological data essential for running the hydrological model were generated by means of SWGEN model. Meteorological data generated for selected climate change scenarios (GISS, CCCM and GFDL) for the years 2030 and 2050 enabled analysing different variants of climate change and their potential effects. The presented results refer to potential changes in water resources of the Kaczawa catchment. It should be emphasized that the obtained results do not say which of the climate change scenarios is more likely, but they present the consequences of climate change described by these scenarios.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 14025
Author(s):  
Fazlullah Akhtar ◽  
Usman Khalid Awan ◽  
Christian Borgemeister ◽  
Bernhard Tischbein

The Kabul River Basin (KRB) in Afghanistan is densely inhabited and heterogenic. The basin’s water resources are limited, and climate change is anticipated to worsen this problem. Unfortunately, there is a scarcity of data to measure the impacts of climate change on the KRB’s current water resources. The objective of the current study is to introduce a methodology that couples remote sensing and the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for simulating the impact of climate change on the existing water resources of the KRB. Most of the biophysical parameters required for the SWAT model were derived from remote sensing-based algorithms. The SUFI-2 technique was used for calibrating and validating the SWAT model with streamflow data. The stream-gauge stations for monitoring the streamflow are not only sparse, but the streamflow data are also scarce and limited. Therefore, we selected only the stations that are properly being monitored. During the calibration period, the coefficient of determination (R2) and Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) were 0.75–0.86 and 0.62–0.81, respectively. During the validation period (2011–2013), the NSE and R2 values were 0.52–0.73 and 0.65–0.86, respectively. The validated SWAT model was then used to evaluate the potential impacts of climate change on streamflow. Regional Climate Model (RegCM4-4) was used to extract the data for the climate change scenarios (RCP 4.5 and 8.5) from the CORDEX domain. The results show that streamflow in most tributaries of the KRB would decrease by a maximum of 5% and 8.5% under the RCP 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios, respectively. However, streamflow for the Nawabad tributary would increase by 2.4% and 3.3% under the RCP 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios, respectively. To mitigate the impact of climate change on reduced/increased surface water availability, the SWAT model, when combined with remote sensing data, can be an effective tool to support the sustainable management and strategic planning of water resources. Furthermore, the methodological approach used in this study can be applied in any of the data-scarce regions around the world.


2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (6) ◽  
pp. 979-995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Marchane ◽  
Yves Tramblay ◽  
Lahoucine Hanich ◽  
Denis Ruelland ◽  
Lionel Jarlan

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (8) ◽  
pp. 161-173
Author(s):  
Stephen Kibe Rwigi ◽  
Jeremiah N. Muthama ◽  
Alfred O. Opere ◽  
Franklin J. Opijah ◽  
Francis N. Gichuki

Potential impacts of climate change on surface water yields over the Sondu River basin in the western region of Kenya were analysed using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model with climate input data obtained from the fourth generation coupled Ocean-Atmosphere European Community Hamburg Model (ECHAM4) using the Providing Regional Climates for Impacts Studies (PRECIS) model. Daily time step regional climate scenarios at a spatial grid resolution of 0.44Ëš over the Eastern Africa region were matched to the Sondu river basin and used to calibrate and validate the SWAT model.Analysis of historical and projected rainfall over the basin strongly indicated that the climate of the area will significantly change with wetter climates being experienced by 2030 and beyond. Projected monthly rainfall distribution shows increasing trends in the relatively dry DJF and SON seasons while showing decreasing trends in the relatively wet MAM and JJA seasons. Potential changes in water yields resulting from climate change were computed by comparing simulated yields under climate change scenarios with those simulated under baseline conditions. There was evidence of substantial increases in water yields ranging between 88% and 110% of the baseline yields by 2030 and 2050 respectively. Although simulated water yields are subject to further verification from observed values, this study has provided useful information about potential changes in water yields as a result of climate change over the Sondu River basin and in similar basins in this region.


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