Effect of Anthropic-Induced Changes in Watershed Characteristics on Streamflow Generation
Abstract
Natural and anthropic effects such as climate change, land-use and land-cover changes, population explosion, etc., play a vital role in the deterioration of watersheds characteristics. The implications of this include extreme hydrological events, like flood and drought, land degradation and various socio-economic impacts. Hydrologic models approximate the real system by defining the transformation function relating physical, hydro-climatic and hydraulic characteristics to predict the changes in the watershed outputs such as streamflows, evaporation, infiltration etc. Among various factors, land use classes have a significant role in the prediction of watershed outputs. With rapid urbanization and copious population growth, the probability of converting these land-use classes into built-up areas (impervious zones) is increasing. Moreover, this causes changes in the infiltration capacity of soil and groundwater recharge, which in turn is contributing to the potential shortage in the base flows, amount of surface runoff generation and its temporal characteristics. The focus of this study is to quantify the hydrological changes induced in watersheds as a result of land-use changes due to anthropic activities in Baron Fork, Eldon, Oklahoma. The streamflow in the watershed is simulated using a hydrologic model for (i) baseline conditions and (ii) responses due to anthropic changes, i.e., with more of the natural landscape being replaced by an impervious fraction. The streamflow generation impact assessments are carried out to identify extreme scenarios on watersheds and analyze the repercussions in the conversion of impervious land classes. Evaluating these implications on the basin water balance is paramount for deriving any management operations and restoration activities.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2021
- Bibcode:
- 2021AGUFM.H15D1082R