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Sample records for certej river catchment

  1. Community perception of water quality in a mining-affected area: a case study for the Certej catchment in the Apuseni Mountains in Romania.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dogaru, Diana; Zobrist, Jürg; Balteanu, Dan; Popescu, Claudia; Sima, Mihaela; Amini, Manouchehr; Yang, Hong

    2009-06-01

    Mining-contaminated sites and the affected communities at risk are important issues on the agenda of both researchers and policy makers, particularly in the former communist block countries in Eastern Europe. Integrated analyses and expert based assessments concerning mining affected areas are important in providing solid policy guidelines for environmental and social risk management and mitigation. Based on a survey for 103 households conducted in a former mining site in the Certej Catchment of the Apuseni Mountains, western Romania, this study assesses local communities' perceptions on the quality of water in their living area. Logistic regression was used to examine peoples' perception on the quality of the main river water and of the drinking water based on several predictors relating to social and economic conditions. The results from the perception analysis were then compared with the measurements of heavy metal contamination of the main river and drinking water undertaken in the same study area. The findings indicate that perception and measurement results for the water quality in the Certej Catchment are convergent, suggesting an obvious risk that mining activities pose on the surface water. However, the perception on drinking water quality was little predicted by the regression model and does not seem to be so much related to mining as to other explanatory factors, such as special mineralogy of rock and soils or improper water treatment infrastructure, facts suggested by the measurements of the contaminants. Discussion about the implications of these joint findings for risk mitigation policies completes this article.

  2. Community Perception of Water Quality in a Mining-Affected Area: A Case Study for the Certej Catchment in the Apuseni Mountains in Romania

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dogaru, Diana; Zobrist, Jürg; Balteanu, Dan; Popescu, Claudia; Sima, Mihaela; Amini, Manouchehr; Yang, Hong

    2009-06-01

    Mining-contaminated sites and the affected communities at risk are important issues on the agenda of both researchers and policy makers, particularly in the former communist block countries in Eastern Europe. Integrated analyses and expert based assessments concerning mining affected areas are important in providing solid policy guidelines for environmental and social risk management and mitigation. Based on a survey for 103 households conducted in a former mining site in the Certej Catchment of the Apuseni Mountains, western Romania, this study assesses local communities’ perceptions on the quality of water in their living area. Logistic regression was used to examine peoples’ perception on the quality of the main river water and of the drinking water based on several predictors relating to social and economic conditions. The results from the perception analysis were then compared with the measurements of heavy metal contamination of the main river and drinking water undertaken in the same study area. The findings indicate that perception and measurement results for the water quality in the Certej Catchment are convergent, suggesting an obvious risk that mining activities pose on the surface water. However, the perception on drinking water quality was little predicted by the regression model and does not seem to be so much related to mining as to other explanatory factors, such as special mineralogy of rock and soils or improper water treatment infrastructure, facts suggested by the measurements of the contaminants. Discussion about the implications of these joint findings for risk mitigation policies completes this article.

  3. Environmental and socioeconomic assessment of impacts by mining activities-a case study in the Certej River catchment, Western Carpathians, Romania.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zobrist, Jürg; Sima, Mihaela; Dogaru, Diana; Senila, Marin; Yang, Hong; Popescu, Claudia; Roman, Cecilia; Bela, Abraham; Frei, Linda; Dold, Bernhard; Balteanu, Dan

    2009-08-01

    In the region of the Apuseni Mountains, part of the Western Carpathians in Romania, metal mining activities have a long-standing tradition. These mining industries created a clearly beneficial economic development in the region. But their activities also caused impairments to the environment, such as acid mine drainage (AMD) resulting in long-lasting heavy metal pollution of waters and sediments. The study, established in the context of the ESTROM programme, investigated the impact of metal mining activities both from environmental and socioeconomic perspectives and tried to incorporate the results of the two approaches into an integrated proposition for mitigation of mining-related issues. The small Certej catchment, situated in the Southern Apuseni Mountains, covers an area of 78 km(2). About 4,500 inhabitants are living in the basin, in which metal mining was the main economic sector. An open pit and several abandoned underground mines are producing heavy metal-loaded acidic water that is discharged untreated into the main river. The solid wastes of mineral processing plants were deposited in several dumps and tailings impoundment embodying the acidic water-producing mineral pyrite. The natural science team collected samples from surface waters, drinking water from dug wells and from groundwater. Filtered and total heavy metals, both after enrichment, and major cations were analysed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Major anions in waters, measured by ion chromatography, alkalinity and acidity were determined by titration. Solid samples were taken from river sediments and from the largest tailings dam. The latter were characterised by X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction. Heavy metals in sediments were analysed after digestion. Simultaneously, the socioeconomic team performed a household survey to evaluate the perception of people related to the river and drinking water pollution by way of a logistic regression analysis

  4. Can spatial statistical river temperature models be transferred between catchments?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson, Faye L.; Fryer, Robert J.; Hannah, David M.; Malcolm, Iain A.

    2017-09-01

    There has been increasing use of spatial statistical models to understand and predict river temperature (Tw) from landscape covariates. However, it is not financially or logistically feasible to monitor all rivers and the transferability of such models has not been explored. This paper uses Tw data from four river catchments collected in August 2015 to assess how well spatial regression models predict the maximum 7-day rolling mean of daily maximum Tw (Twmax) within and between catchments. Models were fitted for each catchment separately using (1) landscape covariates only (LS models) and (2) landscape covariates and an air temperature (Ta) metric (LS_Ta models). All the LS models included upstream catchment area and three included a river network smoother (RNS) that accounted for unexplained spatial structure. The LS models transferred reasonably to other catchments, at least when predicting relative levels of Twmax. However, the predictions were biased when mean Twmax differed between catchments. The RNS was needed to characterise and predict finer-scale spatially correlated variation. Because the RNS was unique to each catchment and thus non-transferable, predictions were better within catchments than between catchments. A single model fitted to all catchments found no interactions between the landscape covariates and catchment, suggesting that the landscape relationships were transferable. The LS_Ta models transferred less well, with particularly poor performance when the relationship with the Ta metric was physically implausible or required extrapolation outside the range of the data. A single model fitted to all catchments found catchment-specific relationships between Twmax and the Ta metric, indicating that the Ta metric was not transferable. These findings improve our understanding of the transferability of spatial statistical river temperature models and provide a foundation for developing new approaches for predicting Tw at unmonitored locations across

  5. Vaal River catchment: problems and research needs

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Braune, E

    1987-01-01

    Full Text Available , the Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging (PWV) complex. Although the catchment only produces eight per cent of the mean annual runoff of the country it has the highest concentration of urban, industrial, mining and power generation development in South Africa... of the Vaal River. The purpose of the workshop and preceding symposium was to examine the ever increasing complexity of the Vaal River system, the much enlarged spectrum of user water quality needs and problems, and those activities in the catchment which...

  6. Creating a catchment scale perspective for river restoration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Benda

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available One of the major challenges in river restoration is to identify the natural fluvial landscape in catchments with a long history of river control. Intensive land use on valley floors often predates the earliest remote sensing: levees, dikes, dams, and other structures alter valley-floor morphology, river channels and flow regimes. Consequently, morphological patterns indicative of the fluvial landscape including multiple channels, extensive floodplains, wetlands, and fluvial-riparian and tributary-confluence dynamics can be obscured, and information to develop appropriate and cost effective river restoration strategies can be unavailable. This is the case in the Pas River catchment in northern Spain (650 km2, in which land use and development have obscured the natural fluvial landscape in many parts of the basin. To address this issue we used computer tools to examine the spatial patterns of fluvial landscapes that are associated with five domains of hydro-geomorphic processes and landforms. Using a 5-m digital elevation model, valley-floor surfaces were mapped according to elevation above the channel and proximity to key geomorphic processes. The predicted fluvial landscape is patchily distributed according to hillslope and valley topography, river network structure, and channel elevation profiles. The vast majority of the fluvial landscape in the main segments of the Pas River catchment is presently masked by human infrastructure, with only 15% not impacted by river control structures and development. The reconstructed fluvial landscape provides a catchment scale context to support restoration planning, in which areas of potential ecological productivity and diversity could be targeted for in-channel, floodplain and riparian restoration projects.

  7. River-groundwater connectivity and nutrient dynamics in a mesoscale catchment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fleckenstein, Jan H.; Musolff, Andreas; Gilfedder, Benjamin; Frei, Sven; Wankmüller, Fabian; Trauth, Nico

    2017-04-01

    Diffuse solute exports from catchments are governed by many interrelated factors such as land use, climate, geological-/ hydrogeological setup and morphology. Those factors create spatial variations in solute concentrations and turnover rates in the subsurface as well as in the stream network. River-groundwater connectivity is a crucial control in this context: On the one hand groundwater is a main pathway for nitrate inputs to the stream. On the other hand, groundwater connectivity with the stream affects the magnitude of hyporheic exchange of stream water with the stream bed. We present results of a longitudinal sampling campaign along the Selke river, a 67 km long third-order stream in the Harz mountains in central Germany. Water quality at the catchment outlet is strongly impacted by agriculture with high concentrations of nitrate and a chemostatic nitrate export regime. However, the specific nitrate pathways to the stream are not fully understood as there is arable land distributed throughout the catchment. While the sparsely distributed arable land in the mountainous upper catchment receives much higher amounts of precipitation, the downstream alluvial plains are drier, but more intensively used. The three-day campaign was conducted in June 2016 under constant low flow conditions. Stream water samples were taken every 2 km along the main stem of the river and at its major tributaries. Samples were analyzed for field parameters, major cations and anions, N-O isotopes, nutrients and Radon-222 (Rn) concentrations. Additionally, at each sampling location, river discharge was manually measured using current meters. Groundwater influxes to each sampled river section were quantified from the Rn measurements using the code FINIFLUX, (Frei and Gilfedder 2015). Rn and ion concentrations showed an increase from the spring to the mouth, indicating a growing impact of groundwater flux to the river. However, increases in groundwater gains were not gradual. The strongest

  8. The Vaal river catchment: Problems and research needs

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Braune, E

    1987-01-01

    Full Text Available The vaal river catchments contains South African's economic heartland, the Pretoria -Witwatersrand-Vereeniging (PWV) complex. Although the catchments only produces eight per cent of the mean annual runoff of the country it has highest concentration...

  9. Observed precipitation trends in the Yangtze river catchment from 1951 to 2002

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    SUBuda; JIANGTong; SHIYafeng; StefanBECKER; MracoGEMMER

    2004-01-01

    The monthly, seasonal, and annual precipitation trends in the Yangtze river catchment have been detected through analysis of 51 meteorological stations' data between 1950-2002 provided by National Meteorological Administration. Results reveal that: 1) Summer precipitation in the Yangtze river catchment shows significant increasing tendency. The Poyanghu lake basin, Dongtinghu lake basin and Taihu lake basin in the middle and lower reaches are the places showing significant positive trends. Summer precipitation in the middle and lower reaches experienced an abrupt change in the year 1992; 2) The monthly precipitation in months just adjoining to summer shows decreasing tendency in the Yangtze river catchment. The upper and middle reaches in Jialingjiang river basin and Hanshui river basin are the places showing significant negative trends; 3) Extreme precipitation events show an increasing tendency in most places, especially in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze river catchment.

  10. Restoring Landform Geodiversity in Modified Rivers and Catchments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Ben; Clifford, Nicholas

    2014-05-01

    Extensive human modification and exploitation has created degraded and simplified systems lacking many of the landforms which would characterise healthy, geodiverse rivers. As awareness of geodiversity grows we must look to ways not only to conserve geodiversity but to also restore or create landforms which contribute to geodiverse environments. River restoration, with lessons learned over the last 30 years and across multiple continents, has much to offer as an exemplar of how to understand, restore or create geodiversity. Although not mentioned explicitly, there is an implicit emphasis in the Water Framework Directive on the importance of landforms and geodiversity, with landform units and assemblages at the reach scale assumed to provide the physical template for a healthy aquatic ecosystem. The focus on hydromorphology has increased the importance of geomorphology within river restoration programmes. The dominant paradigm is to restore landforms in order to increase habitat heterogeneity and improve biodiversity within rivers. However, the process of landform restoration is also a goal in its own right in the context of geodiversity, and extensive compilations of restoration experiences allow an inventory and pattern of landform (re-) creation to be assembled, and an assessment of landform function as well as landform presence/absence to be made. Accordingly, this paper outlines three principal research questions: Which landforms are commonly reinstated in river restoration activities? How do these landforms function compared to natural equivalents and thus contribute to 'functional' geodiversity as compared to the 'aesthetic' geodiversity? How does landform diversity scale from reach to catchment and contribute to larger-scale geodiversity? Data from the UK National River Restoration Inventory and the RHS are combined to assess the frequency and spatial distribution of commonly created landforms in relation to catchment type and more local context. Analysis is

  11. Regional lead isotope study of a polluted river catchment: River Wear, Northern England, UK

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shepherd, Thomas J.; Chenery, Simon R.N.; Pashley, Vanessa; Lord, Richard A.; Ander, Louise E.; Breward, Neil; Hobbs, Susan F.; Horstwood, Matthew; Klinck, Benjamin A.; Worrall, Fred

    2009-01-01

    High precision, lead isotope analyses of archived stream sediments from the River Wear catchment, northeast England (1986-88), provide evidence for three main sources of anthropogenic lead pollution; lead mining, industrial lead emissions and leaded petrol. In the upper catchment, pollution is totally controlled and dominated by large lead discharges from historic mining centres in the North Pennine Orefield ( 208 Pb/ 206 Pb, 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ratios range from 2.0744-2.0954 and 0.8413-0.8554 respectively). In the lower catchment, co-extensive with the Durham Coalfield and areas of high population density, pollution levels are lower and regionally more uniform. Isotope ratios are systematically higher than in the upper catchment ( 208 Pb/ 206 Pb, 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ratios range from 2.0856-2.1397 and 0.8554-0.8896 respectively) and far exceed values determined for the geogenic regional background. Here, the pollution is characterised by the atmospheric deposition of industrial lead and petrol lead. Lead derived from the combustion of coal, although present, is masked by the other two sources. Recent sediments from the main channel of the River Wear are isotopically indistinguishable from older, low order stream sediments of the North Pennine Orefield, indicating that contamination of the river by lead mining waste (up to several 1000 mg/kg Pb at some locations) continues to pose an environmental problem; a pattern that can be traced all the way to the tidal reach. Using within-catchment isotope variation and sediment lead concentrations, estimates can be made of the discharges from discrete mines or groups of mines to the overall level of lead pollution in the River Wear. As well as providing information pertinent to source apportionment and on-going catchment remediation measures, the database is a valuable resource for epidemiologists concerned with the health risks posed by environmental lead.

  12. Regional lead isotope study of a polluted river catchment: River Wear, Northern England, UK

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shepherd, Thomas J., E-mail: shepherdtj@aol.com [Department of Earth Sciences, University of Durham, Science Laboratories, Durham DH1 3LE (United Kingdom); Chenery, Simon R.N. [British Geological Survey, Nicker Hill, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG (United Kingdom); Pashley, Vanessa [NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory, Kingsley Dunham Centre, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG (United Kingdom); Lord, Richard A. [School of Science and Technology, University of Teesside, Middlesbrough, Tees Valley TS1 3BA (United Kingdom); Ander, Louise E.; Breward, Neil; Hobbs, Susan F. [British Geological Survey, Nicker Hill, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG (United Kingdom); Horstwood, Matthew [NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory, Kingsley Dunham Centre, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG (United Kingdom); Klinck, Benjamin A. [British Geological Survey, Nicker Hill, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG (United Kingdom); Worrall, Fred [Department of Earth Sciences, University of Durham, Science Laboratories, Durham DH1 3LE (United Kingdom)

    2009-08-15

    High precision, lead isotope analyses of archived stream sediments from the River Wear catchment, northeast England (1986-88), provide evidence for three main sources of anthropogenic lead pollution; lead mining, industrial lead emissions and leaded petrol. In the upper catchment, pollution is totally controlled and dominated by large lead discharges from historic mining centres in the North Pennine Orefield ({sup 208}Pb/{sup 206}Pb, {sup 207}Pb/{sup 206}Pb ratios range from 2.0744-2.0954 and 0.8413-0.8554 respectively). In the lower catchment, co-extensive with the Durham Coalfield and areas of high population density, pollution levels are lower and regionally more uniform. Isotope ratios are systematically higher than in the upper catchment ({sup 208}Pb/{sup 206}Pb, {sup 207}Pb/{sup 206}Pb ratios range from 2.0856-2.1397 and 0.8554-0.8896 respectively) and far exceed values determined for the geogenic regional background. Here, the pollution is characterised by the atmospheric deposition of industrial lead and petrol lead. Lead derived from the combustion of coal, although present, is masked by the other two sources. Recent sediments from the main channel of the River Wear are isotopically indistinguishable from older, low order stream sediments of the North Pennine Orefield, indicating that contamination of the river by lead mining waste (up to several 1000 mg/kg Pb at some locations) continues to pose an environmental problem; a pattern that can be traced all the way to the tidal reach. Using within-catchment isotope variation and sediment lead concentrations, estimates can be made of the discharges from discrete mines or groups of mines to the overall level of lead pollution in the River Wear. As well as providing information pertinent to source apportionment and on-going catchment remediation measures, the database is a valuable resource for epidemiologists concerned with the health risks posed by environmental lead.

  13. Monitoring of microcystin-LR in Luvuvhu River catchment ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The main aim of this study is to assess the levels of microcystin-LR in Luvuvhu River catchment and to assess the physicochemical parameters that may promote the growth of cyanobacteria. The level of microcystin-LR in some of the sampling sites was <0.18 ìg/l except for one site (Luvuvhu River just before the confluence ...

  14. Microplastic contamination of river beds significantly reduced by catchment-wide flooding

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hurley, Rachel; Woodward, Jamie; Rothwell, James J.

    2018-04-01

    Microplastic contamination of the oceans is one of the world's most pressing environmental concerns. The terrestrial component of the global microplastic budget is not well understood because sources, stores and fluxes are poorly quantified. We report catchment-wide patterns of microplastic contamination, classified by type, size and density, in channel bed sediments at 40 sites across urban, suburban and rural river catchments in northwest England. Microplastic contamination was pervasive on all river channel beds. We found multiple urban contamination hotspots with a maximum microplastic concentration of approximately 517,000 particles m-2. After a period of severe flooding in winter 2015/16, all sites were resampled. Microplastic concentrations had fallen at 28 sites and 18 saw a decrease of one order of magnitude. The flooding exported approximately 70% of the microplastic load stored on these river beds (equivalent to 0.85 ± 0.27 tonnes or 43 ± 14 billion particles) and eradicated microbead contamination at 7 sites. We conclude that microplastic contamination is efficiently flushed from river catchments during flooding.

  15. Linking sediment fingerprinting and modeling outputs for a Spanish Pyrenean river catchment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palazón, Leticia; Latorre, Borja; Gaspar, Leticia; Blake, Williams H.; Smith, Hugh G.; Navas, Ana

    2015-04-01

    Indirect techniques to study fine sediment redistribution in river catchments could provide unique and diverse information, which, when combined become a powerful tool to address catchment management problems. Such combinations could solve limitations of individual techniques and provide different lines of information to address a particular problem. The Barasona reservoir has suffered from siltation since its construction, with the loss of over one third of its storage volume in around 30 study years (period 1972-1996). Information on sediment production from tributary catchments for the reservoir is required to develop management plans for maintaining reservoir sustainability. Large spatial variability in sediment delivery was found in previous studies in the Barasona catchment and the major sediment sources identified included badlands developed in the middle part of the catchment and the agricultural fields in its lower part. From the diverse range of indirect techniques, fingerprinting sediment sources and computer models could be linked to obtain a more holistic view of the processes related to sediment redistribution in the Barasona river catchment (1509 km2, Central Spanish Pyrenees), which comprises agricultural and forest land uses. In the present study, the results from a fingerprinting procedure and the SWAT model were compared and combined to improve the knowledge of land use sediment source contributions to the reservoir. Samples from the study catchment were used to define soil parameters for the model and for fingerprinting the land use sources. The fingerprinting approach provided information about relative contributions from land use sources to the superficial sediment samples taken from the reservoir infill. The calibration and validation of the model provided valuable information, for example on the timescale of sediment production from the different land uses within the catchment. Linking results from both techniques enabled us to achieve a

  16. Spatiotemporal variability of oxygen isotope compositions in three contrasting glacier river catchments in Greenland

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knudsen, N. Tvis; Yde, J.C.; Steffensen, J.P.

    2015-01-01

    composition is controlled by the proportion between snowmelt and ice melt with episodic inputs of rainwater and occasional storage and release of a specific water component due to changes in the subglacial drainage system. At Kuannersuit Glacier River on the island Qeqertarsuaq, the δ18O characteristics were......Analysis of stable oxygen isotope (δ18O) characteristics is a useful tool to investigate water provenance in glacier river systems. In order to attain knowledge on the diversity of spatio-temporal δ18O variations in glacier rivers, we have examined three glacierized catchments in Greenland...... of diurnal oscillations, and in 2003 there were large diurnal fluctuations in δ18O. At Watson River, a large catchment at the western margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet, the spatial distribution of δ18O in the river system was applied to fingerprint the relative runoff contributions from sub-catchments. Spot...

  17. Gis Approach to Estimation of the Total Phosphorous Transfer in the Pilica River Lowland Catchment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Magnuszewski Artur

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, the Pilica River catchment (central Poland is analyzed with a focus on understanding the total phosphorous transfer along the river system which also contains the large artificial Sulejów Reservoir. The paper presents a GIS method for estimating the total phosphorous (TP load from proxy data representing sub-catchment land use and census data. The modelled load of TP is compared to the actual transfer of TP in the Pilica River system. The results shows that the metrics of connectivity between river system and dwelling areas as well as settlement density in the sub-catchments are useful predictors of the total phosphorous load. The presence of a large reservoir in the middle course of the river can disrupt nutrient transport along a river continuum by trapping and retaining suspended sediment and its associated TP load. Analysis of the indirect estimation of TP loads with the GIS analysis can be useful for identifying beneficial reservoir locations in a catchment. The study has shown that the Sulejów Reservoir has been located in a subcatchment with a largest load of the TP, and this feature helps determine the problem of reservoir eutrphication

  18. Advancing Land-Sea Conservation Planning: Integrating Modelling of Catchments, Land-Use Change, and River Plumes to Prioritise Catchment Management and Protection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Álvarez-Romero, Jorge G; Pressey, Robert L; Ban, Natalie C; Brodie, Jon

    2015-01-01

    Human-induced changes to river loads of nutrients and sediments pose a significant threat to marine ecosystems. Ongoing land-use change can further increase these loads, and amplify the impacts of land-based threats on vulnerable marine ecosystems. Consequently, there is a need to assess these threats and prioritise actions to mitigate their impacts. A key question regarding prioritisation is whether actions in catchments to maintain coastal-marine water quality can be spatially congruent with actions for other management objectives, such as conserving terrestrial biodiversity. In selected catchments draining into the Gulf of California, Mexico, we employed Land Change Modeller to assess the vulnerability of areas with native vegetation to conversion into crops, pasture, and urban areas. We then used SedNet, a catchment modelling tool, to map the sources and estimate pollutant loads delivered to the Gulf by these catchments. Following these analyses, we used modelled river plumes to identify marine areas likely influenced by land-based pollutants. Finally, we prioritised areas for catchment management based on objectives for conservation of terrestrial biodiversity and objectives for water quality that recognised links between pollutant sources and affected marine areas. Our objectives for coastal-marine water quality were to reduce sediment and nutrient discharges from anthropic areas, and minimise future increases in coastal sedimentation and eutrophication. Our objectives for protection of terrestrial biodiversity covered species of vertebrates. We used Marxan, a conservation planning tool, to prioritise interventions and explore spatial differences in priorities for both objectives. Notable differences in the distributions of land values for terrestrial biodiversity and coastal-marine water quality indicated the likely need for trade-offs between catchment management objectives. However, there were priority areas that contributed to both sets of objectives. Our

  19. [Hydrologic processes of the different landscape zones in Fenhe River headwater catchment].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Yong-Gang; Li, Cai-Mei; Qin, Zuo-Dong; Zou, Song-Bing

    2014-06-01

    There are few studies on the hydrologic processes of the landscape zone scales at present. Since the water environment is worsening, there is sharp contradiction between supply and demand of water resources in Shanxi province. The principle of the hydrologic processes of the landscape zones in Fenhe River headwater catchment was revealed by means of isotope tracing, hydrology geological exploration and water chemical signal study. The results showed that the subalpine meadow zone and the medium high mountain forest zone were main runoff formation regions in Fenhe River headwater catchment, while the sparse forest shrub zone and the mountain grassland zone lagged the temporal and spatial collection of the precipitation. Fenhe River water was mainly recharged by precipitation, groundwater, melt water of snow and frozen soil. This study suggested that the whole catchment precipitation hardly directly generated surface runoff, but was mostly transformed into groundwater or interflow, and finally concentrated into river channel, completed the "recharge-runoff-discharge" hydrologic processes. This study can provide scientific basis and reference for the containment of water environment deterioration, and is expected to deliver the comprehensive restoration of clear-water reflowing and the ecological environment in Shanxi province.

  20. Advancing Land-Sea Conservation Planning: Integrating Modelling of Catchments, Land-Use Change, and River Plumes to Prioritise Catchment Management and Protection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Álvarez-Romero, Jorge G.; Pressey, Robert L.; Ban, Natalie C.; Brodie, Jon

    2015-01-01

    Human-induced changes to river loads of nutrients and sediments pose a significant threat to marine ecosystems. Ongoing land-use change can further increase these loads, and amplify the impacts of land-based threats on vulnerable marine ecosystems. Consequently, there is a need to assess these threats and prioritise actions to mitigate their impacts. A key question regarding prioritisation is whether actions in catchments to maintain coastal-marine water quality can be spatially congruent with actions for other management objectives, such as conserving terrestrial biodiversity. In selected catchments draining into the Gulf of California, Mexico, we employed Land Change Modeller to assess the vulnerability of areas with native vegetation to conversion into crops, pasture, and urban areas. We then used SedNet, a catchment modelling tool, to map the sources and estimate pollutant loads delivered to the Gulf by these catchments. Following these analyses, we used modelled river plumes to identify marine areas likely influenced by land-based pollutants. Finally, we prioritised areas for catchment management based on objectives for conservation of terrestrial biodiversity and objectives for water quality that recognised links between pollutant sources and affected marine areas. Our objectives for coastal-marine water quality were to reduce sediment and nutrient discharges from anthropic areas, and minimise future increases in coastal sedimentation and eutrophication. Our objectives for protection of terrestrial biodiversity covered species of vertebrates. We used Marxan, a conservation planning tool, to prioritise interventions and explore spatial differences in priorities for both objectives. Notable differences in the distributions of land values for terrestrial biodiversity and coastal-marine water quality indicated the likely need for trade-offs between catchment management objectives. However, there were priority areas that contributed to both sets of objectives. Our

  1. Advancing Land-Sea Conservation Planning: Integrating Modelling of Catchments, Land-Use Change, and River Plumes to Prioritise Catchment Management and Protection.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorge G Álvarez-Romero

    Full Text Available Human-induced changes to river loads of nutrients and sediments pose a significant threat to marine ecosystems. Ongoing land-use change can further increase these loads, and amplify the impacts of land-based threats on vulnerable marine ecosystems. Consequently, there is a need to assess these threats and prioritise actions to mitigate their impacts. A key question regarding prioritisation is whether actions in catchments to maintain coastal-marine water quality can be spatially congruent with actions for other management objectives, such as conserving terrestrial biodiversity. In selected catchments draining into the Gulf of California, Mexico, we employed Land Change Modeller to assess the vulnerability of areas with native vegetation to conversion into crops, pasture, and urban areas. We then used SedNet, a catchment modelling tool, to map the sources and estimate pollutant loads delivered to the Gulf by these catchments. Following these analyses, we used modelled river plumes to identify marine areas likely influenced by land-based pollutants. Finally, we prioritised areas for catchment management based on objectives for conservation of terrestrial biodiversity and objectives for water quality that recognised links between pollutant sources and affected marine areas. Our objectives for coastal-marine water quality were to reduce sediment and nutrient discharges from anthropic areas, and minimise future increases in coastal sedimentation and eutrophication. Our objectives for protection of terrestrial biodiversity covered species of vertebrates. We used Marxan, a conservation planning tool, to prioritise interventions and explore spatial differences in priorities for both objectives. Notable differences in the distributions of land values for terrestrial biodiversity and coastal-marine water quality indicated the likely need for trade-offs between catchment management objectives. However, there were priority areas that contributed to both

  2. Impact of oil shale mine water discharges on phytoplankton community of Purtse catchment rivers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raetsep, A.; Rull, E.; Liblik, V.

    2002-01-01

    The multivariate relationship between phytoplankton abundance and different factors both natural and generated by oil shale mining in the Purtse catchment rivers (Purtse, Kohtla, and Ojamaa) in Augusts 1996-2000 was studied. Impact of oil shale mine water discharges, causing the input of sulfates and chlorides into the rivers, on phytoplankton abundance in river water was characterized by significant negative linear correlation. The amount of annual precipitation influenced positively the characteristics of phytoplankton abundance in river water. The complex of linear regression formulas was derived for characterising phytoplankton abundance in the lower course of the Purtse River using meteorological, hydrological and hydrogeological as well as geochemical data of water circulation. Closing the Sompa, Tammiku and Kohtla mines in 2000-2001 decreased essentially anthropogenic stress on ecological condition of the Purtse catchment rivers. (author)

  3. Catchment2Coast: A systems approach to coupled river-coastal ecosystem science and management

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Monteiro, PMS

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available Catchment2Coast was an interdisciplinary research and modelling project that aimed to improve understanding of the linkages between coastal ecosystems and the adjacent river catchments. The project involved nine partner organizations from three...

  4. Changing trends of rainfall and sediment fluxes in the Kinta River catchment, Malaysia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    W. R. Ismail

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The Kinta River, draining an area of 2566 km2, originates in the Korbu Mountain in Perak, Malaysia, and flows through heterogeneous, mixed land uses ranging from extensive forests to mining, rubber and oil palm plantations, and urban development. A land use change analysis of the Kinta River catchment was carried out together with assessment of the long-term trend in rainfall and sediment fluxes. The Mann-Kendall test was used to examine and assess the long-term trends in rainfall and its relationship with the sediment discharge trend. The land use analysis shows that forests, water bodies and mining land declined whilst built and agricultural land use increased significantly. This has influenced the sediment flux of the catchment. However, most of the rainfall stations and river gauging stations are experiencing an increasing trends, except at Kinta river at Tg. Rambutan. Sediment flux shows a net erosion for the period from 1961 to 1969. The total annual sediment discharge in the Kinta River catchment was low with an average rate of 1,757 t/km2/year. From 1970 to 1985, the annual sediment yield rose to an average rate of 4062 t/km2/year. Afterwards, from 1986 to 1993, the total annual sediment discharge decreased to an average rate of 1,306 t/km2/year and increased back during the period 1994 to 2000 to 2109 t/km2/year. From 2001 to 2006 the average sediment flux rate declined to 865 t/km2/year. The decline was almost 80% from the 1970s. High sediment flux in the early 1970s is partly associated with reduced tin mining activities in the area. This decreasing trend in sediment delivery leaving the Kinta River catchment is expected to continue dropping in the future.

  5. Changing trends of rainfall and sediment fluxes in the Kinta River catchment, Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ismail, W. R.; Hashim, M.

    2015-03-01

    The Kinta River, draining an area of 2566 km2, originates in the Korbu Mountain in Perak, Malaysia, and flows through heterogeneous, mixed land uses ranging from extensive forests to mining, rubber and oil palm plantations, and urban development. A land use change analysis of the Kinta River catchment was carried out together with assessment of the long-term trend in rainfall and sediment fluxes. The Mann-Kendall test was used to examine and assess the long-term trends in rainfall and its relationship with the sediment discharge trend. The land use analysis shows that forests, water bodies and mining land declined whilst built and agricultural land use increased significantly. This has influenced the sediment flux of the catchment. However, most of the rainfall stations and river gauging stations are experiencing an increasing trends, except at Kinta river at Tg. Rambutan. Sediment flux shows a net erosion for the period from 1961 to 1969. The total annual sediment discharge in the Kinta River catchment was low with an average rate of 1,757 t/km2/year. From 1970 to 1985, the annual sediment yield rose to an average rate of 4062 t/km2/year. Afterwards, from 1986 to 1993, the total annual sediment discharge decreased to an average rate of 1,306 t/km2/year and increased back during the period 1994 to 2000 to 2109 t/km2/year. From 2001 to 2006 the average sediment flux rate declined to 865 t/km2/year. The decline was almost 80% from the 1970s. High sediment flux in the early 1970s is partly associated with reduced tin mining activities in the area. This decreasing trend in sediment delivery leaving the Kinta River catchment is expected to continue dropping in the future.

  6. The development and evolution of landform based on neotectonic movement: The Sancha river catchment in the southwestern China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhong, Lingmin; Xu, Mo; Yang, Yanna; Wang, Xingbing

    2018-02-01

    Neotectonics has changed the coupled process of endogenic and exogenic geological dynamics, which mold the modern landform. Geomorphologic analysis is essential for identifying and understanding the tectonic activity and indicates the responsive mechanism of the landform to tectonic activity. At first, this research reconstructed the twisted Shanpen period planation surface, computed the valley floor width-to-height ratio of Sancha river and extracted the cross sections marking the river terraces to analyze the characteristics of the neotectonics. And then, the relation between neotectonic movement and landform development was analyzed by dividing the landform types. At last, the spatial variation of landform evolution was analyzed by extracting the Hypsometric Integral of sub-catchments. The Sancha river catchment's neotectonic movement presents the tilt-lift of earth's crust from NW to SE, which is characterized by the posthumous activity of Yanshan tectonic deformation. The spatial distribution of river terraces indicates that Sancha river catchment has experienced at least four intermittent uplifts and the fault blocks at both the sides of Liuzhi-Zhijin basement fault have differentially uplifted since the late Pleistocene. As the resurgence of Liuzhi-Zhijin basement fault, the Sancha river catchment was broken into two relative independent landform units. The spatial variations of the landform types near the Sancha river and the sub-catchments' landform evolution are characterized by periodic replacement. The styles of geological structure have controlled the development of landform far away from the Sancha River and influenced the landform evolution. The posthumous activities of the secondary structure have resulted in the spatial variation of sub-catchments' landform evolution, which presents periodic replacement with local exceptions. The present study suggests that spatial variations of the development and evolution of modern landform of Sancha River

  7. Morphometric Analysis of Didessa River Catchment in Blue Nile ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Morphometric Analysis of Didessa River Catchment in Blue Nile Basin, Western Ethiopia. ... In the present paper an attempt has been made to study the morphometric characteristics of Didessa ... Stream networks and watersheds were delineated in ArcGIS 10.1 software environment by utilizing ... HOW TO USE AJOL.

  8. Water quantity and quality optimization modeling of dams operation based on SWAT in Wenyu River Catchment, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yongyong; Xia, Jun; Chen, Junfeng; Zhang, Minghua

    2011-02-01

    Water quantity and quality joint operation is a new mode in the present dams' operation research. It has become a hot topic in governmental efforts toward integrated basin improvement. This paper coupled a water quantity and quality joint operation model (QCmode) and genetic algorithm with Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Together, these tools were used to explore a reasonable operation of dams and floodgates at the basin scale. Wenyu River Catchment, a key area in Beijing, was selected as the case study. Results showed that the coupled water quantity and quality model of Wenyu River Catchment more realistically simulates the process of water quantity and quality control by dams and floodgates. This integrated model provides the foundation for research of water quantity and quality optimization on dam operation in Wenyu River Catchment. The results of this modeling also suggest that current water quality of Wenyu River will improve following the implementation of the optimized operation of the main dams and floodgates. By pollution control and water quantity and quality joint operation of dams and floodgates, water quality of Wenyu river will change significantly, and the available water resources will increase by 134%, 32%, 17%, and 82% at the downstream sites of Sha River Reservoir, Lutong Floodgate, Xinpu Floodgate, and Weigou Floodgate, respectively. The water quantity and quality joint operation of dams will play an active role in improving water quality and water use efficiency in Wenyu River Basin. The research will provide the technical support for water pollution control and ecological restoration in Wenyu River Catchment and could be applied to other basins with large number of dams. Its application to the Wenyu River Catchment has a great significance for the sustainable economic development of Beijing City.

  9. Flood Hazard Mapping Assessment for El-Awali River Catchment-Lebanon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hdeib, Rouya; Abdallah, Chadi; Moussa, Roger; Hijazi, Samar

    2016-04-01

    River flooding prediction and flood forecasting has become an essential stage in the major flood mitigation plans worldwide. Delineation of floodplains resulting from a river flooding event requires coupling between a Hydrological rainfall-runoff model to calculate the resulting outflows of the catchment and a hydraulic model to calculate the corresponding water surface profiles along the river main course. In this study several methods were applied to predict the flood discharge of El-Awali River using the available historical data and gauging records and by conducting several site visits. The HEC-HMS Rainfall-Runoff model was built and applied to calculate the flood hydrographs along several outlets on El-Awali River and calibrated using the storm that took place on January 2013 and caused flooding of the major Lebanese rivers and by conducting additional site visits to calculate proper river sections and record witnesses of the locals. The Hydraulic HEC-RAS model was then applied to calculate the corresponding water surface profiles along El-Awali River main reach. Floodplain delineation and Hazard mapping for 10,50 and 100 years return periods was performed using the Watershed Modeling System WMS. The results first show an underestimation of the flood discharge recorded by the operating gauge stations on El-Awali River, whereas, the discharge of the 100 years flood may reach up to 506 m3/s compared by lower values calculated using the traditional discharge estimation methods. Second any flooding of El-Awali River may be catastrophic especially to the coastal part of the catchment and can cause tragic losses in agricultural lands and properties. Last a major floodplain was noticed in Marj Bisri village this floodplain can reach more than 200 meters in width. Overall, performance was good and the Rainfall-Runoff model can provide valuable information about flows especially on ungauged points and can perform a great aid for the floodplain delineation and flood

  10. Human impacts on river water quality- comparative research in the catchment areas of the Tone River and the Mur River-

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kogure, K.

    2013-12-01

    Human activities in river basin affect river water quality as water discharges into river with pollutant after we use it. By detecting pollutants source, pathway, and influential factor of human activities, it will be possible to consider proper river basin management. In this study, material flow analysis was done first and then nutrient emission modeling by MONERIS was conducted. So as to clarify land use contribution and climate condition, comparison of Japanese and European river basin area has been made. The model MONERIS (MOdelling Nutrient Emissions in RIver Systems; Behrendt et al., 2000) was applied to estimate the nutrient emissions in the Danube river basin by point sources and various diffuse pathways. Work for the Mur River Basin in Austria was already carried out by the Institute of Water Quality, Resources and Waste Management at the Vienna University of Technology. This study treats data collection, modelling for the Tone River in Japan, and comparative analysis for these two river basins. The estimation of the nutrient emissions was carried out for 11 different sub catchment areas covering the Tone River Basin for the time period 2000 to 2006. TN emissions into the Tone river basin were 51 kt/y. 67% was via ground water and dominant for all sub catchments. Urban area was also important emission pathway. Human effect is observed in urban structure and agricultural activity. Water supply and sewer system make urban water cycle with pipeline structure. Excess evapotranspiration in arable land is also influential in water cycle. As share of arable land is 37% and there provides agricultural products, it is thought that N emission from agricultural activity is main pollution source. Assumption case of 10% N surplus was simulated and the result was 99% identical to the actual. Even though N surplus reduction does not show drastic impact on N emission, it is of importance to reduce excess of fertilization and to encourage effective agricultural activity

  11. Bulk metal concentrations versus total suspended solids in rivers: Time-invariant & catchment-specific relationships.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nasrabadi, Touraj; Ruegner, Hermann; Schwientek, Marc; Bennett, Jeremy; Fazel Valipour, Shahin; Grathwohl, Peter

    2018-01-01

    Suspended particles in rivers can act as carriers of potentially bioavailable metal species and are thus an emerging area of interest in river system monitoring. The delineation of bulk metals concentrations in river water into dissolved and particulate components is also important for risk assessment. Linear relationships between bulk metal concentrations in water (CW,tot) and total suspended solids (TSS) in water can be used to easily evaluate dissolved (CW, intercept) and particle-bound metal fluxes (CSUS, slope) in streams (CW,tot = CW + CSUS TSS). In this study, we apply this principle to catchments in Iran (Haraz) and Germany (Ammer, Goldersbach, and Steinlach) that show differences in geology, geochemistry, land use and hydrological characteristics. For each catchment, particle-bound and dissolved concentrations for a suite of metals in water were calculated based on linear regressions of total suspended solids and total metal concentrations. Results were replicable across sampling campaigns in different years and seasons (between 2013 and 2016) and could be reproduced in a laboratory sedimentation experiment. CSUS values generally showed little variability in different catchments and agree well with soil background values for some metals (e.g. lead and nickel) while other metals (e.g. copper) indicate anthropogenic influences. CW was elevated in the Haraz (Iran) catchment, indicating higher bioavailability and potential human and ecological health concerns (where higher values of CSUS/CW are considered as a risk indicator).

  12. Water resources in Central Asia - status quo and future conflicts in transboundary river catchments - the example of the Zarafshan River (Tajikistan-Uzbekistan)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Groll, Michael; Opp, Christian; Kulmatov, Rashid; Normatov, Inom; Stulina, Galina; Shermatov, Nurmakhmad

    2014-05-01

    Water is the most valuable resource in Central Asia and due to its uneven distribution and usage among the countries of the region it is also the main source of tension between upstream and downstream water users. Due to the rapidly shrinking glaciers in the Pamir, Tien-Shan and Alai mountains, the available water resources will, by 2030, be 30% lower than today while the water demand of the growing economies will increase by 30%. This will further aggravate the pressure on the water resources and increase the water deficit caused by an unsustainable water use and political agendas. These challenges can only be overcome by an integrated water resource management for the important transboundary river catchments. The basis for such an IWRM approach however needs to be a solid data base about the status quo of the water resources. To that end the research presented here provides a detailed overview of the transboundary Zarafshan River (Tajikistan-Uzbekistan), the lifeline for more than 6 mln people. The Zarafshan River is well suited for this as it is not only one of the most important rivers in Central Asia but because the public availability of hydrological and ecological data is very limited, Furthermore the catchment is characterized by the same imbalances in the Water-Energy-Food-Nexus as most river systems in that region, which makes the Zarafshan a perfect model river for Central Asia as a whole. The findings presented here are based on field measurements, existing data from the national hydrometeorological services and an extensive literature analysis and cover the status quo of the meteorological and hydrological characteristics of the Zarafshan as well as the most important water quality parameters (pH, conductivity, nitrate, phosphate, arsenic, chromate, copper, zinc, fluoride, petroleum products, phenols and the aquatic invertebrate fauna). The hydrology of the Zarafshan is characterized by a high natural discharge dynamic in the mountainous upper parts of

  13. Ecological quality assessment of rivers and integrated catchment management in England and Wales

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul LOGAN

    2001-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with the ecological assessment of river quality and its relationship to integrated catchment management. The concept of catchment or river basin management has been a basic management tool in England and Wales since 1990; it is now being enshrined in the Water Framework Directive. Historically the statutory and operational drivers in the UK have lead to the development of distinctly different approaches to the management of water quality, water resources (quantity and physical river structure. More recently a proactive approach to the sustainable use of water promulgated in the Local Environment Agency Plans has also dealt with the three management aspects in some isolation although greater effort has been made to present the issues in an integrated manner. The Water Framework Directive calls for further integration in river basin plans and associated programmes of measures. In the paper the three approaches are described and considered in light of the requirements of the Water Framework Directive. Water Quality classification and objective setting has been based on information from the survey of benthic macro-invertebrates. The Biological Monitoring Working Party Score and the predictive software River Invertebrate Prediction and Classification System (RIVPACS have been used to set site-specific targets for management purposes. RIVPACS includes a reference database of minimally impacted sites for comparison with the observed data. This approach is in line with the requirements of the directive. Physical river structure work has been based on monitoring of in-river and river corridor characteristics. The River Habitat System (RHS has also developed a reference database but is less well developed in terms of its predictive ability. The use of ecological information in Water Resource management has taken a different approach based on the concept of differential ecological sensitivity to the hydrological regime within the river. In

  14. Clearing invasive alien plants as a cost-effective strategy for water catchment management: The case of the Olifants river catchment, South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tshepo Morokong

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Invasive alien plants have a negative impact on ecosystem goods and services derived from ecosystems. Consequently, the aggressive spread of invasive alien plants (IAPs in the river catchments of South Africa is a major threat to, inter alia, water security. The Olifants River catchment is one such a catchment that is under pressure because of the high demand for water from mainly industrial sources and unsustainable land-use, which includes IAPs. This study considered the cost-effectiveness of clearing IAPs and compared these with the cost of a recently constructed dam. The methods used for data collection were semistructured interviews, site observation, desktop data analysis, and a literature review to assess the impact of IAPs on the catchment’s water supply. The outcomes of this study indicate that clearing invasive alien plants is a cost-effective intervention with a Unit Reference Value (URV of R1.44/m3, which compares very favourably with that of the De Hoop dam, the URV for which is R2.93/m3. These results suggest that clearing invasive alien plants is a cost-effective way of catchment management, as the opportunity cost of not doing so (forfeiting water to the value of R2.93/m3 is higher than that of protecting the investment in the dam.

  15. Implementing integrated catchment management in the Limpopo River Basin Phase 1: Situational assessment

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Mwenge Kahinda, Jean-Marc

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available reaches of the main stem of the Limpopo River. Much of the surface water exploitation in the basin states relies on storage reservoirs built on tributary rivers. Surface water use is directed primarily to irrigated agriculture, afforestation... and the pool storages located in the A63E and A71L catchments. The riverine gallery forest (Figure 6) is an aquifer-dependent ecosystem situated on the same aquifer used by the Venetia Mine and recharged by the Limpopo River main stem. The isolated...

  16. Land degradation trends in upper catchments and morphological developments of braided rivers in drylands: the case of a marginal graben of the Ethiopian Rift Valley

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demissie, Biadgilgn; Frankl, Amaury; Haile, Mitiku; Nyssen, Jan

    2014-05-01

    Braided rivers have received relatively little attention in research and development activities in drylands. However, they strongly impact agroecology and agricultural activities and thereby local livelihoods. The Raya Graben (3750 km² including the escarpment) is a marginal graben of the Ethiopian Rift Valley located in North Ethiopia. In order to study the dynamics of braided rivers and the relationship with biophysical controls, 20 representative catchments were selected, ranging between 15 and 311 km². First, the 2005 morphology (length, area) of the braided rivers was related to biophysical controls (vegetation cover, catchment area and slope gradient in the steep upper catchments and gradient in the graben bottom). Second, the changes in length of the braided rivers were related to vegetation cover changes in the upper catchments since 1972. Landsat imagery was used to calculate the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and to map vegetation cover and the total length of the braided rivers. Spot CNES imagery available from Google Earth was used to identify the total area of the braided rivers in 2005. A linear regression analysis revealed that the length of braided rivers was positively related to the catchment area (R²=0.32, p<0.01), but insignificantly related to vegetation cover in the upper catchments. However, there is an indication that it is an important factor in the relationship calculated for 2005 (R²=0.2, p=0.064). Similarly, the area occupied by the braided rivers was related to NDVI (R²=0.24, p<0.05) and upper catchment area (R²=0.447, p<0.01). Slope gradient is not an important explanatory factor. This is related to the fact that slope gradients are steep (average of 38.1%) in all upper and gentle (average of 3.4%) in graben bottom catchments. The vegetation cover in the upper catchments shows a statistically insignificant increasing trend (R²=0.73, p=0.067) over the last 40 years, whereas length of rivers in the graben bottom

  17. Quantifying uncertainty in the impacts of climate change on river discharge in sub-catchments of the Yangtze and Yellow River Basins, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Xu

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Quantitative evaluations of the impacts of climate change on water resources are primarily constrained by uncertainty in climate projections from GCMs. In this study we assess uncertainty in the impacts of climate change on river discharge in two catchments of the Yangtze and Yellow River Basins that feature contrasting climate regimes (humid and semi-arid. Specifically we quantify uncertainty associated with GCM structure from a subset of CMIP3 AR4 GCMs (HadCM3, HadGEM1, CCSM3.0, IPSL, ECHAM5, CSIRO, CGCM3.1, SRES emissions scenarios (A1B, A2, B1, B2 and prescribed increases in global mean air temperature (1 °C to 6 °C. Climate projections, applied to semi-distributed hydrological models (SWAT 2005 in both catchments, indicate trends toward warmer and wetter conditions. For prescribed warming scenarios of 1 °C to 6 °C, linear increases in mean annual river discharge, relative to baseline (1961–1990, for the River Xiangxi and River Huangfuchuan are +9% and 11% per +1 °C respectively. Intra-annual changes include increases in flood (Q05 discharges for both rivers as well as a shift in the timing of flood discharges from summer to autumn and a rise (24 to 93% in dry season (Q95 discharge for the River Xiangxi. Differences in projections of mean annual river discharge between SRES emission scenarios using HadCM3 are comparatively minor for the River Xiangxi (13 to 17% rise from baseline but substantial (73 to 121% for the River Huangfuchuan. With one minor exception of a slight (−2% decrease in river discharge projected using HadGEM1 for the River Xiangxi, mean annual river discharge is projected to increase in both catchments under both the SRES A1B emission scenario and 2° rise in global mean air temperature using all AR4 GCMs on the CMIP3 subset. For the River Xiangxi, there is substantial uncertainty associated with GCM structure in the magnitude of the rise in flood (Q05 discharges (−1 to 41% under SRES A1B and −3 to 41% under 2

  18. Ecosystem based river basin management planning in critical water catchment in Mongolia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tugjamba, Navchaa; Sereeter, Erdenetuul; Gonchigjav, Sarantuya

    2014-05-01

    Developing the ecosystem based adaptation strategies to maintain water security in critical water catchments in Mongolia would be very significant. It will be base by reducing the vulnerability. "Ecosystem Based adaptation" is quite a new term in Mongolia and the ecosystem approach is a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way. To strengthen equitable economic development, food security, climate resilience and protection of the environment, the implementation of sustainable river basin management in critical water catchments is challenging in Mongolia. The Ulz river basin is considered one of the critical water catchments due to the temperature has increased by in average 1.30Ñ over the period 1976 to 2011. It is more intense than the global warming rate (0.740C/100 years) and a bit higher than the warming rate over whole Mongolia as well. From long-term observations and measurements it is clear that Ulz River has low water in a period of 1970-1980 and since the end of 1980s and middle of 1990s there were dominated years of the flood. However, under the influence of the global warming, climate changes of Mongolia and continuation of drought years with low water since the end of 1990s until today river water was sharply fallen and dried up. For the last ten years rivers are dried up and annual mean run-off is less by 3-5 times from long term mean value. The Ulz is the transboundary river basin and taking its origin from Ikh and Baga Burd springs on territory of Norovlin soum of Khentii province that flows through Khentii and Dornod provinces to the northeast, crossing the state border it flows in Baruun Tari located in Tari Lake concavity in Russia. Based on the integrative baseline study on the 'The Ulz River Basin Environmental and Socioeconomic condition', ecosystem based river basin management was planned. 'Water demand Calculator 3' (WDC) software was used to

  19. Estimation of Catchment Transit Time in Fuji River Basin by using an improved Tank model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wenchao, M.; Yamanaka, T.; Wakiyama, Y.; Wang, P.

    2013-12-01

    As an important parameter that reflects the characteristics of catchments, the catchment transit time (CTT) has been given much more widely attentions especially in recent years. The CTT is defined as the time water spends travelling through a catchment to the stream network [1], and it describes how catchments retain and release water and solutes and thus control geochemical and biogeochemical cycling and contamination persistence [2]. The objectives of the present study are to develop a new approach for estimating CTT without prior information on such TTD functions and to apply it to the Fuji River basin in the Central Japan Alps Region. In this study, an improved Tank model was used to compute mean CTT and TTD functions simultaneously. It involved water fluxes and isotope mass balance. Water storage capacity in the catchment, which strongly affects CTT, is reflected in isotope mass balance more sensitively than in water fluxes. A model calibrated with observed discharge and isotope data is used for virtual age tracer computation to estimate CTT. This model does not only consider the hydrological data and physical process of the research area but also reflects the actual TTD with considering the geological condition, land use and the other catchment-hydrological conditions. For the calibration of the model, we used river discharge record obtained by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation, and are collecting isotope data of precipitation and river waters monthly or semi-weekly. Three sub-catchments (SC1~SC3) in the Fuji River basin was selected to test the model with five layers: the surface layer, upper-soil layer, lower-soil layer, groundwater aquifer layer and bedrock layer (Layer 1- Layer 5). The evaluation of the model output was assessed using Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE), root mean square error-observations standard deviation ratio (RSR), and percent bias (PBIAS). Using long time-series of discharge records for calibration, the simulated

  20. Climate, runoff and landuse trends in the Owo River Catchment in Nigeria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adegun, O.; Odunuga, S.; Ajayi, O. S.

    2015-06-01

    The Owo River is an important surface water source in Lagos particularly to the western section. It is the source of direct water intake for water supply by Lagos State Water Corporation to Amuwo-Odofin, Ojo and parts of Badagry Local Government Areas. This paper examines the complex interactions and feedbacks between many variables and processes within that catchment and analyses the future ability of this semi-urban watershed in sustaining water supply in the face of cumulative environmental change. Stationarity analysis on rainfall, change detection analysis and morphometry analysis were combined to analyse the non-stationarity of Owo River catchment. On rainfall trend analysis, since the correlation coefficient (0.38) with test statistic of 2.17 did not satisfy the test condition we concluded that there is trend and that rainfall in the watershed is not stationary. The dominant land use impacting on the bio-geochemical fluxes is built up area (including structures and paved surfaces) which grew from about 142.92 km2 (12.20%) in 1984 to 367.22 km2 (31.36%) in 2013 recording gain of 224.3 km2 at average growth rate of 7.73 km2 per annum. Total length of streams within the catchment reduced from 622.24 km in 1964 to 556 km in 2010, while stream density reduced from 0.53 in 1964 to 0.47 in 2010 an indication of shrinking hydrological network. The observed trends in both natural and anthropogenic processes indicated non-stationarity of the hydrological fluxes within the Catchment and if this continues, the urban ecosystem services of water supply will be compromised.

  1. Technogenic waterflows generated by oil shale mining: impact on Purtse catchment rivers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raetsep, A.; Liblik, V.

    2000-01-01

    The correlation between natural (meteorological, hydrological) and technogenic (mining-technological, hydrogeological, hydrochemical) factors caused by oil shale mining in the Purtse catchment region in northeastern Estonia during 1990-1998 has been studied. As a result of a complex effect of these factors (correlation coefficients r = 0. 60-0.86), a so-called hydrogeological circulation of water has been formed in the catchment area. It totals 25-40 % from the whole amount of mine water pumped out at the present, but in the near future it will reach even up to 50-55 %. On the ground of average data, a conceptual balance scheme of water circulation (cycles) for the Purtse catchment landscape has been worked out. It shows that under the influence of technogenic waterflows a new, anthropogenic biogeochemical matter cycling from geological environment into hydrological one has been formed in this catchment area. Transition of the macro- and microelements existing in the composition of oil shale into the aqueous solution and their distribution in mine water are in a good harmony with the so-called arrangement of the elements by the electrode potentials. The technogenic hydrochemical conditions arising in the catchment rivers will not disappear even after finishing oil shale mining. (author)

  2. Environmental monitoring of 137Cs in the Vardar River catchment area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anovski, T.; Cvetanovska-Nastevska, L.; Jovanovski, N.

    1996-01-01

    Distribution of Cs-137, as one of the most important anthropogenic radioactive pollutant on the environment, in various samples within the Vardar river catchment area has been determined. By application of adequate radioecological model, an effective equivalent dose for different transfer media and exposure pathways as a contribution of Cs-137 to the total exposure of man of different age, were calculated. (author)

  3. Excess erosion and deposition in the catchments of Kamenichka and Radanjska river, Republic of Macedonia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Milevski Ivica

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available One of the greatest environmental problems in the Republic of Macedonia is accelerated soil erosion caused by high human impact during last centuries on to the susceptible landscape. Natural factors itself are very suitable for development of such erosion: from mostly erodible rocks and soils on the mountainous slopes around the depressions, to the generally continental, semi-arid climate and slight vegetation cover. Because of that, there are sites with severe erosion and deposition like those in the catchments of Kamenichka River and Radanjska River, two torrential tributaries of Bregalnica. In these catchments there are varieties of erosion-related landforms: rills, gullies, badlands, landslides, as well as valley-type alluvial fans and huge alluvial plains. Such devastating accelerated erosion and deposition largely transformed original landscape, and represent significant environmental, social, and economic problem in local areas. Because of that, some measures of protection and conservation were taken from 1950-ties in both catchments. But it is obvious that the final effect of these measures is far of enough, so new efforts must be implemented to revitalizing these abandoned lands.

  4. Chalk Catchment Transit Time: Unresolved Issues

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Darling, W. G.; Gooddy, D. C. [British Geological Survey, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire (United Kingdom); Barker, J. A. [School of Civil Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton, Southampton (United Kingdom); Robinson, M. [Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire (United Kingdom)

    2013-07-15

    The mean transit time (MTT) of a catchment is the average residence time of water from rainfall to river outflow at the foot of the catchment. As such, MTT has important water quality as well as resource implications. Many catchments worldwide have been measured for MTT using environmental isotopes, yet the Chalk, an important aquifer in NW Europe, has received little attention in this regard. The catchment of the River Lambourn in southern England has been intermittently studied since the 1960s using isotopic methods. A tritium peak measured in the river during the 1970s indicates an apparent MTT of {approx}15 years, but the thick unsaturated zone (average {approx}50 m) of the catchment suggests that the MTT should be much greater because of the average downward movement through the Chalk of {approx}1 m/a consistently indicated by tritium and other tracers. Recent work in the catchment using SF{sub 6} as a residence time indicator has given groundwater ages in the narrow range 11-18 yrs, apparently supporting the river tritium data but in conflict with the unsaturated zone data even allowing for a moderate proportion of rapid bypass flow. The MTT of the catchment remains unresolved for the time being. (author)

  5. Ecohydrological modelling and integrated management planning in the catchment of the river Dommel

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verkroost, A.W.M.; Olde Venterink, H.; Pieterse, N.M.; Schot, P.P.; Wassen, M.J.

    1998-01-01

    The EU-LIFE Dommel project aims at the development of methods for the combined use of landscape ecological models and socio-economic knowledge in the drawing up of integrated management plans for catchment areas of small trans-border rivers. These methods were developed and tested in the

  6. River catchment responses to anthropogenic acidification in relationship with sewage effluent: An ecotoxicology screening application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oberholster, P J; Botha, A-M; Hill, L; Strydom, W F

    2017-12-01

    Rising environmental pressures on water resources and resource quality associated with urbanisation, industrialisation, mining and agriculture are a global concern. In the current study the upper Olifants River catchment as case study was used, to show that acid mine drainage (AMD) and acid precipitation were the two most important drivers of possible acidification during a four-year study period. Over the study period 59% of the precipitation sampled was classified as acidic with a pH value below 5.6. Traces of acidification in the river system using aquatic organisms at different trophic levels were only evident in areas of AMD point sources. Data gathered from the ecotoxicology screening tools, revealed that discharge of untreated and partially treated domestic sewage from municipal sewage treatment works and informal housing partially mitigate any traces of acidification by AMD and acid precipitation in the main stem of the upper Olifants River. The outcome of the study using phytoplankton and macroinvertebrates as indicator organisms revealed that the high loads of sewage effluent might have played a major role in the neutralization of acidic surface water conditions caused by AMD and acid precipitation. Although previous multi-stage and microcosm studies confirmed the decrease in acidity and metals concentrations by municipal wastewater, the current study is the first to provide supportive evidence of this co-attenuation on catchment scale. These findings are important for integrated water resource management on catchment level, especially in river systems with a complex mixture of pollutants. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Stable oxygen isotope variability in two contrasting glacier river catchments in Greenland

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yde, Jacob C.; Knudsen, Niels T.; Steffensen, Jørgen P.

    2016-01-01

    the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS). At the Mittivakkat Gletscher river, a small river draining a local temperate glacier in southeast Greenland, diurnal oscillations in δ18O occurred with a 3 h time lag to the diurnal oscillations in run-off. The mean annual δ18O was -14.68±0.18‰ during the peak flow period...... event. Overall, a comparison of the δ18O compositions from glacial river water in Greenland shows distinct differences between water draining local glaciers and ice caps (between -23.0 and -13.7 ‰) and the GrIS (between -29.9 and -23.2 ‰). This study demonstrates that water isotope analyses can be used......Analysis of stable oxygen isotope (δ18O) characteristics is a useful tool to investigate water provenance in glacier river systems. In order to attain knowledge on the diversity of δ18O variations in Greenlandic rivers, we examined two contrasting glacierised catchments disconnected from...

  8. Modeling water flow, depth and inundation extent over the rivers of the Contiguous US within a Catchment-based Land Surface Modeling Framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Z.; David, C. H.; Famiglietti, J. S.

    2013-12-01

    With population growth and increasing demand of water supply, the need for integrated continental and global scale surface water dynamics simulation systems relying on both observations and models is ever increasing. In this study we characterize how accurately we can estimate river discharge, river depth and the corresponding inundation extent over the contiguous U.S. by combining observations and models. We present a continental-scale implementation of the Catchment-based Hydrological And Routing Modeling System (CHARMS) that includes an explicit representation of the river networks from a Geographic Information System (GIS) dataset. The river networks and contributing catchment boundaries of the Contiguous U.S are upscaled from the NHDPlus dataset. The average upscaled catchment size is 2773 km2 and the unique main river channel contained in each catchment consists of several river reaches of average length 1.6 km. We derive 18 sets of empirical relationship between channel dimension (bankfull depth and bankfull width) and drainage area based on USGS gauge observations to describe river dynamics for the 18 water resource regions of the NHDPlus representation of the United States. These relationships are used to separate the main river channel and floodplain. Modeled monthly and daily streamflow show reasonable agreement with gauge observations and initial results show that basins with fewer anthropogenic modifications are more accurately simulated. Modeled monthly and daily river depth and floodplain extent associated with each river reach are also explicitly estimated over the U.S., although such simulations are more challenging to validate. Our results have implications for capturing the seasonal-to-interannual dynamics of surface water in climate models. Such a continental-scale modeling framework development would, by design, facilitate the use of existing in situ observations and be suitable for integrating the upcoming NASA Surface Water and Ocean

  9. USLE-Based Assessment of Soil Erosion by Water in the Nyabarongo River Catchment, Rwanda

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fidele Karamage

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Soil erosion has become a serious problem in recent decades due to unhalted trends of unsustainable land use practices. Assessment of soil erosion is a prominent tool in planning and conservation of soil and water resource ecosystems. The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE was applied to Nyabarongo River Catchment that drains about 8413.75 km2 (33% of the total Rwanda coverage and a small part of the Southern Uganda (about 64.50 km2 using Geographic Information Systems (GIS and Remote Sensing technologies. The estimated total annual actual soil loss was approximately estimated at 409 million tons with a mean erosion rate of 490 t·ha−1·y−1 (i.e., 32.67 mm·y−1. The cropland that occupied 74.85% of the total catchment presented a mean erosion rate of 618 t·ha−1·y−1 (i.e., 41.20 mm·y−1 and was responsible for 95.8% of total annual soil loss. Emergency soil erosion control is required with a priority accorded to cropland area of 173,244 ha, which is extremely exposed to actual soil erosion rate of 2222 t·ha−1·y−1 (i.e., 148.13 mm·y−1 and contributed to 96.2% of the total extreme soil loss in the catchment. According to this study, terracing cultivation method could reduce the current erosion rate in cropland areas by about 78%. Therefore, the present study suggests the catchment management by constructing check dams, terracing, agroforestry and reforestation of highly exposed areas as suitable measures for erosion and water pollution control within the Nyabarongo River Catchment and in other regions facing the same problems.

  10. USLE-Based Assessment of Soil Erosion by Water in the Nyabarongo River Catchment, Rwanda.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karamage, Fidele; Zhang, Chi; Kayiranga, Alphonse; Shao, Hua; Fang, Xia; Ndayisaba, Felix; Nahayo, Lamek; Mupenzi, Christophe; Tian, Guangjin

    2016-08-20

    Soil erosion has become a serious problem in recent decades due to unhalted trends of unsustainable land use practices. Assessment of soil erosion is a prominent tool in planning and conservation of soil and water resource ecosystems. The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) was applied to Nyabarongo River Catchment that drains about 8413.75 km² (33%) of the total Rwanda coverage and a small part of the Southern Uganda (about 64.50 km²) using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing technologies. The estimated total annual actual soil loss was approximately estimated at 409 million tons with a mean erosion rate of 490 t·ha(-1)·y(-1) (i.e., 32.67 mm·y(-1)). The cropland that occupied 74.85% of the total catchment presented a mean erosion rate of 618 t·ha(-1)·y(-1) (i.e., 41.20 mm·y(-1)) and was responsible for 95.8% of total annual soil loss. Emergency soil erosion control is required with a priority accorded to cropland area of 173,244 ha, which is extremely exposed to actual soil erosion rate of 2222 t·ha(-1)·y(-1) (i.e., 148.13 mm·y(-1)) and contributed to 96.2% of the total extreme soil loss in the catchment. According to this study, terracing cultivation method could reduce the current erosion rate in cropland areas by about 78%. Therefore, the present study suggests the catchment management by constructing check dams, terracing, agroforestry and reforestation of highly exposed areas as suitable measures for erosion and water pollution control within the Nyabarongo River Catchment and in other regions facing the same problems.

  11. New Information on the Malacofauna of the Catchment Area of Rusenski Lom River (North Bulgaria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iltcho Kolev

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available After this short note adding 8 species to the faunal list of the area, a total of 130 mollusk species are known from the catchment area of Rusenski Lom River both aquatic and terrestrial.

  12. A Flash Flood Study on the Small Montaneous River Catchments in Western Romania

    Science.gov (United States)

    Győri, Maria-Mihaela; Haidu, Ionel; Humbert, Joël

    2013-04-01

    interpolated in order to obtain the hydrograph of the historical flash floods. The two methodologies employed offer the hydrologist the opportunity of computing the historical hydrographs be it on a section of the river at choice, or for every affluent within the small river basins studied, the graphical data being easily accessed both in GIS and HEC-HMS. The peak discharge values of the main rivers as well as those of their tributaries are of great importance in establishing the hydrologic hazard under the form of floodplain maps that are inexistent for the studied watersheds. Key words: flash flood modeling, ungauged catchments, GIS, HEC-HMS rainfall-runoff model. Aknowledgements This work was possible with the financial support of the Sectoral Operational Programme for Human Resources Development 2007-2013, co-financed by the European Social Fund, under the project number POSDRU/107/1.5/S/76841 with the title "Modern Doctoral Studies: Internationalization and Interdisciplinarity".

  13. Calibration of the sodium base cation dominance index of weathering for the River Dee catchment in north-east Scotland

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stutter, M. [Aberdeen Univ. (United Kingdom). Dept. of Plant and Soil Science; Smart, R.; Cresser, M. [York Univ. (United Kingdom). Environmental Dept.

    2002-07-01

    Previously the dominance of base cations by Na{sup +} in river water in upland catchments with low weathering rates and influenced by marine-derived aerosols has been suggested as a quantitative index of weathering rate upstream of the sampling point. Using data for 59 sites from a study of the River Dee catchment in NE Scotland, the index has been fully calibrated against catchment weathering rates and net alkalinity production, derived through input output budget methods, for both upland and agricultural catchments and over a wide range of parent materials. It is shown that the relationship between Na{sup +} dominance and weathering rate is logarithmic, rather than linear as initially suggested. The excellent correlations highlight the potential use of this Na{sup +} dominance index for the direct quantification of catchment susceptibility to acidification at fine spatial resolution, using a few simple and inexpensive measurements. Stronger correlations were observed between the % Na{sup +} dominance and net annual flux of alkalinity than between % Na{sup +} dominance and weathering rate derived from summation of base cation fluxes. This demonstrates the importance of mechanisms controlling the transport of base cations out of catchments, namely in association with organic matter and with anthropogenically derived SO{sub 4}{sup 2-}. These processes are shown to reduce the residual alkalinity derived through weathering. The partial neutralization of organic acidity by internally generated alkalinity has implications in the context of using the mass balance approach for setting critical loads for catchments. (Author)

  14. Pb isotope evidence for contaminant-metal dispersal in an international river system: The lower Danube catchment, Eastern Europe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bird, Graham; Brewer, Paul A.; Macklin, Mark G.; Nikolova, Mariyana; Kotsev, Tsvetan; Mollov, Mihail; Swain, Catherine

    2010-01-01

    Lead isotope signatures ( 207 Pb/ 206 Pb, 208 Pb/ 206 Pb, 208 Pb/ 204 Pb, 206 Pb/ 204 Pb), determined by magnetic sector ICP-MS in river channel sediment, metal ores and mine waste, have been used as geochemical tracers to quantify the delivery and dispersal of sediment-associated metals in the lower Danube River catchment. Due to a diverse geology and range of ore-body ages, Pb isotope signatures in ore-bodies within the lower Danube River catchment show considerable variation, even within individual metallogenic zones. It is also possible to discriminate between the Pb isotopic signatures in mine waste and river sediment within river systems draining individual ore bodies. Lead isotopic data, along with multi-element data; were used to establish the provenance of river sediments and quantify sedimentary contributions to mining-affected tributaries and to the Danube River. Data indicate that mining-affected tributaries in Serbia and Bulgaria contribute up to 30% of the river channel sediment load of the lower Danube River. Quantifying relative sediment contributions from mining-affected tributaries enables spatial patterns in sediment-associated metal and As concentrations to be interpreted in terms of key contaminant sources. Combining geochemical survey data with that regarding the provenance of contaminated sediments can therefore be used to identify foci for remediation and environmental management strategies.

  15. Fluvial sediment inputs to upland gravel bed rivers draining forested catchments: potential ecological impacts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. D. Marks

    1997-01-01

    Full Text Available As identified by the detailed long-term monitoring networks at Plynlimon, increased sediment supply to upland fluvial systems is often associated with forestry land-use and practice. Literature is reviewed, in the light of recent results from Plynlimon sediment studies, to enable identification of the potential ecological impacts of fluvial particulate inputs to upland gravel bed rivers draining forested catchments similar to the headwaters of the River Severn. Both sediment transport and deposition can have significant impacts upon aquatic vertebrates, invertebrates and plants.

  16. Influences on flood frequency distributions in Irish river catchments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Ahilan

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available This study explores influences on flood frequency distributions in Irish rivers. A Generalised Extreme Value (GEV type I distribution is recommended in Ireland for estimating flood quantiles in a single site flood frequency analysis. This paper presents the findings of an investigation that identified the GEV statistical distributions that best fit the annual maximum (AM data series extracted from 172 gauging stations of 126 rivers in Ireland. Analysis of these data was undertaken to explore hydraulic and hydro-geological factors that influence flood frequency distributions. A hierarchical approach of increasing statistical power that used probability plots, moment and L-moment diagrams, the Hosking goodness of fit algorithm and a modified Anderson-Darling (A-D statistical test was followed to determine whether a type I, type II or type III distribution was valid. Results of the Hosking et al. method indicated that of the 143 stations with flow records exceeding 25 yr, data for 95 (67% was best represented by GEV type I distributions and a further 9 (6% and 39 (27% stations followed type II and type III distributions respectively. Type I, type II and type III distributions were determined for 83 (58%, 16 (11% and 34 (24% stations respectively using the modified A-D method (data from 10 stations was not represented by GEV family distributions. The influence of karst terrain on these flood frequency distributions was assessed by incorporating results on an Arc-GIS platform showing karst features and using Monte Carlo simulations to assess the significance of the number and clustering of the observed distributions. Floodplain effects were identified by using two-sample t-tests to identify statistical correlations between the distributions and catchment properties that are indicative of strong floodplain activity. The data reveals that type I distributions are spatially well represented throughout the country. While also well represented throughout

  17. Variability of Rainfall Erosivity and Erosivity Density in the Ganjiang River Catchment, China: Characteristics and Influences of Climate Change

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xianghu Li

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Soil erosion is one of the most critical environmental hazards in the world. Understanding the changes in rainfall erosivity (RE and erosivity density (ED, as well as their affecting factors, at local and catchment scales in the context of climate warming is an important prerequisite of soil erosion prevention and soil loss risk assessment. The present study identified the variability and trends of RE and ED in terms of both time and space in the Ganjiang River catchment over the period of 1960–2012, and also analyzed and discussed the impact of climate change. The results show that RE and ED in the catchment had great monthly variations and high year-to-year variability. Both presented long-term increasing trends over the entire study period. The highest RE and ED were observed in June and in the eastern and northeast parts of the catchment, which indicated that June was the most susceptible month for soil erosion in this area and the lower reaches of the Ganjiang River was the riskiest area for soil erosion. Finally, the East Asian summer monsoon and climate change were highly correlated with changes in RE and ED.

  18. Agroecology and biodiversity of the catchment area of Swat River

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahmad, H.; Ahmed, R.

    2003-01-01

    Agroecological studies of the of the Swat River catchment area showed that the terrestrial ecosystem of the area is divided into subtropical, humid temperate, cool temperate, cold temperate, subalpine, alpine and cold desert zones. Indicator species along with their altitudinal limits are specified for each zone. Unplanned population growth, agriculture extension, habitat losses, deforestation, environmental pollution and unwise use of natural resources are threats to the natural biodiversity of these zones. Its severity is very evident in the subtropical and humid temperate zones. The losses encountered to the biodiversity of the area under the influence of various anthropogenic stresses are highlighted. (author)

  19. Validation of a simple distributed sediment delivery approach in selected sub-basins of the River Inn catchment area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reid, Lucas; Kittlaus, Steffen; Scherer, Ulrike

    2015-04-01

    For large areas without highly detailed data the empirical Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) is widely used to quantify soil loss. The problem though is usually the quantification of actual sediment influx into the rivers. As the USLE provides long-term mean soil loss rates, it is often combined with spatially lumped models to estimate the sediment delivery ratio (SDR). But it gets difficult with spatially lumped approaches in large catchment areas where the geographical properties have a wide variance. In this study we developed a simple but spatially distributed approach to quantify the sediment delivery ratio by considering the characteristics of the flow paths in the catchments. The sediment delivery ratio was determined using an empirical approach considering the slope, morphology and land use properties along the flow path as an estimation of travel time of the eroded particles. The model was tested against suspended solids measurements in selected sub-basins of the River Inn catchment area in Germany and Austria, ranging from the high alpine south to the Molasse basin in the northern part.

  20. Microbial water quality in the upper Olifants River catchment: implications for health

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Le Rouw, Wouter J

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available poor to fair condition. Mining-related disturbances were seen as *Corresponding author. E-mail: wleroux@csir.co.za. Tel: (+27)12 841 2189. the main cause of impairment of river health in the upper parts of the catchment, with the exception... relationship, N50: median infectious dose, r: parameter characterised by dose-response relationship. Microbial monitoring Microbial water quality was monitored over a two year period. During the first year, faecal indicator counts (E. coli) levels...

  1. How old is upland catchment water?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hofmann, Harald; Cartwright, Ian; Morgenstern, Uwe; Gilfedder, Benjamin

    2014-05-01

    Understanding the dynamics of water supply catchments is an essential part of water management. Upland catchments provide a continuous, reliable source of high quality water not only for some of the world's biggest cities, but also for agriculture and industry. Headwater streams control river flow in lowland agricultural basins as the majority of river discharge emerges from upland catchments. Many rivers are perennial and flow throughout the year, even during droughts. However, it is still unclear how reliable and continuous upland catchment water resources really are. Despite many efforts in upland catchment research, there is still little known about where the water is stored and how long it takes to travel through upper catchments. Resolving these questions is crucial to ensure that this resource is protected from changing land use and to estimate potential impacts from a changing climate. Previous research in this important area has been limited by existing measurement techniques. Knowledge to date has relied heavily on the use of variation in stable isotope signals to estimate the age and origin of water from upland catchments. The problem with relying on these measures is that as the water residence time increases, the variation in the stable isotope signal decreases. After a maximum period of four years, no variation can be detected This means that to date, the residence time in upland catchments is likely to have been vastly underestimated. Consequently, the proportion of water flow out of upland river catchments to the total river flow is also underestimated. Tritium (3H) combines directly with water molecules and enters the flow paths with the infiltrating water. Its half-life (12.32 years) makes it ideal to describe residence times in upper catchment reservoirs as it can theoretically measure water up to about 150 years old. The bomb pulse peak in the southern hemisphere was several orders of magnitude lower than in the northern hemisphere. Hence the

  2. Evidence of viral dissemination and seasonality in a Mediterranean river catchment: Implications for water pollution management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rusiñol, Marta; Fernandez-Cassi, Xavier; Timoneda, Natàlia; Carratalà, Anna; Abril, Josep Francesc; Silvera, Carolina; Figueras, Maria José; Gelati, Emiliano; Rodó, Xavier; Kay, David; Wyn-Jones, Peter; Bofill-Mas, Sílvia; Girones, Rosina

    2015-08-15

    Conventional wastewater treatment does not completely remove and/or inactive viruses; consequently, viruses excreted by the population can be detected in the environment. This study was undertaken to investigate the distribution and seasonality of human viruses and faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) in a river catchment located in a typical Mediterranean climate region and to discuss future trends in relation to climate change. Sample matrices included river water, untreated and treated wastewater from a wastewater treatment plant within the catchment area, and seawater from potentially impacted bathing water. Five viruses were analysed in the study. Human adenovirus (HAdV) and JC polyomavirus (JCPyV) were analysed as indicators of human faecal contamination of human pathogens; both were reported in urban wastewater (mean values of 10(6) and 10(5) GC/L, respectively), river water (10(3) and 10(2) GC/L) and seawater (10(2) and 10(1) GC/L). Human Merkel Cell polyomavirus (MCPyV), which is associated with Merkel Cell carcinoma, was detected in 75% of the raw wastewater samples (31/37) and quantified by a newly developed quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay with mean concentrations of 10(4) GC/L. This virus is related to skin cancer in susceptible individuals and was found in 29% and 18% of river water and seawater samples, respectively. Seasonality was only observed for norovirus genogroup II (NoV GGII), which was more abundant in cold months with levels up to 10(4) GC/L in river water. Human hepatitis E virus (HEV) was detected in 13.5% of the wastewater samples when analysed by nested PCR (nPCR). Secondary biological treatment (i.e., activated sludge) and tertiary sewage disinfection including chlorination, flocculation and UV radiation removed between 2.22 and 4.52 log10 of the viral concentrations. Climate projections for the Mediterranean climate areas and the selected river catchment estimate general warming and changes in precipitation distribution

  3. Investigating the impact of land cover change on peak river flow in UK upland peat catchments, based on modelled scenarios

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Jihui; Holden, Joseph; Kirkby, Mike

    2014-05-01

    Changes to land cover can influence the velocity of overland flow. In headwater peatlands, saturation means that overland flow is a dominant source of runoff, particularly during heavy rainfall events. Human modifications in headwater peatlands may include removal of vegetation (e.g. by erosion processes, fire, pollution, overgrazing) or pro-active revegetation of peat with sedges such as Eriophorum or mosses such as Sphagnum. How these modifications affect the river flow, and in particular the flood peak, in headwater peatlands is a key problem for land management. In particular, the impact of the spatial distribution of land cover change (e.g. different locations and sizes of land cover change area) on river flow is not clear. In this presentation a new fully distributed version of TOPMODEL, which represents the effects of distributed land cover change on river discharge, was employed to investigate land cover change impacts in three UK upland peat catchments (Trout Beck in the North Pennines, the Wye in mid-Wales and the East Dart in southwest England). Land cover scenarios with three typical land covers (i.e. Eriophorum, Sphagnum and bare peat) having different surface roughness in upland peatlands were designed for these catchments to investigate land cover impacts on river flow through simulation runs of the distributed model. As a result of hypothesis testing three land cover principles emerged from the work as follows: Principle (1): Well vegetated buffer strips are important for reducing flow peaks. A wider bare peat strip nearer to the river channel gives a higher flow peak and reduces the delay to peak; conversely, a wider buffer strip with higher density vegetation (e.g. Sphagnum) leads to a lower peak and postpones the peak. In both cases, a narrower buffer strip surrounding upstream and downstream channels has a greater effect than a thicker buffer strip just based around the downstream river network. Principle (2): When the area of change is equal

  4. Hydrochemistry in the Tropical Forested River: A Case Study in Nee Soon Catchment Streams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, T. C. T.; WIN, S. H.; Lim, M. H.; Pai, K.; Khairun Nisha, B. M. R.; Ziegler, A. D.; Wasson, R.; Cantarero, S. I.

    2016-12-01

    A total of 779 water samples from the Nee Soon Nature Reserve, a 5km2 catchment in humid tropical Singapore, were collected in low-flow (May 2014 to Nov 2015) and high-flow (May 2014 to June 2015) conditions for determination of spatial and temporal distributions of major ions (Na+, Ca2+, K+, Mg2+, Cl-, HCO3-, NO3-, SO42- and F-) in the streams. In low-flow conditions all cations and Cl-, HCO3-, SO42- showed significant enrichment in the lower compared to the upper catchment, whereas, NO3- and F- had the opposite pattern. In high-flow conditions, the spatial distribution patterns of the ions was largely unchanged across the catchment except that F- was enriched in the lower compared to the upper catchment. Except for Cl-, HCO3- and NO3-, all other ions were higher in storm periods. Among possible sources (atmospheric input, anthropogenic impact and rock weathering), rainfall played an important role in controlling river Cl- and Na+; silicate rock weathering was possibly the source for Ca2+,Mg2+, HCO3- and some of the Na+; all of the SO42- probably comes from pollution by anthropogenic activities. This study provides new data and insights for the understudied South East Asia region.

  5. Comparison of balance of tritium activity in waste water from nuclear power plants and at selected monitoring sites in the Vltava River, Elbe River and Jihlava (Dyje) River catchments in the Czech Republic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanslík, Eduard; Marešová, Diana; Juranová, Eva; Sedlářová, Barbora

    2017-12-01

    During the routine operation, nuclear power plants discharge waste water containing a certain amount of radioactivity, whose main component is the artificial radionuclide tritium. The amounts of tritium released into the environment are kept within the legal requirements, which minimize the noxious effects of radioactivity, but the activity concentration is well measurable in surface water of the recipient. This study compares amount of tritium activity in waste water from nuclear power plants and the tritium activity detected at selected relevant sites of surface water quality monitoring. The situation is assessed in the catchment of the Vltava and Elbe Rivers, affected by the Temelín Nuclear Power Plant as well as in the Jihlava River catchment (the Danube River catchment respectively), where the waste water of the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant is discharged. The results show a good agreement of the amount of released tritium stated by the power plant operator and the tritium amount detected in the surface water and highlighted the importance of a robust independent monitoring of tritium discharged from a nuclear power plant which could be carried out by water management authorities. The outputs of independent monitoring allow validating the values reported by a polluter and expand opportunities of using tritium as e.g. tracer. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Integrated analysis of water quality parameters for cost-effective faecal pollution management in river catchments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nnane, Daniel Ekane; Ebdon, James Edward; Taylor, Huw David

    2011-03-01

    In many parts of the world, microbial contamination of surface waters used for drinking, recreation, and shellfishery remains a pervasive risk to human health, especially in Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDC). However, the capacity to provide effective management strategies to break the waterborne route to human infection is often thwarted by our inability to identify the source of microbial contamination. Microbial Source Tracking (MST) has potential to improve water quality management in complex river catchments that are either routinely, or intermittently contaminated by faecal material from one or more sources, by attributing faecal loads to their human or non-human sources, and thereby supporting more rational approaches to microbial risk assessment. The River Ouse catchment in southeast England (U.K.) was used as a model with which to investigate the integration and application of a novel and simple MST approach to monitor microbial water quality over one calendar year, thereby encompassing a range of meteorological conditions. A key objective of the work was to develop simple low-cost protocols that could be easily replicated. Bacteriophages (viruses) capable of infecting a human specific strain of Bacteroides GB-124, and their correlation with presumptive Escherichia coli, were used to distinguish sources of faecal pollution. The results reported here suggest that in this river catchment the principal source of faecal pollution in most instances was non-human in origin. During storm events, presumptive E. coli and presumptive intestinal enterococci levels were 1.1-1.2 logs higher than during dry weather conditions, and levels of the faecal indicator organisms (FIOs) were closely associated with increased turbidity levels (presumptive E. coli and turbidity, r = 0.43). Spatio-temporal variation in microbial water quality parameters was accounted for by three principal components (67.6%). Cluster Analysis, reduced the fourteen monitoring sites to six

  7. Using stable isotopes to estimate and compare mean residence times in contrasting geologic catchments (Attert River, NW Luxembourg)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martínez-Carreras, N.; Fenicia, F.; Frentress, J.; Wrede, S.; Pfister, L.

    2012-04-01

    In recent years, stable isotopes have been increasingly used to characterize important aspects of catchment hydrological functioning, such as water storage dynamics, flow pathways and water sources. These characteristics are often synthesized by the Mean Residence Time (MRT), which is a simple catchment descriptor that employ the relation of distinct stable isotopic signatures in the rainfall input and streamflow output of a catchment that are significantly dampened through sub-surface propagation. In this preliminary study, MRT was estimated in the Attert River catchment (NW Luxembourg), where previous studies have shown that lithology exerts a major control on runoff generation. The Attert catchment lies at the transition zone of contrasting bedrock lithology: the Northern part is characterized by Devonian schist of the Ardennes massif, while sedimentary deposits of sandstone and marls dominate in the south of the catchment. As a consequence of differing lithologic characteristics, hydrological processes change across scales. The schistose catchments exhibit a delayed shallow groundwater component, sandstone catchments have slow-responding year-round groundwater component, whereas flashy runoff regimes prevails in the marly catchments. Under these circumstances, the MRTs are expected to vary significantly according to lithology, and provide additional understanding in internal catchment processes and their scale dependencies. In order to test this, bi-weekly monitoring of rainfall and discharge stable water isotope composition (oxygen-18 and deuterium) has been carried out since 2007 in 10 nested sub-catchments ranging in size from 0.4 to 247 km2 in the Attert catchment. MRT was estimated using different lumped convolution integral models and sine wave functions with varying transit times distributions (TTDs). TTDs were evaluated through calibration. Further research efforts will deal with the application of conceptual models to simulate and compare TTD, using

  8. Concentration-Discharge relationships in a mine-impacted catchment, New River, Tennessee: Comparison across spatial and temporal scales using time-series analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphy, J.; Hornberger, G. M.

    2009-12-01

    Concentration-discharge (c-Q) relationships are useful in indentifying physical and chemical processes affecting stream water chemistry. Frequently used as a diagnostic tool, c-Q relationships can be used to infer particular mixing patterns that may occur in a catchment. However, much work has shown c-Q relationships are highly variable and often inconclusive, suggesting the catchment behavior they indicate cannot be readily recognized without supporting knowledge of system dynamics. For example, drainage area and location, in addition to changes in land use over time, affect many processes in catchments including flow routing and solute concentrations. The effect of spatial and temporal scales on c-Q relationships are explored using recursive time-series analysis of historic and recent water quality data. The New River encompasses 400 square miles of remote land on the Cumberland Plateau in middle Tennessee and is a major component of the headwaters of the Cumberland River. Current and historic coal mining, oil and gas extraction, and timber harvesting have impaired water quality in the watershed. Historically, the highest magnitude of degradation probably occurred during the mid-1900s with severe acid mine drainage throughout the watershed. In 1975, 56% of all coal mined in Tennessee was derived from the New River watershed. Over the past three decades most of the New River system has rebounded though some small tributaries still experience acid mine drainage and elevated metal loads. Sediment, in terms of quantity and sorption of metals, is currently considered the largest pollutant by many. Water pH is circum-neutral in the system and coal-mining pollution is best identified by elevated specific conductance and sulfate concentration. A combination of historic and recently collected water quality data were obtained for the Indian Fork, a small 4 square mile upland catchment in the New River watershed, and the New River main-stem, approximately 25 miles

  9. Seasonal and spatial variation of diffuse (non-point) source zinc pollution in a historically metal mined river catchment, UK

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gozzard, E., E-mail: emgo@ceh.ac.uk [Hydrogeochemical Engineering Research and Outreach Group, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU (United Kingdom); Mayes, W.M., E-mail: W.Mayes@hull.ac.uk [Hydrogeochemical Engineering Research and Outreach Group, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU (United Kingdom); Potter, H.A.B., E-mail: hugh.potter@environment-agency.gov.uk [Environment Agency England and Wales, c/o Institute for Research on Environment and Sustainability, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU (United Kingdom); Jarvis, A.P., E-mail: a.p.jarvis@ncl.ac.uk [Hydrogeochemical Engineering Research and Outreach Group, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU (United Kingdom)

    2011-10-15

    Quantifying diffuse sources of pollution is becoming increasingly important when characterising river catchments in entirety - a prerequisite for environmental management. This study examines both low and high flow events, as well as spatial variability, in order to assess point and diffuse components of zinc pollution within the River West Allen catchment, which lies within the northern England lead-zinc Orefield. Zinc levels in the river are elevated under all flow regimes, and are of environmental concern. Diffuse components are of little importance at low flow, with point source mine water discharges dominating instream zinc concentration and load. During higher river flows 90% of the instream zinc load is attributed to diffuse sources, where inputs from resuspension of metal-rich sediments, and groundwater influx are likely to be more dominant. Remediating point mine water discharges should significantly improve water quality at lower flows, but contribution from diffuse sources will continue to elevate zinc flux at higher flows. - Highlights: > Zinc concentrations breach EU quality thresholds under all river flow conditions. > Contributions from point sources dominate instream zinc dynamics in low flow. > Contributions from diffuse sources dominate instream zinc dynamics in high flow. > Important diffuse sources include river-bed sediment resuspension and groundwater influx. > Diffuse sources would still create significant instream pollution, even with point source treatment. - Diffuse zinc sources are an important source of instream contamination to mine-impacted rivers under varying flow conditions.

  10. Managing salinity in Upper Colorado River Basin streams: Selecting catchments for sediment control efforts using watershed characteristics and random forests models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tillman, Fred; Anning, David W.; Heilman, Julian A.; Buto, Susan G.; Miller, Matthew P.

    2018-01-01

    Elevated concentrations of dissolved-solids (salinity) including calcium, sodium, sulfate, and chloride, among others, in the Colorado River cause substantial problems for its water users. Previous efforts to reduce dissolved solids in upper Colorado River basin (UCRB) streams often focused on reducing suspended-sediment transport to streams, but few studies have investigated the relationship between suspended sediment and salinity, or evaluated which watershed characteristics might be associated with this relationship. Are there catchment properties that may help in identifying areas where control of suspended sediment will also reduce salinity transport to streams? A random forests classification analysis was performed on topographic, climate, land cover, geology, rock chemistry, soil, and hydrologic information in 163 UCRB catchments. Two random forests models were developed in this study: one for exploring stream and catchment characteristics associated with stream sites where dissolved solids increase with increasing suspended-sediment concentration, and the other for predicting where these sites are located in unmonitored reaches. Results of variable importance from the exploratory random forests models indicate that no simple source, geochemical process, or transport mechanism can easily explain the relationship between dissolved solids and suspended sediment concentrations at UCRB monitoring sites. Among the most important watershed characteristics in both models were measures of soil hydraulic conductivity, soil erodibility, minimum catchment elevation, catchment area, and the silt component of soil in the catchment. Predictions at key locations in the basin were combined with observations from selected monitoring sites, and presented in map-form to give a complete understanding of where catchment sediment control practices would also benefit control of dissolved solids in streams.

  11. Identifying sources of acidity and spatial distribution of acid sulfate soils in the Anglesea River catchment, southern Australia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Vanessa; Yau, Chin; Kennedy, David

    2015-04-01

    Globally, coastal and estuarine floodplains are frequently underlain by sulfidic sediments. When exposed to oxygen, sulfidic sediments oxidise to form acid sulfate soils, adversely impacting on floodplain health and adjacent aquatic ecoystems. In eastern Australia, our understanding of the formation of these coastal and estuarine floodplains, and hence, spatial distribution of acid sulfate soils, is relatively well established. These soils have largely formed as a result of sedimentation of coastal river valleys approximately 6000 years BP when sea levels were one to two metres higher. However, our understanding of the evolution of estuarine systems and acid sulfate soil formation, and hence, distribution, in southern Australia remains limited. The Anglesea River, in southern Australia, is subjected to frequent episodes of poor water quality and low pH resulting in closure of the river and, in extreme cases, large fish kill events. This region is heavily reliant on tourism and host to a number of iconic features, including the Great Ocean Road and Twelve Apostles. Poor water quality has been linked to acid leakage from mining activities and Tertiary-aged coal seams, peat swamps and acid sulfate soils in the region. However, our understanding of the sources of acidity and distribution of acid sulfate soils in this region remains poor. In this study, four sites on the Anglesea River floodplain were sampled, representative of the main vegetation communities. Peat swamps and intertidal marshes were both significant sources of acidity on the floodplain in the lower catchment. However, acid neutralising capacity provided by carbonate sands suggests that there are additional sources of acidity higher in the catchment. This pilot study has highlighted the complexity in the links between the floodplain, upper catchment and waterways with further research required to understand these links for targeted acid management strategies.

  12. Mitigating Agricultural Diffuse Pollution: Learning from The River Eden Demonstration Test Catchment Experiments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reaney, S. M.; Barker, P. A.; Haygarth, P.; Quinn, P. F.; Aftab, A.; Barber, N.; Burke, S.; Cleasby, W.; Jonczyk, J. C.; Owen, G. J.; Perks, M. T.; Snell, M. A.; Surridge, B.

    2016-12-01

    Freshwater systems continue to fail to achieve their ecological potential and provide associated ecological services due to poor water quality. A key driver of the failure to achieve good status under the EU Water Framework Directive derives from non-point (diffuse) pollution of sediment, phosphorus and nitrogen from agricultural landscapes. While many mitigation options exist, a framework is lacking which provides a holistic understanding of the impact of mitigation scheme design on catchment function and agronomics. The River Eden Demonstration Test Catchment project (2009-2017) in NW England uses an interdisciplinary approach including catchment hydrology, sediment-nutrient fluxes and farmer attitudes, to understand ecological function and diffuse pollution mitigation feature performance. Water flow (both surface and groundwater) and quality monitoring focused on three ca. 10km2 catchments with N and P measurements every 30 minutes. Ecological status was determined by monthly diatom community analysis and supplemented by macrophyte, macroinvertebrate and fish surveys. Changes in erosion potential and hydrological connectivity were monitored using extensive Landsat images and detailed UAV monitoring. Simulation modelling work utilised hydrological simulation models (CRAFT, CRUM3 and HBV-Light) and SCIMAP based risk mapping. Farmer behaviour and attitudes have been assessed with surveys, interviews and diaries. A suite of mitigation features have been installed including changes to land management - e.g. aeriation, storage features within a `treatment train', riparian fencing and woodland creation. A detailed dataset of the integrated catchment hydrological, water quality and ecological behaviour over multiple years, including a drought period and an extreme rainfall event, highlights the interaction between ecology, hydrological and nutrient dynamics that are driven by sediment and nutrients exported within a small number of high magnitude storm events. Hence

  13. Participatory scenario development for integrated assessment of nutrient flows in a Catalan river catchment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F. Caille

    2007-11-01

    Full Text Available Rivers in developed regions are under significant stress due to nutrient enrichment generated mainly by human activities. Excess nitrogen and phosphorus emissions are the product of complex dynamic systems influenced by various factors such as demographic, socio-economic and technological development. Using a Catalan river catchment, La Tordera (North-East of Spain, as a case study of an integrated and interdisciplinary environmental assessment of nutrient flows, we present and discuss the development of narrative socio-economic scenarios through a participatory process for the sustainable management of the anthropogenic sources of nutrients, nitrogen and phosphorus. In this context, scenarios are an appropriate tool to assist nutrient emissions modelling, and to assess impacts, possible pathways for socio-economic development and associated uncertainties. Evaluated against the 1993–2003 baseline period, scenarios target the 2030 horizon, i.e. through the implementation process of the Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC. After a critical examination of the methodology used in the participatory development of socio-economic scenarios, we present four possible futures (or perspectives for the Catalan river catchment conceived by stakeholders invited to a workshop. Keys to the success of such a participatory process were trust, which enhanced openness, and disagreements, which fostered the group's creativity for scenario development. The translation of narrative socio-economic scenarios into meaningful nutrient emission scenarios is also discussed. By integrating findings of natural sciences and socio-economic analysis, we aim to assist decision makers and stakeholders in evaluating optimal management strategies for the anthropogenic sources of nitrogen and phosphorus.

  14. Hydrological picture of Nišava trans-boundary catchment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hristova Nelly

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This work focuses on hydrographic and hydrological specific of Nišava River. It uses all hydrometric and cartographic information for the Bulgarian part of the catchment. Trans-boundary catchment of Nišava River includes four sub-basins, which are trans-borders too. There are a lot of karst areas in the river basin. The drainage density is 1.09 km/km2. Water resources of Nišava River are 170 million m3. They vary between 300.0 and 84.0 million m3. The period of high water appears in March/April and finishes in June. The frequency of monthly maximum is biggest in April or May. The monthly minimum appears most often in September or October. Floods in the catchment of the river Nišava are most often in March, May and June. Some of the rivers lose its waters in the karst areas and dries up during the summer. The average number of days with ice is between 10 and 70. The chemical and ecological status of river water is good. .

  15. Understanding the controls on sediment-P interactions and dynamics along a non-tidal river system in a rural–urban catchment: The River Nene

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tye, A.M.; Rawlins, B.G.; Rushton, J.C.; Price, R.

    2016-01-01

    The release of Phosphorus (P) from river sediments has been identified as a contributing factor to waters failing the criteria for ‘Good Ecological Status’ under the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). To identify the contribution of sediment-P to river systems, an understanding of the factors that influence its distribution within the entire non-tidal system is required. Thus the aims of this work were to examine the (i) total (P_T_o_t_a_l) and labile (P_L_a_b_i_l_e) concentrations in sediment, (ii) the sequestration processes and (iii) the interactions between sediment P and the river water in the six non-tidal water bodies of the River Nene, U.K. Collection of sediments followed a long period of flooding and high stream flow. In each water body, five cores were extracted and homogenised for analysis with an additional core being taken and sampled by depth increments. Comparing the distribution of sediment particle size and P_T_o_t_a_l data with soil catchment geochemical survey data, large increases in P_T_o_t_a_l were identified in sediments from water body 4–6, where median concentrations of P_T_o_t_a_l in the sediment (3603 mg kg"−"1) were up to double those of the catchment soils. A large proportion of this increase may be related to in-stream sorption of P, particularly from sewage treatment facilities where the catchment becomes more urbanised after water body 3. A linear correlation (r = 0.8) between soluble reactive phosphate (SRP) and Boron in the sampled river waters was found suggesting increased STW input in water bodies 4–6. P_L_a_b_i_l_e concentrations in homogenised cores were up to 100 mg kg"−"1 PO_4–P (generally < 2% of P_T_o_t_a_l) and showed a general increase with distance from the headwaters. A general increase in Equilibrium Phosphate Concentrations (EPC_0) from an average of 0.9–∼1.7 μm L"−"1 was found between water bodies 1–3 and 4–6. Fixation within oxalate extractable phases (Al, Fe and Mn) accounted

  16. Pollution from urban development and setback outfalls as a catchment management measure for river water quality improvement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, Deonie; Haynes, Heather; Arthur, Scott

    2016-04-01

    Urban development causes an increase in fine sediment and heavy metal stormwater pollution. Pollution load estimation theorises that stormwater pollutant load and type are strongly, directly influenced by contributing catchment land use. The research presented investigates the validity of these assumptions using an extensive novel field data set of 53 catchments. This research has investigated the relationships between land use and pollutant concentrations (Cu, Zn, Pb, Ni, Ca, Ba, Sn, Mn) in urban stormwater outfall sediments. Cartographic and aerial photography data have been utilised to delineate the surface and subsurface contributing catchment land use. A zoned sub-catchment approach to catchment characterisation of stormwater pollutant concentration has been defined and tested. This method effectively describes the specific land use influence on pollutant concentrations at the stormwater outfall, showing strong dependency with road length, brake points, impervious area and open space. Road networks and open space are found to influence land use, and thus stormwater pollution, closer to stormwater outfall/receiving waterbody suggesting storage, treatment, assimilation, loss or dilution of the land use influence further away from stormwater outfall. An empirical description has been proposed with which to predict outfall pollutant contributions to the receiving urban waterbody based on catchment land use information. With the definition and quantification of contributing catchment specific fine sediment and urban heavy metal pollutants, the influence of urban stormwater outfall management on the receiving watercourse has been considered. The locations of stormwater outfalls, and their proximity to the receiving waterway, are known as key water quality and river health influences. Water quality benefits from the implementation of stormwater outfalls set back from the receiving waterway banks have been investigated using the catchment case study. Setback outfalls

  17. Water quality assessment and catchment-scale nutrient flux modeling in the Ramganga River Basin in north India: An application of INCA model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pathak, Devanshi; Whitehead, Paul G; Futter, Martyn N; Sinha, Rajiv

    2018-03-07

    The present study analyzes the water quality characteristics of the Ramganga (a major tributary of the Ganga river) using long-term (1991-2009) monthly data and applies the Integrated Catchment Model of Nitrogen (INCA-N) and Phosphorus (INCA-P) to the catchment. The models were calibrated and validated using discharge (1993-2011), phosphate (1993-2010) and nitrate (2007-2010) concentrations. The model results were assessed based on Pearson's correlation, Nash-Sutcliffe and Percentage bias statistics along with a visual inspection of the outputs. The seasonal variation study shows high nutrient concentrations in the pre-monsoon season compared to the other seasons. High nutrient concentrations in the low flows period pose a serious threat to aquatic life of the river although the concentrations are lowered during high flows because of the dilution effect. The hydrological model is satisfactorily calibrated with R 2 and NS values ranging between 0.6-0.8 and 0.4-0.8, respectively. INCA-N and INCA-P successfully capture the seasonal trend of nutrient concentrations with R 2 >0.5 and PBIAS within ±17% for the monthly averages. Although, high concentrations are detected in the low flows period, around 50% of the nutrient load is transported by the monsoonal high flows. The downstream catchments are characterized by high nutrient transport through high flows where additional nutrient supply from industries and agricultural practices also prevail. The seasonal nitrate (R 2 : 0.88-0.94) and phosphate (R 2 : 0.62-0.95) loads in the catchment are calculated using model results and ratio estimator load calculation technique. On average, around 548tonnes of phosphorus (as phosphate) and 77,051tonnes of nitrogen (as nitrate) are estimated to be exported annually from the Ramganga River to the Ganga. Overall, the model has been able to successfully reproduce the catchment dynamics in terms of seasonal variation and broad-scale spatial variability of nutrient fluxes in the

  18. Response of floodplain sedimentation to catchment disturbances in different environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Notebaert, B.; Houbrechts, G.; Verstraeten, G.; Petit, F.

    2009-04-01

    Holocene floodplain sediments are an important environmental archive, that can be accesed for reconstructing the past landscape dynamics either qualitatively (e.g. palynology) and quantitatively (e.g. sediment budgeting). In this study Holocene alluvial sediment deposition in two contrasting Belgian catchments was quantified and dated: the Lienne (148 km2) in the Ardennes massif and the Dijle (750 km2) in the loess region. These catchments experienced a comparable Holocene climatic variation, but differ in topography and geology with highest relief energy in the Lienne catchment. Land use history also differs with high land use intensities in the Dijle catchment since Roman times, but at least since the Middle Ages there were also large deforestations in the Lienne catchment. Detailed cumulative Holocene sediment deposition was assessed for each catchment using more then 1000 hand augerings. Detailed radiocarbon dating of fluvial deposits was performed in the Dijle catchment, while iron slag was used as a tracer for sediments deposited after 1350 AD in the Lienne catchment. Results show that sediment deposition is much larger in the Dijle catchment (~4.5 Mg ha-1 catchment area) then in the Lienne catchment (~0.2 Mg ha-1 catchment area). Dating results from the Dijle catchment show an increase of sediment deposition in the late Holocene, first starting in the colluvial valleys and later on prograding towards the main valleys. Variations in sedimentation rates can clearly be related to anthropogenous land use pressure, and the majority of the sediments found in colluvial and alluvial valleys were deposited in the last 4000 years, and in many cases even in the last 1000 years. Variations in sediment deposition within the catchment can partially be explained by differences in river valley physical settings (mainly valley slope), while in other cases hill slope sediment delivery (upstream erosion, connectivity between hill slopes and the river system) is the explaining

  19. A distributed water level network in ephemeral river reaches to identify hydrological processes within anthropogenic catchments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarrazin, B.; Braud, I.; Lagouy, M.; Bailly, J. S.; Puech, C.; Ayroles, H.

    2009-04-01

    In order to study the impact of land use change on the water cycle, distributed hydrological models are more and more used, because they have the ability to take into account the land surface heterogeneity and its evolution due to anthropogenic pressure. These models provide continuous distributed simulations of streamflow, runoff, soil moisture, etc, which, ideally, should be evaluated against continuous distributed measurements, taken at various scales and located in nested sub-catchments. Distributed network of streamflow gauging stations are in general scarce and very expensive to maintain. Furthermore, they can hardly be installed in the upstream parts of the catchments where river beds are not well defined. In this paper, we present an alternative to these standard streamflow gauging stations network, based on self powered high resolution water level sensors using a capacitive water height data logger. One of their advantages is that they can be installed even in ephemeral reaches and from channel head locations to high order streams. Furthermore, these innovative and easily adaptable low cost sensors offer the possibility to develop in the near future, a wireless network application. Such a network, including 15 sensors has been set up on nested watersheds in small and intermittent streams of a 7 km² catchment, located in the mountainous "Mont du Lyonnais" area, close to the city of Lyon, France. The land use of this catchment is mostly pasture, crop and forest, but the catchment is significantly affected by human activities, through the existence of a dense roads and paths network and urbanized areas. The equipment provides water levels survey during precipitation events in the hydrological network with a very accurate time step (2 min). Water levels can be related to runoff production and catchment response as a function of scale. This response will depend, amongst other, on variable soil water storage capacity, physiographic data and characteristics of

  20. Assessment of water quality of the Odaw river catchment using hydrochemistry and stable isotope techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kemetse, J. K.

    2014-07-01

    The physico-chemical and isotopic properties of water In the Odaw River catchment including some hand-dug wells and water from the unsaturated zone were assessed to ascertain the impact of human activities on the water quality and also to assess the vulnerability of ground water resources in the catchment. Samples were collected from October, 2013 to March, 2014 using well washed plastic bottles. During every sampling session; temperature, conductivity, salinity, turbidity and pH were measured in situ using HACH portable conductivity meter and a pH meter. Alkalinity and bicarbonates were determined by titration. In the laboratory, total dissolved solid (TDS) and total suspended solids (TSS) were determined using calorimetric methods. Total hardness, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and dissolved oxygen (DO) and calcium were determined by titration. Anions such as nitrates, phosphates, sulphate, chloride, fluoride were analyzed by Ion Chromatography, while Flame Photometry was used to analyze sodium and potassium. Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) was used to determine magnesium, cadmium, mercury, lead and arsenic. Liquid isotope analyzer was also used for the determination of 18 O and 2 H. Stable isotopes of 18 O, 2 H and 15 N were analyzed to help understand the source and flow of nutrients into the catchment. Data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel-2003 and CCME WQI. From the results pH for the water samples upstream was acidic to slightly alkaline (2.8 - 8.1), midstream was alkaline (7.3 - 11.5) and the downstream was 6.4 -7.7; TDS, EC and salinity increased from the upstream to the downstream as the river approaches the lagoon. There was some amount of heavy metal contamination in all the samples with the exception of Cd which was below detection limit. Hg was also below detection limit in the upstream. The CCME WQI was calculated for the surface water samples using 16 physico-chemical parameters. Results indicated that the

  1. The catchment based approach using catchment system engineering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jonczyk, Jennine; Quinn, Paul; Barber, Nicholas; Wilkinson, Mark

    2015-04-01

    The catchment based approach (CaBa) has been championed as a potential mechanism for delivery of environmental directives such as the Water Framework Directive in the UK. However, since its launch in 2013, there has been only limited progress towards achieving sustainable, holistic management, with only a few of examples of good practice ( e.g. from the Tyne Rivers trust). Common issues with developing catchment plans over a national scale include limited data and resources to identify issues and source of those issues, how to systematically identify suitable locations for measures or suites of measures that will have the biggest downstream impact and how to overcome barriers for implementing solutions. Catchment System Engineering (CSE) is an interventionist approach to altering the catchment scale runoff regime through the manipulation of hydrological flow pathways throughout the catchment. A significant component of the runoff generation can be managed by targeting hydrological flow pathways at source, such as overland flow, field drain and ditch function, greatly reducing erosive soil losses. Coupled with management of farm nutrients at source, many runoff attenuation features or measures can be co-located to achieve benefits for water quality and biodiversity. A catchment, community-led mitigation measures plan using the CSE approach will be presented from a catchment in Northumberland, Northern England that demonstrate a generic framework for identification of multi-purpose features that slow, store and filter runoff at strategic locations in the landscape. Measures include within-field barriers, edge of field traps and within-ditch measures. Progress on the implementation of measures will be reported alongside potential impacts on the runoff regime at both local and catchment scale and costs.

  2. Rainfall-runoff modelling of the Okavango River catchment to assess impacts of land use change on runoff and downstream ecosystems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milzow, Christian; Bauer-Gottwein, Peter

    2010-05-01

    The competition between human water use and ecosystem water use is one of the major challenges for water resources management at the global scale. We analyse the situation for the Okavango River basin of southern Africa. The Okavango River is representative for many large rivers throughout the developing world in that it is ungauged and poorly studied. The Okavango basin - spanning over Angola, Namibia and Botswana - represents a multi-objective problem in an international setting. Economic benefits of agricultural development and conservation of ecosystem services call for opposed actions. A semi-distributed rainfall-runoff model of the Okavango catchment is set up using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The model is sufficiently physically based to simulate the impact on runoff of extent of agricultural use, crop types and management practices. Precipitation and temperature inputs are taken from datasets covering large parts of the globe. The methodology can thus easily be applied for other ungauged catchments. For temperature we use the ERA-Interim reanalysis product of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and for precipitation the Famine Early Warning Systems Network data (FEWS-Net). Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) data resulted in poor model performance compared to the FEWS-Net data. Presently, the upstream catchment in Angola is largely pristine and agriculture is basically restricted to dry land subsistence farming. But economic growth in Angola is likely to result in agricultural development and consequent impacts on catchment runoff. Land use scenarios that are simulated include large scale irrigated agriculture with water extractions from the river and the shallow aquifer. Climate change impacts are also studied and compared to land use change impacts. The downstream part of the basin consists of the large Okavango Wetlands, which are a biodiversity hotspot of global importance and, through tourism, an important

  3. Analyzing catchment behavior through catchment modeling in the Gilgel Abay, Upper Blue Nile River Basin, Ethiopia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Uhlenbrook

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Understanding catchment hydrological processes is essential for water resources management, in particular in data scarce regions. The Gilgel Abay catchment (a major tributary into Lake Tana, source of the Blue Nile is undergoing intensive plans for water management, which is part of larger development plans in the Blue Nile basin in Ethiopia. To obtain a better understanding of the water balance dynamics and runoff generation mechanisms and to evaluate model transferability, catchment modeling has been conducted using the conceptual hydrological model HBV. Accordingly, the catchment of the Gilgel Abay has been divided into two gauged sub-catchments (Upper Gilgel Abay and Koga and the un-gauged part of the catchment. All available data sets were tested for stationarity, consistency and homogeneity and the data limitations (quality and quantity are discussed. Manual calibration of the daily models for three different catchment representations, i.e. (i lumped, (ii lumped with multiple vegetation zones, and (iii semi-distributed with multiple vegetation and elevation zones, showed good to satisfactory model performances with Nash-Sutcliffe efficiencies Reff > 0.75 and > 0.6 for the Upper Gilgel Abay and Koga sub-catchments, respectively. Better model results could not be obtained with manual calibration, very likely due to the limited data quality and model insufficiencies. Increasing the computation time step to 15 and 30 days improved the model performance in both sub-catchments to Reff > 0.8. Model parameter transferability tests have been conducted by interchanging parameters sets between the two gauged sub-catchments. Results showed poor performances for the daily models (0.30 < Reff < 0.67, but better performances for the 15 and 30 days models, Reff > 0.80. The transferability tests together with a sensitivity analysis using Monte Carlo simulations (more than 1 million

  4. Persistent pollution of Warta river catchment with chromium: case study from central Poland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hermanski, S.; Lukaczynski, I.; Nikiel, G.; Mizera, J.; Dulinski, M.; Kania, J.; Rozanski, K.; Szklarczyk, T.; Wachniew, P.; Witczak, S.; Zurek, A.

    2012-04-01

    Upper reaches of the Warta river, the third largest river in Poland, are located in a densely populated and industrialized area, with presence of heavy industry going back to the second half of the XIX century. Industrial activities include iron smelters in towns of Częstochowa and Zawiercie, large chemical plants (Rudniki and Aniolow) producing predominantly chromium compounds, paper and textile industry, as well as large number of small enterprises specialized in metal coatings (nickel and chromium). Until the 1960s all the industrial and municipal effluents in the region were discharged into the Warta river and its tributaries. Solid wastes were dumped on the surface, mostly without appropriate cover and isolation. This resulted in progressive contamination of surface waters and groundwater with heavy metals, mostly chromium. The upper reaches of the Warta river are located on top of upper Jurassic Major Groundwater Basin (MGWB 326 which is one of four most important groundwater reservoirs in Poland. Almost all potable water demands in the area (ca. 340,000 inhabitants, 800 factories and enterprises) are covered by MGWB 326 (50 deep wells with the average extraction rate of 57,000 m3/d). As the MGWB 326 is mostly phreatic, it has been recognized since long time that persistent pollution of the upper catchment of the Warta river with heavy metals may pose serious thread to quality of this important groundwater resource. In this presentation we summarize the work carried out to date, focused on characterization of the extent and understanding of the mechanisms of pollution of surface water, sediments and groundwater in MGWB 326 with chromium. Historical monitoring data of the levels of chromium in the Warta river and its tributaries are presented, supplemented by the results of measurements of Cr loads in Warta over-bank deposits and Cr levels in groundwater production wells in the area. Three conceptual models of spreading of chromium in the catchment of Warta

  5. Hydrology of the North Klondike River: carbon export, water balance and inter-annual climate influences within a sub-alpine permafrost catchment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lapp, Anthony; Clark, Ian; Macumber, Andrew; Patterson, Tim

    2017-10-01

    Arctic and sub-arctic watersheds are undergoing significant changes due to recent climate warming and degrading permafrost, engendering enhanced monitoring of arctic rivers. Smaller catchments provide understanding of discharge, solute flux and groundwater recharge at the process level that contributes to an understanding of how larger arctic watersheds are responding to climate change. The North Klondike River, located in west central Yukon, is a sub-alpine permafrost catchment, which maintains an active hydrological monitoring station with a record of >40 years. In addition to being able to monitor intra-annual variability, this data set allows for more complex analysis of streamflow records. Streamflow data, geochemistry and stable isotope data for 2014 show a groundwater-dominated system, predominantly recharged during periods of snowmelt. Radiocarbon is shown to be a valuable tracer of soil zone recharge processes and carbon sources. Winter groundwater baseflow contributes 20 % of total annual discharge, and accounts for up to 50 % of total river discharge during the spring and summer months. Although total stream discharge remains unchanged, mean annual groundwater baseflow has increased over the 40-year monitoring period. Wavelet analysis reveals a catchment that responds to El Niño and longer solar cycles, as well as climatic shifts such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Dedicated to Professor Peter Fritz on the occasion of his 80th birthday.

  6. Tracing the sources of fine sediment in a nickel mining catchment using fallout and geogenic radionuclides (Thio River, New Caledonia)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evrard, Olivier; Navratil, Oldrich; Lefèvre, Irène; Laceby, J. Patrick; Allenbach, Michel

    2016-04-01

    Soil erosion and subsequent sediment transfer in rivers are exacerbated in tropical regions exposed to heavy rainfall. In New Caledonia, an island located in the southwestern part of the Southern Pacific Ocean, a significant fraction of this sediment is likely originating from tributaries draining nickel mining sites that are known to increase the terrigenous inputs to the rivers and, potentially to UNESCO World Heritage listed coastal lagoons. However, downstream contributions from these tributaries remain to be quantified. A pilot sediment tracing study has therefore been conducted in the 400-km² Thio River catchment. Fallout and geogenic radionuclides have been measured in sediment deposits collected in potential sources, i.e. (i) tributaries draining mines, (ii) tributaries draining 'natural' areas affected by landslides, and (iii) the main stem of the Thio River. Thorium-228 and Caesium-137 provide the best discrimination between sediment originating from the two tributaries. A distribution modelling approach was used to quantify the relative sediment contributions from these tributaries to the Thio River main stem. Results demonstrate that tributaries draining mining sites supply the majority of sediment (67-84%) to the main river. In the future, the validity of these results obtained on sediment deposits collected in April and May 2015 should be verified over a longer time period by applying a similar approach to sediment cores collected in the Thio river deltaic plain. Once validated, this method will be applicable to other catchments draining mines in New Caledonia to design appropriate measures to limit sediment supply to the lagoon.

  7. Examining the spatial and temporal variation of groundwater inflows to a valley-to-floodplain river using 222Rn, geochemistry and river discharge: the Ovens River, southeast Australia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, M. C. L.; Cartwright, I.; Braden, J. L.; de Bree, S. T.

    2013-12-01

    Radon (222Rn) and major ion geochemistry were used to define and quantify the catchment-scale groundwater-surface water interactions along the Ovens River in the southeast Murray-Darling Basin, Victoria, Australia, between September 2009 and October 2011. The Ovens River is characterized by the transition from a single channel within a mountain valley in the upper catchment to a multi-channel meandering river on flat alluvial plains in the lower catchment. Overall, the Ovens River is dominated by gaining reaches, receiving groundwater from both alluvial and basement aquifers. The distribution of gaining and losing reaches is governed by catchment morphology and lithology. In the upper catchment, rapid groundwater recharge through the permeable aquifers increases the water table. The rising water table, referred to as hydraulic loading, increases the hydraulic head gradient toward the river and hence causes high baseflow to the river during wet (high flow) periods. In the lower catchment, lower rainfall and finer-gained sediments reduce the magnitude and variability of hydraulic gradient between the aquifer and the river, producing lower but more constant groundwater inflows. The water table in the lower reaches has a shallow gradient, and small changes in river height or groundwater level can result in fluctuating gaining and losing behaviour. The middle catchment represents a transition in river-aquifer interactions from the upper to the lower catchment. High baseflow in some parts of the middle and lower catchments is caused by groundwater flowing over basement highs. Mass balance calculations based on 222Rn activities indicate that groundwater inflows are 2 to 17% of total flow with higher inflows occurring during high flow periods. In comparison to 222Rn activities, estimates of groundwater inflows from Cl concentrations are higher by up to 2000% in the upper and middle catchment but lower by 50 to 100% in the lower catchment. The high baseflow estimates using

  8. Remote sensing of surface water quality in relation to catchment condition in Zimbabwe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masocha, Mhosisi; Murwira, Amon; Magadza, Christopher H. D.; Hirji, Rafik; Dube, Timothy

    2017-08-01

    The degradation of river catchments is one of the most important contemporary environmental problems affecting water quality in tropical countries. In this study, we used remotely sensed Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to assess how catchment condition varies within and across river catchments in Zimbabwe. We then used non-linear regression to test whether catchment condition assessed using the NDVI is significantly (α = 0.05) related with levels of Total Suspended Solids (TSS) measured at different sampling points in thirty-two sub-catchments in Zimbabwe. The results showed a consistent negative curvilinear relationship between Landsat 8 derived NDVI and TSS measured across the catchments under study. In the drier catchments of the country, 98% of the variation in TSS is explained by NDVI, while in wetter catchments, 64% of the variation in TSS is explained by NDVI. Our results suggest that NDVI derived from free and readily available multispectral Landsat series data (Landsat 8) is a potential valuable tool for the rapid assessment of physical water quality in data poor catchments. Overall, the finding of this study underscores the usefulness of readily available satellite data for near-real time monitoring of the physical water quality at river catchment scale, especially in resource-constrained areas, such as the sub-Saharan Africa.

  9. Climate and land-use change impact on faecal indicator bacteria in a temperate maritime catchment (the River Conwy, Wales)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bussi, Gianbattista; Whitehead, Paul G.; Thomas, Amy R. C.; Masante, Dario; Jones, Laurence; Jack Cosby, B.; Emmett, Bridget A.; Malham, Shelagh K.; Prudhomme, Christel; Prosser, Havard

    2017-10-01

    Water-borne pathogen contamination from untreated sewage effluent and runoff from farms is a serious threat to the use of river water for drinking and commercial purposes, such as downstream estuarine shellfish industries. In this study, the impact of climate change and land-use change on the presence of faecal indicator bacteria in freshwater was evaluated, through the use of a recently-developed catchment-scale pathogen model. The River Conwy in Wales has been used as a case-study, because of the large presence of livestock in the catchment and the importance of the shellfish harvesting activities in its estuary. The INCA-Pathogens catchment model has been calibrated through the use of a Monte-Carlo-based technique, based on faecal indicator bacteria measurements, and then driven by an ensemble of climate projections obtained from the HadRM3-PPE model (Future Flow Climate) plus four land-use scenarios (current land use, managed ecosystem, abandonment and agricultural intensification). The results show that climate change is not expected to have a very large impact on average river flow, although it might alter its seasonality. The abundance of faecal indicator bacteria is expected to decrease in response to climate change, especially during the summer months, due to reduced precipitation, causing reduced runoff, and increased temperature, which enhances the bacterial die-off processes. Land-use change can also have a potentially large impact on pathogens. The "managed ecosystems" scenario proposed in this study can cause a reduction of 15% in average water faecal indicator bacteria and up to 30% in the 90th percentile of water faecal indicator bacteria, mainly due to the conversion of pasture land into grassland and the expansion of forest land. This study provides an example of how to assess the impacts of human interventions on the landscape, and what may be the extent of their effects, for other catchments where the human use of the natural resources in the

  10. Numerical model of the catchments of the oziąbel and wołczyński strumień rivers - Wołczyn municipality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olichwer, Tomasz; Wcisło, Marek; Staśko, Stanisław; Buczyński, Sebastian; Modelska, Magdalena; Tarka, Robert

    2012-10-01

    The article presents a numerical model designed for determining groundwater dynamics and water balance of the catchments of the Oziąbel (Czarna Woda) river and the Wołczyński Strumień river in Wołczyn region. Hydrogeological mapping and modelling research covered the area of 238.9 km2. As a result of measurements performed in 2008-2009, flows were determined in major rivers and water table positions were measured at 26 points. In the major part of the area described, the water table, lying at the depth of 1.5-18.7 m, has unconfined character, and the aquifer is built of Neogene (Quaternary) sands and gravels. In the area under study, groundwaters are drawn from 6 wells with total withdrawal of 6133 m3/d. The numerical modelling was performed with the use of Visual Modflow 3.1.0 software. The area was partitioned by a discretization grid with a step size l = 250 m. The conceptual model of the hydrogeological system is based on hydrological data gathered over a period of one year, data from HYDRO bank database, cross-sections and maps. The boundaries of the modelled hydrogeological system were established on the watersheds of the Wołczyński Strumień river and the Oziąbel river, apart from the areas where they run together. The modelled area was extended (271.5 km2) around the Wołczyński Strumień river catchment to achieve a more effective mapping of the anthropogenic impact on its balance and the hydrodynamic system of the catchment area. The structure is characterised by the occurrence of one or rarely two aquifers separated by a pack of Quaternary clays. The investigation produced a detailed water balance and its components.

  11. Modelling the impact of forest loss on shallow landslide sediment yield, Ijuez river catchment, Spanish Pyrenees

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available The SHETRAN model for simulating the sediment yield arising from shallow landslides at the scale of a river catchment was applied to the 45-km2 Ijuez catchment in the central Spanish Pyrenees, to investigate the effect of loss of forest cover on landslide and debris flow incidence and on catchment sediment yield. The application demonstrated how such a model, with a large number of parameters to be evaluated, can be used even when directly measured data are not available: rainfall and discharge time series were generated by reference to other local records and data providing the basis for a soil map were obtained by a short field campaign. Uncertainty bounds for the outputs were determined as a function of the uncertainty in the values of key model parameters. For a four-year period and for the existing forested state of the catchment, a good ability to simulate the observed long term spatial distribution of debris flows (represented by a 45-year inventory and to determine catchment sediment yield within the range of regional observations was demonstrated. The lower uncertainty bound on simulated landslide occurrence approximated the observed annual rate of landsliding and suggests that landslides provide a relatively minor proportion of the total sediment yield, at least in drier years. A scenario simulation in which the forest cover was replaced by grassland indicated an increase in landsliding but a decrease in the number of landslides which evolve into debris flows and, at least for drier years, a reduction in sediment delivery to the channel network.

  12. Meltwater chemistry and solute export from a Greenland ice sheet catchment, Watson River, West Greenland

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yde, Jacob C.; Knudsen, N. Tvis; Hasholt, Bent

    2014-01-01

    –2010 for the Watson River sector of the GrIS that drains into the fjord Kangerlussuaq. The hydrochemistry is dominated by Ca2+ and HCO3− with a relatively high molar K+/Na+ ratio of 0.6 ± 0.1, typical for meltwaters draining a gneissic lithology. Low molar Ca2+/Na+ and Mg2+/Na+ ratios indicate that weathering....... However, when normalized by discharge the denudation rates are comparable to other Arctic sites. When extrapolating the results from the Watson River catchment to the entire Greenland for 2007–2010, the solute export from Greenland meltwater varied between 7.1 × 106 and 7.8 × 106 tons, whilst the major...

  13. Probabilistic risk assessment of diuron and prometryn in the Gwydir River catchment, Australia, with the input of a novel bioassay based on algal growth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Yajuan; Burns, Mitchell; Ritchie, Raymond J; Crossan, Angus; Kennedy, Ivan R

    2014-08-01

    A probabilistic risk assessment of the selected herbicides (diuron and prometryn) in the Gwydir River catchment was conducted, with the input of the EC₅₀ values derived from both literature and a novel bioassay. Laboratory test based on growth of algae exposed to herbicides assayed with a microplate reader was used to examine the toxicity of diuron and prometryn on the growth of Chlorella vulgaris. Both herbicides showed concentration dependent toxicity in inhibiting the growth of Chlorella during the exposure period of 18-72 h. Diuron caused more toxicity as judged by growth rates than prometryn. Thalaba Creek at Merrywinebone was identified as the 'hotspot' for diuron and prometryn risk in the Gwydir catchment. The use of microplate assays coupled with probabilistic risk assessment is recommended for rapid assessment of ecotoxicity of indigenous species, allowing identification of locations in river catchments requiring environmental management. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Representing macropore flow at the catchment scale: a comparative modeling study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, D.; Li, H. Y.; Tian, F.; Leung, L. R.

    2017-12-01

    Macropore flow is an important hydrological process that generally enhances the soil infiltration capacity and velocity of subsurface water. Up till now, macropore flow is mostly simulated with high-resolution models. One possible drawback of this modeling approach is the difficulty to effectively represent the overall typology and connectivity of the macropore networks. We hypothesize that modeling macropore flow directly at the catchment scale may be complementary to the existing modeling strategy and offer some new insights. Tsinghua Representative Elementary Watershed model (THREW model) is a semi-distributed hydrology model, where the fundamental building blocks are representative elementary watersheds (REW) linked by the river channel network. In THREW, all the hydrological processes are described with constitutive relationships established directly at the REW level, i.e., catchment scale. In this study, the constitutive relationship of macropore flow drainage is established as part of THREW. The enhanced THREW model is then applied at two catchments with deep soils but distinct climates, the humid Asu catchment in the Amazon River basin, and the arid Wei catchment in the Yellow River basin. The Asu catchment has an area of 12.43km2 with mean annual precipitation of 2442mm. The larger Wei catchment has an area of 24800km2 but with mean annual precipitation of only 512mm. The rainfall-runoff processes are simulated at a hourly time step from 2002 to 2005 in the Asu catchment and from 2001 to 2012 in the Wei catchment. The role of macropore flow on the catchment hydrology will be analyzed comparatively over the Asu and Wei catchments against the observed streamflow, evapotranspiration and other auxiliary data.

  15. Mass balance and decontamination times of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in rural nested catchments of an early industrialized region (Seine River basin, France).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gateuille, David; Evrard, Olivier; Lefevre, Irène; Moreau-Guigon, Elodie; Alliot, Fabrice; Chevreuil, Marc; Mouchel, Jean-Marie

    2014-02-01

    Accumulation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soils and their subsequent release in rivers constitute a major environmental and public health problem in industrialized countries. In the Seine River basin (France), some PAHs exceed the target concentrations, and the objectives of good chemical status required by the European Water Framework Directive might not be achieved. This investigation was conducted in an upstream subcatchment where atmospheric fallout (n=42), soil (n=33), river water (n=26) and sediment (n=101) samples were collected during one entire hydrological year. PAH concentrations in atmospheric fallout appeared to vary seasonally and to depend on the distance to urban areas. They varied between 60 ng·L(-1) (in a remote site during autumn) and 2,380 ng·L(-1) (in a built-up area during winter). PAH stocks in soils of the catchment were estimated based on land use, as mean PAH concentrations varied between 110 ng·g(-1) under woodland and 2,120 ng·g(-1) in built-up areas. They ranged from 12 to 220 kg·km(-2). PAH contamination in the aqueous phase of rivers remained homogeneous across the catchment (72 ± 38 ng·L(-1)). In contrast, contamination of suspended solid was heterogeneous depending on hydrological conditions and population density in the drainage area. Moreover, PAH concentrations appeared to be higher in sediment (230-9,210 ng·g(-1)) than in the nearby soils. Annual mass balance calculation conducted at the catchment scale showed that current PAH losses were mainly due to dissipation (biodegradation, photo-oxidation and volatilization) within the catchments (about 80%) whereas exports due to soil erosion and riverine transport appeared to be of minor importance. Based on the calculated fluxes, PAHs appeared to have long decontamination times in soils (40 to 1,850 years) thereby compromising the achievement of legislative targets. Overall, the study highlighted the major role of legacy contamination that supplied the bulk of

  16. Attributes for MRB_E2RF1 Catchments by Major River Basins in the Conterminous United States: STATSGO Soil Characteristics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wieczorek, Michael; LaMotte, Andrew E.

    2010-01-01

    This tabular data set represents estimated soil variables compiled for every MRB_E2RF1 catchment of selected Major River Basins (MRBs, Crawford and others, 2006). The variables included are cation exchange capacity, percent calcium carbonate, slope, water-table depth, soil thickness, hydrologic soil group, soil erodibility (k-factor), permeability, average water capacity, bulk density, percent organic material, percent clay, percent sand, and percent silt. The source data set is the State Soil ( STATSGO ) Geographic Database (Wolock, 1997). The MRB_E2RF1 catchments are based on a modified version of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) ERF1_2 and include enhancements to support national and regional-scale surface-water quality modeling (Nolan and others, 2002; Brakebill and others, 2011). Data were compiled for every MRB_E2RF1 catchment for the conterminous United States covering New England and Mid-Atlantic (MRB1), South Atlantic-Gulf and Tennessee (MRB2), the Great Lakes, Ohio, Upper Mississippi, and Souris-Red-Rainy (MRB3), the Missouri (MRB4), the Lower Mississippi, Arkansas-White-Red, and Texas-Gulf (MRB5), the Rio Grande, Colorado, and the Great basin (MRB6), the Pacific Northwest (MRB7) river basins, and California (MRB8).

  17. Characterising groundwater-dominated lowland catchments: the UK Lowland Catchment Research Programme (LOCAR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper reports on a major UK initiative to address deficiencies in understanding the hydro-ecological response of groundwater-dominated lowland catchments. The scope and objectives of this national programme are introduced and focus on one of three sets of research basins – the Pang/Lambourn Chalk catchments, tributaries of the river Thames in southern England. The motivation for the research is the need to support integrated management of river systems that have high ecological value and are subject to pressures that include groundwater abstraction for water supply, diffuse pollution, and land use and climate change. An overview of the research programme is provided together with highlights of some current research findings concerning the hydrological functioning of these catchments. Despite the importance of the Chalk as a major UK aquifer, knowledge of the subsurface movement of water and solutes is poor. Solute transport in the dual porosity unsaturated zone depends on fracture/matrix interactions that are difficult to observe; current experimental and modelling research supports the predominance of matrix flow and suggests that slow migration of a time-history of decades of nutrient loading is occurring. Groundwater flows are complex; catchments vary seasonally and are ill-defined and karst features are locally important. Groundwater flow pathways are being investigated using natural and artificial geochemical tracers based on experimental borehole arrays; stream-aquifer interaction research is using a combination of geophysics, borehole array geochemistry and longitudinal profiles of stream flow and solutes. A complex picture of localised subsurface inflows, linked to geological controls and karst features, and significant longitudinal groundwater flow below the river channel is emerging. Management implications are discussed. Strategies to control surface application of nutrients are expected to have little effect on groundwater

  18. Physical-chemical modeling of elements' behavior in mixing sea and fresh waters of minor rivers in the White Sea catchment area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maksimova, Victoria V; Mazukhina, Svetlana I; Cherepanova, Tatiana A; Gorbacheva, Tamara T

    2017-07-29

    The physical-chemical stage of marginal filters in minor rivers of the White Sea catchment area by the example of the Umba River, flowing to Kandalaksha Gulf, has been explored. Application of the method of physical-chemical modeling on the basis of field data allowed establishing migration forms of a number of elements in the "river-sea" system and deposition of solid phases when mixing waters. The mixing of river and sea water is accompanied by the sedimentation of predominantly goethite, hydromuscovite, and hydroxylapatite. Sediments in mixing river and sea waters were found to be mainly composed by goethite, hydromuscovite, and hydroxylapatite. The research has added to the knowledge of the role of the abiotic part in the marginal filters of small rivers in the Arctic.

  19. Methodology to quantify the role of the factors controlling the variation of rivers' total dissolved solids in Jiu Catchment (Romania)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adina Morosanu, Gabriela; Zaharia, Liliana; Ioana-Toroimac, Gabriela; Belleudy, Philippe

    2017-04-01

    The total dissolved solids (TDS) is a river water quality parameter reflecting its concentration in solute ions. It is sensitive to many physical and anthropogenic features of the watershed. In this context, the objective of this work is to analyze the spatial variation of the TDS and to identify the role of the main controlling factors (e.g. geology, soils, land use) in Jiu River and some of its main tributaries, by using a methodology based on GIS and multivariate analysis. The Jiu watershed (10,000 kmp) is located in south-western Romania and it has a high diversity of physical and anthropogenic features influencing the water flow and its quality. The study is based on TDS measurements performed in August, 2016, during low flow conditions in the Jiu River and its tributaries. To measure in situ the TDS (ppm), an EC/TDS/Temperature Hand-held Tester was used in the 12 measuring points on Jiu River and in another 7 points on some of its tributaries. Across the hydrographic basin, the recorded TDS values ranged from 31 ppm to 607 ppm, while in the case of Jiu River, the TDS varied between 38 ppm at Lonea station (upper Jiu River) and 314 ppm at Išalniča (in the lower course). For each catchment corresponding to the sampling points, the influence of some contiguous features was defined on the basis of the lithology (marls, limestones, erodible bedrocks) and soils (clay textures), as well as the land cover/use influencing the solubility and solid content. This assessment was carried out in GIS through a set of spatial statistics analysis by calculating the percentages of the catchment coverage area for each determinant. In order to identify the contributions of different catchment features on the TDS variability, principal components analysis (PCA) was then applied. The results revealed the major role of the marls and clayey soils in the increase of TDS (on the Amaradia and Gilort rivers and some sections in the middle course of the Jiu River). In contrast

  20. Radioecological of the Vardar river catchment area after the Chernobyl release

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cvetanovska, L.; Anovski, T.

    1997-01-01

    Vardar river with its length of 301.6 km and its catchment area of 28,338 km 2 covers almost 80% of the territory of the Republic of Macedonia. Various usage of the surface and underground water flows of this hydro system (water supply, irrigation, etc.) to which gravitate cca 2/3 of the population of our Country, are subject of increased interest for their protection. In this sense, radioecological investigations (due to a presence of a local not well prospected uranium deposits and a factor, for phosphate fertilizers) were in progress. The first preliminary results of performed gamma-spectrometric analysis showed that besides many others, the following isotopes: I-131, I-132, Cs-134, Cs-137 and Ru-103, dominated into the investigated water, air and food samples. Different from the concentration of I-131 into the filtered Skopje air which was 12 Bq/m 3 on the 5th of May, 1986, the concentration of Cs-137 was up to 15 Bq/m 3 in air, 122 Bq/L in local precipitation, up to 800 Bq/kg in sediments and 0.29 Bq/L in the water samples from the Vardar river

  1. Evaluation of sediment and 137Cs redistribution in the Oginosawa River catchment near the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant using integrated watershed modeling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakuma, Kazuyuki; Malins, Alex; Funaki, Hironori; Kurikami, Hiroshi; Niizato, Tadafumi; Nakanishi, Takahiro; Mori, Koji; Tada, Kazuhiro; Kobayashi, Takamaru; Kitamura, Akihiro; Hosomi, Masaaki

    2018-02-01

    The Oginosawa River catchment lies 15 km south-west of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant and covers 7.7 km 2 . Parts of the catchment were decontaminated between fall 2012 and March 2014 in preparation for the return of the evacuated population. The General-purpose Terrestrial Fluid-flow Simulator (GETFLOWS) code was used to study sediment and 137 Cs redistribution within the catchment, including the effect of decontamination on redistribution. Fine resolution grid cells were used to model local features of the catchment, such as paddy fields adjacent to the Oginosawa River. The simulation was verified using monitoring data for river water discharge rates (r = 0.92), suspended sediment concentrations, and particulate 137 Cs concentrations (r = 0.40). Cesium-137 input to watercourses came predominantly from land adjacent to river channels and forest gullies, e.g. the paddy fields in the Ogi and Kainosaka districts, as the ground in these areas saturates during heavy rain and is easily eroded. A discrepancy between the simulation and monitoring results on the sediment discharge rate following decontamination may be explained by fast erosion occurring after decontamination. Forested areas far from the channels only made a minor contribution to 137 Cs input to watercourses, total erosion of between 0.001 and 0.1 mm from May 2011 to December 2015, as ground saturation is infrequent in these areas. The 2.3-6.9% y -1 decrease in the amount of 137 Cs in forest topsoil over the study period can be explained by radioactive decay (approximately 2.3% y -1 ), along with a migration downwards into subsoil and a small amount of export. The amount of 137 Cs available for release from land adjacent to rivers is expected to be lower in future than compared to this study period, as the simulations indicate a high depletion of inventory from these areas by the end of 2015. However continued monitoring of 137 Cs concentrations in river water over future years is advised, as

  2. Attributes for MRB_E2RF1 Catchments by Major River Basins in the Conterminous United States: Mean Annual R-factor, 1971-2000

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wieczorek, Michael; LaMotte, Andrew E.

    2010-01-01

    This tabular data set represents the average annual R-factor, rainfall-runoff erosivity measure, compiled for every MRB_E2RF1 catchment of selected Major River Basins (MRBs, Crawford and others, 2006). The source data are from Christopher Daly of the Spatial Climate Analysis Service, Oregon State University, and George Taylor of the Oregon Climate Service, Oregon State University (2002). The ERF1_2 catchments are based on a modified version of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) ERF1_2 and include enhancements to support national and regional-scale surface-water quality modeling (Nolan and others, 2002; Brakebill and others, 2011). Data were compiled for every MRB_E2RF1 catchment for the conterminous United States covering New England and Mid-Atlantic (MRB1), South Atlantic-Gulf and Tennessee (MRB2), the Great Lakes, Ohio, Upper Mississippi, and Souris-Red-Rainy (MRB3), the Missouri (MRB4), the Lower Mississippi, Arkansas-White-Red, and Texas-Gulf (MRB5), the Rio Grande, Colorado, and the Great basin (MRB6), the Pacific Northwest (MRB7) river basins, and California (MRB8).

  3. Uniform Transnational Assessment of the Environmental Indices from the Romanian Catchment Area of the Tisa River

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    SILVIU-FLORIN FONOGEA

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The uniform transnational assessment of the environmental indices in the catchment area of the Tisa river aims at rehabilitating, protecting and conserving the environmental systems, as well as creating a commonly strategic demarche concerning a sustainable spatial development, based on integrated intersectorial approaches of environmental issues, viewed in their territorial dimension. The information necessary in underlining the current situation in the Romanian catchment area of the Tisa has been structured according to the following categories of analysed indices: sources of surface waters, resources of drinkable water and water supply resources, the risk of not reaching the environmental objectives, significant sources of water pollution (punctual sources of pollution, diffuse sources of pollution, significant hydromorphic pressure, the quality of water, significant sources of air pollution, soils affected by agricultural and industrial activities, nature protection and waste management.

  4. [Contamination and ecological risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water and in Karst underground river catchment].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lan, Jia-Cheng; Sun, Yu-Chuan; Tian, Ping; Lu, Bing-Qing; Shi, Yang; Xu, Xin; Liang Zuo-Bing; Yang, Ping-Heng

    2014-10-01

    Water samples in Laolongdong underground river catchment were collected to determine the concentration, compositional profiles, and evaluate ecological risk of 16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs were measured by GC/MS. The total concentrations of 16 PAH ranged from 81.5-8019 ng · L(-1) in underground river, 288.7-15,200 ng · L(-1) in karst springs, and 128.4-2,442 ng · L(-1) in surface water. Affected by waste water from Huangjueya town, concentrations of PAHs in underground river were higher than those in surface water and waste water from sinkhole. The PAHs profiles were dominated by 3 ring PAHs. There were differences of monthly variations of PAHs contents in the water, due to waste water, season and different characteristics of PAH. Surface water and waste water from sinkhole played an important role on contamination in the river. The levels of ecological risk were generally moderately polluted and heavily polluted according to all detected PAH compounds in the water.

  5. Watershed scale spatial variability in dissolved and total organic and inorganic carbon in contrasting UK catchments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cumberland, S.; Baker, A.; Hudson, N. J.

    2006-12-01

    Approximately 800 organic and inorganic carbon analyses have been undertaken from watershed scale and regional scale spatial surveys in various British catchments. These include (1) a small (urban catchment (Ouseburn, N England); (2) a headwater, lowland agricultural catchment (River Tern, C England) (3) a large UK catchment (River Tyne, ~3000 sq-km) and (4) a spatial survey of ~300 analyses from rivers from SW England (~1700 sq-km). Results demonstrate that: (1) the majority of organic and inorganic carbon is in the dissolved (DOC and DIC) fractions; (2) that with the exception of peat rich headwaters, DIC concentration is always greater than DOC; (3) In the rural River Tern, riverine DOC and DIC are shown to follow a simple end- member mixing between DIC (DOC) rich (poor) ground waters and DOC (DIC) rich (poor) riparian wetlands for all sample sites. (4) In the urbanized Ouseburn catchment, although many sample sites also show this same mixing trend, some tributaries follow a pollutant trend of simultaneous increases in both DOC and DIC. The Ouseburn is part of the larger Tyne catchment: this larger catchment follows the simple groundwater DIC- soil water DOC end member mixing model, with the exception of the urban catchments which exhibit an elevated DIC compared to rural sites. (5) Urbanization is demonstrated to increase DIC compared to equivalent rural catchments; this DIC has potential sources including diffuse source inputs from the dissolution of concrete, point sources such as trade effluents and landfill leachates, and bedrock derived carbonates relocated to the soil dissolution zone by urban development. (6) DIC in rural SW England demonstrates that spatial variability in DIC can be attributed to variations in geology; but that DIC concentrations in the SW England rivers dataset are typically lower than the urbanized Tyne catchments despite the presence of carbonate bedrock in many of the sample catchments in the SW England dataset. (7) Recent

  6. Estimating emissions of PFOS and PFOA to the Danube River catchment and evaluating them using a catchment-scale chemical transport and fate model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lindim, C.; Cousins, I.T.; Gils, J. van

    2015-01-01

    Novel approaches for estimating the emissions of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) to surface waters are explored. The Danube River catchment is used to investigate emissions contributing to riverine loads of PFOS and PFOA and to verify the accuracy of estimates using a catchment-scale dynamic fugacity-based chemical transport and fate model (STREAM-EU; Spatially and Temporally Resolved Exposure Assessment Model for European basins). Model accuracy evaluation performed by comparing STREAM-EU predicted concentrations and monitoring data for the Danube and its tributaries shows that the best estimates for PFOS and PFOA emissions in the Danube region are obtained by considering the combined contributions of human population, wealth (based on local gross domestic product (GDP)) and wastewater treatment. Human population alone cannot explain the levels of PFOS and PFOA found in the Danube catchment waters. Introducing wealth distribution information in the form of local GDPs improves emission estimates markedly, likely by better representing emissions resulting from consumer trends, industrial and commercial sources. For compounds such as PFOS and PFOA, whose main sink and transport media is the aquatic compartment, a major source to freshwater are wastewater treatment plants. Introducing wastewater treatment information in the emission estimations also further improves emission estimates. - Highlights: • Novel approaches for estimating PFOS/PFOA emissions to surface waters are explored. • Human population alone cannot explain the levels of PFOS/PFOA found in the Danube. • Best estimates are obtained when considering population, wealth and WWTP together.

  7. Assessment of surface water resources availability using catchment modeling and the results of tracer studies in the meso-scale Migina Catchment, Rwanda

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Munyaneza, O.; Mukubwa, A.; Maskey, S.; Wenninger, J.W.; Uhlenbrook, S.

    2013-01-01

    In the last couple of years, different hydrological research projects were undertaken in the Migina catchment (243.2 km2), a tributary of the Kagera river in Southern Rwanda. These projects were aimed to understand hydrological processes of the catchment using analytical and experimental approaches

  8. Seasonal rainfall predictability over the Lake Kariba catchment area

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Muchuru, S

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available The Lake Kariba catchment area in southern Africa has one of the most variable climates of any major river basin, with an extreme range of conditions across the catchment and through time. Marked seasonal and interannual fluctuations in rainfall...

  9. Comparison of direct outflow calculated by modified SCS-CN methods for mountainous and highland catchments in upper Vistula Basin, Poland and lowland catchment in South Carolina, U.S.A

    Science.gov (United States)

    A. Walega; A. Cupak; D.M. Amatya; E. Drozdzal

    2017-01-01

    The aim of the study is to compare direct outflow from storm events estimated using modifications of original SCS-CN procedure. The study was conducted in a mountainous catchment of Kamienica River and a highland catchment draining Stobnica River located in Upper Vistula water region, both in Poland, and a headwater lowland watershed WS80 located at the Santee...

  10. Knickpoint Propagation and Hillslope Response in the Mangataikapua Catchment, Waipaoa River, New Zealand

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cerovski-Darriau, C.; Roering, J. J.; Bilderback, E. L.

    2012-12-01

    Base level change can cause differential incision in fluvial networks, driving a transient hillslope response as slopes attempt to adjust to a new base level. Following a shift to a warmer, wetter climate after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) (~17.5 ka), the Waipaoa River (NZ) rapidly incised ~120 m leaving perched relict hillslopes that are still adjusting to that base level fall. While previous studies of the Waipaoa basin have only focused on sediment contribution from channel incision or a few individual large earthflows, here we analyze an entire catchment that experiences widespread adjustment due to earthflow activity. In the Mangataikapua catchment—a tributary of the Waipaoa River principally comprised of weak mélange—we see wholesale relaxation of hillslopes due to pervasive post-LGM earthflows. Less than 6% of the mélange area retains relict terrain unaltered by earthflows, exemplifying the importance of including hillslope sediment contribution. Incision has propagated ~9 km upstream along the mainstem of the Mangataikapua (~86% of the channel length) and has created 80 m of relief at the junction with the Waipaoa. Continued adjustment along Mangataikapua tributaries and slopes is evident from knickpoints in the channels and changes in gradient, curvature, and degree of earthflow-altered terrain on the hillslopes. By identifying the location of this transition in channels and on the hillslopes, we can estimate the amount of post-LGM hillslope relaxation. We analyzed 10 major sub-catchments (drainage areas >35,000 m2) in the mélange on the southeastern side of the catchment. We used slope-area plots, in conjunction with normalized steepness index values (ksn) generated with the Stream Profiler (www.geomorphtools.org), to determine the degree to which the tributary channels have adjusted to incision along the mainstem. Preliminary results show an "upper zone" of relict channel morphology with an average curvature value of θ=-0.3 (±0.1 s.d.) and a

  11. A comparison of changes in river runoff from multiple global and catchment-scale hydrological models under global warming scenarios of 1 °C, 2 °C and 3 °C

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gosling, S.N.; Zaherpour, J.J.; Mount, N.J.; Hattermann, F.F.; Dankers, R.; Arheimer, B.; Breuer, L.; Ding, J.; Haddeland, I.; Kumar, R.; Kundu, D.; Liu, J.; van Griensven, A.; Veldkamp, T.I.E.; Vetter, T.; Wang, X.; Zhang, X.

    2017-01-01

    We present one of the first climate change impact assessments on river runoff that utilises an ensemble of global hydrological models (Glob-HMs) and an ensemble of catchment-scale hydrological models (Cat-HMs), across multiple catchments: the upper Amazon, Darling, Ganges, Lena, upper Mississippi,

  12. On the impact of the development of the Verkhnyaya Sukhona river catchment area (the Vologda Region on the chemical composition of the waters in its tributaries.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivicheva Ksenya

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the investigation was to study the influence of anthropogenic burden on the catchment areas of the rivers in Vologda Region and to establish the dependence of the chemical composition of water on pollution sources in the rivers of the Verkhnyaya Sukhona basin. In the catchment areas hydro chemical samples were taken, population density was calculated as well as the automated and visual interpretation of the main elements of the landscape was carried out. At that, forests, populated areas, farmlands and other territories changed by economic activities were identified. An increase in the pollutants concentration in the catchment areas on drawing near the regional center was detected. The development of the catchment areas varies depending on the landscape pattern and on the proximity to the city of Vologda. The population density and the relative area of settlements and farmlands increase while approaching to the city, at the same time the ratio of forests decreases. The positive correlation dependence between the phosphate content and the relative size of farmlands was shown. The main source of pollutants in the catchment areas of the Verkhnyaya Sukhona basin is the presence of settlements and high population density. Under such conditions, high concentration of sodium, chlorine, nitrogen-containing compounds as well as permanganate oxidizability are observed in water.

  13. Mapping SOC in a river catchment by integrating laboratory spectra wavelength with remote sensing spectra

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Peng, Yi; Xiong, Xiong; Knadel, Maria

    There is potential to use soil ·-proximal and remote sensing derived spectra concomitantly to develop soil organic carbon (SOC) models. Yet mixing spectral data from different sources and technologies to improve soil models is still in its infancy. The objective of this study was to incorporate...... soil spectral features indicative of SOC from laboratory visible near-infrared reflectance (vis-NlR) spectra and incorporate them with remote sensing (RS) images to improve predictions of top SOC in the Skjem river catchment, Denmark. The secondary objective was to improve prediction results...

  14. Streamflow variation of forest covered catchments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gribovszki, Z.; Kalicz, P.; Kucsara, M.

    2003-04-01

    Rainfall concentration and runoff, otherwise rainfall-runoff processes, which cause river water discharge fluctuation, is one of the basic questions of hydrology. Several social-economy demands have a strong connection with small or bigger rivers from the point of view both quantity and quality of the water. Gratification or consideration of these demands is complicated substantially that we have still poor knowledge about our stream-flow regime. Water resources mainly stem from upper watersheds. These upper watersheds are the basis of the water concentration process; therefore we have to improve our knowledge about hydrological processes coming up in these territories. In this article we present runoff regime of two small catchments on the basis of one year data. Both catchments have a similar magnitude 0.6 and 0.9 km^2. We have been analyzed in detail some hydrological elements: features of rainfall, discharge, rainfall induced flooding waves and basic discharge in rainless periods. Variances of these parameters have been analyzed in relation to catchments surface, vegetation coverage and forest management. Result data set well enforce our knowledge about small catchments hydrological processes. On the basis of these fundamentals we can plan more established the management of these lands (forest practices, civil engineering works, and usage of natural water resources).

  15. Vulnerability of schools to floods in Nyando River catchment, Kenya.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ochola, Samuel O; Eitel, Bernhard; Olago, Daniel O

    2010-07-01

    This paper assesses the vulnerability of schools to floods in the Nyando River catchment (3,600 km(2)) in western Kenya and identifies measures needed to reduce this vulnerability. It surveys 130 schools in the lower reaches, where flooding is a recurrent phenomenon. Of the primary schools assessed, 40% were vulnerable, 48% were marginally vulnerable and 12% were not vulnerable. Of the secondary schools, 8% were vulnerable, 73% were marginally vulnerable and 19% were not vulnerable. Vulnerability to floods is due to a lack of funds, poor building standards, local topography, soil types and inadequate drainage. The Constituencies Development Fund (CDF), established in 2003, provides financial support to cover school construction and reconstruction costs; CDF Committees are expected to adopt school building standards. In an effort to promote safe and resilient construction and retrofitting to withstand floods, this paper presents vulnerability reduction strategies and recommendations for incorporating minimum standards in the on-going Primary School Infrastructure Programme Design.

  16. Industrial pollution and the management of river water quality: a model of Kelani River, Sri Lanka.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gunawardena, Asha; Wijeratne, E M S; White, Ben; Hailu, Atakelty; Pandit, Ram

    2017-08-19

    Water quality of the Kelani River has become a critical issue in Sri Lanka due to the high cost of maintaining drinking water standards and the market and non-market costs of deteriorating river ecosystem services. By integrating a catchment model with a river model of water quality, we developed a method to estimate the effect of pollution sources on ambient water quality. Using integrated model simulations, we estimate (1) the relative contribution from point (industrial and domestic) and non-point sources (river catchment) to river water quality and (2) pollutant transfer coefficients for zones along the lower section of the river. Transfer coefficients provide the basis for policy analyses in relation to the location of new industries and the setting of priorities for industrial pollution control. They also offer valuable information to design socially optimal economic policy to manage industrialized river catchments.

  17. Alien freshwater polychaetes Hypania invalida (Grube 1860 and Laonome calida Capa 2007 in the Upper Odra River (Baltic Sea catchment area

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pabis Krzysztof

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Two polychaete species, Hypania invalida and Laonome calida, were found in the Upper Odra River in 2016. Both species were recorded close to a natural river bank down to 1 m depths. They inhabited sandy-gravelly and sandy-muddy sediments. H. invalida is an alien invasive Ponto-Caspian species, previously known in Poland from the Odra River estuary only. Our results may indicate a further rapid dispersal of H. invalida upstream the Odra River or an accidental introduction. This study is the first record of L. calida in the Baltic Sea catchment. This Australian species has been recently introduced into Europe. Prior to this study, it had been reported from Dutch rivers only. The present data suggest accidental introduction of the species to European rivers; however, our findings show an urgent need for a close monitoring of the polychaete in Europe.

  18. Role of glaciers in watershed hydrology: a preliminary study of a "Himalayan catchment"

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. J. Thayyen

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available A large number of Himalayan glacier catchments are under the influence of humid climate with snowfall in winter (November–April and south-west monsoon in summer (June–September dominating the regional hydrology. Such catchments are defined as "Himalayan catchment", where the glacier meltwater contributes to the river flow during the period of annual high flows produced by the monsoon. The winter snow dominated Alpine catchments of the Kashmir and Karakoram region and cold-arid regions of the Ladakh mountain range are the other major glacio-hydrological regimes identified in the region. Factors influencing the river flow variations in a "Himalayan catchment" were studied in a micro-scale glacier catchment in the Garhwal Himalaya, covering an area of 77.8 km2. Three hydrometric stations were established at different altitudes along the Din Gad stream and discharge was monitored during the summer ablation period from 1998 to 2004, with an exception in 2002. These data have been analysed along with winter/summer precipitation, temperature and mass balance data of the Dokriani glacier to study the role of glacier and precipitation in determining runoff variations along the stream continuum from the glacier snout to 2360 m a.s.l. The study shows that the inter-annual runoff variation in a "Himalayan catchment" is linked with precipitation rather than mass balance changes of the glacier. This study also indicates that the warming induced an initial increase of glacier runoff and subsequent decline as suggested by the IPCC (2007 is restricted to the glacier degradation-derived component in a precipitation dominant Himalayan catchment and cannot be translated as river flow response. The preliminary assessment suggests that the "Himalayan catchment" could experience higher river flows and positive glacier mass balance regime together in association with strong monsoon. The important role of glaciers in this precipitation dominant system is

  19. Testing a river basin model with sensitivity analysis and autocalibration for an agricultural catchment in SW Finland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. TATTARI

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available Modeling tools are needed to assess (i the amounts of loading from agricultural sources to water bodies as well as (ii the alternative management options in varying climatic conditions. These days, the implementation of Water Framework Directive (WFD has put totally new requirements also for modeling approaches. The physically based models are commonly not operational and thus the usability of these models is restricted for a few selected catchments. But the rewarding feature of these process-based models is an option to study the effect of protection measures on a catchment scale and, up to a certain point, a possibility to upscale the results. In this study, the parameterization of the SWAT model was developed in terms of discharge dynamics and nutrient loads, and a sensitivity analysis regarding discharge and sediment concentration was made. The SWAT modeling exercise was carried out for a 2nd order catchment (Yläneenjoki, 233 km2 of the Eurajoki river basin in southwestern Finland. The Yläneenjoki catchment has been intensively monitored during the last 14 years. Hence, there was enough background information available for both parameter setup and calibration. In addition to load estimates, SWAT also offers possibility to assess the effects of various agricultural management actions like fertilization, tillage practices, choice of cultivated plants, buffer strips, sedimentation ponds and constructed wetlands (CWs on loading. Moreover, information on local agricultural practices and the implemented and planned protective measures were readily available thanks to aware farmers and active authorities. Here, we studied how CWs can reduce the nutrient load at the outlet of the Yläneenjoki river basin. The results suggested that sensitivity analysis and autocalibration tools incorporated in the model are useful by pointing out the most influential parameters, and that flow dynamics and annual loading values can be modeled with reasonable

  20. High-resolution monitoring of catchment nutrient response to the end of the 2011-2012 drought in England, captured by the demonstration test catchments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Outram, F. N.; Lloyd, C.; Jonczyk, J.; Benskin, C. McW. H.; Grant, F.; Dorling, S. R.; Steele, C. J.; Collins, A. L.; Freer, J.; Haygarth, P. M.; Hiscock, K. M.; Johnes, P. J.; Lovett, A. L.

    2013-12-01

    The Demonstration Test Catchments (DTC) project is a UK Government funded initiative to test the effectiveness of on-farm mitigation measures designed to reduce agricultural pollution without compromising farm productivity. Three distinct catchments in England have been chosen to test the efficacy of mitigation measures on working farms in small tributary sub-catchments equipped with continuous water quality monitoring stations. The Hampshire Avon in the south is a mixed livestock and arable farming catchment, the River Wensum in the east is a lowland catchment with predominantly arable farming and land use in the River Eden catchment in the north-west is predominantly livestock farming. One of the many strengths of the DTC as a national research platform is that it provides the ability to investigate catchment hydrology and biogeochemical response across different landscapes and geoclimatic characteristics, with a range of differing flow behaviours, geochemistries and nutrient chemistries. Although numerous authors present studies of individual catchment responses to storms, no studies exist of multiple catchment responses to the same rainfall event captured with in situ high-resolution nutrient monitoring at a national scale. This paper brings together findings from all three DTC research groups to compare the response of the catchments to a major storm event in April 2012. This was one of the first weather fronts to track across the country following a prolonged drought period affecting much of the UK through 2011-2012, marking an unusual meteorological transition when a rapid shift from drought to flood risk occurred. The effects of the weather front on discharge and water chemistry parameters, including nitrogen species (NO3-N and NH4-N) and phosphorus fractions (total P (TP) and total reactive P (TRP)), measured at a half-hourly time step are examined. When considered in the context of one hydrological year, flow and concentration duration curves reveal that

  1. Groundwater denitrification in two agricultural river catchments: influence of hydro-geological setting and aquifer geochemistry

    Science.gov (United States)

    McAleer, Eoin; Mellander, Per-Erik; Coxon, Catherine; Richards, Karl G.; Jahangir, Mohammad M. R.

    2015-04-01

    Identifying subsurface environments with a natural capacity for denitrification is important for improving agricultural management. At the catchment scale, a complex hierarchy of landscape, hydro-geological and physico-chemical characteristics combine to affect the distribution of groundwater nitrate (NO3-). This study was conducted along four instrumented hillslopes in two ca. 10km2 agricultural river catchments in Ireland, one dominated by arable and one by grassland agriculture. Both catchments are characterised by well drained soils, but have differing aquifer characteristics. The arable catchment is underlain by weathered Ordovician slate bedrock which is extensively fractured with depth. The grassland catchment is characterised by Devonian sandstone bedrock, exhibiting both lateral (from upslope to near stream) and vertical variations in permeability along each hillslope. The capacity for groundwater denitrification was assessed by examining the concentration and distribution patterns of N species (total nitrogen, nitrate, nitrite, ammonium), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved oxygen (DO) and redox potential (Eh) in monthly samples from shallow and deep groundwater piezometers (n=37). Additionally, the gaseous products of denitrification: nitrous oxide (N2O) and excess dinitrogen (excess N2) were measured seasonally using gas chromatography and membrane inlet mass spectroscopy, respectively. The slate catchment was characterised by uniformity, both laterally and vertically, in aquifer geochemistry and gaseous denitrification products. The four year spatial mean groundwater NO3--N concentration was 6.89 mg/l and exhibited low spatial and temporal variability (temporal SD: 1.19 mg/l, spatial SD: 1.185 mg/l). Elevated DO concentrations (mean: 9.75 mg/l) and positive Eh (mean: +176.5mV) at all sample horizons indicated a setting with little denitrification potential. This non-reducing environment was reflected in a low accumulation of denitrification

  2. SURFACE WATER POLLUTION WITH HEAVY METALS IN THE LOWER CATCHMENT OF JIU RIVER BASIN, ACCORDING TO THE WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE (2000/60/EC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ADINA SANDA ŞERBAN

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Surface water pollution with heavy metals in the lower catchment of Jiu river basin, according to the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC. The Water Framework Directive establishes a single transparent, effective and coherent water policy by defining a strategy to combat pollution by requiring specific action programs.Chemical pollution of surface water presents a threat to the aquatic environment with acute and chronic toxicity to aquatic organisms, accumulation in the ecosystem and losses of habitats and biodiversity, as well as a threat to human health (art.1 from Directive 2008/105/EC regarding the environmental quality standards for water policy.The purpose of this study is to evaluate the chemical status for surface water bodies in the lower catchment of Jiu river basin. The assessment was made taking into account the water impact of four heavy metals: cadmium (Cd, nickel (Ni, mercury (Hg and lead (Pb.

  3. Characterisation of Shigella species isolated from river catchments in the North West province of South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Constance Wose Kinge

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available The occurrence and distribution of Shigella species in water from the five river catchments in the North West province of South Africa were investigated. Shigella is a Gram-negative, non-motile, facultative anaerobic bacillus that causes shigellosis, an important cause of morbidity and mortality in high-risk populations (such as children, the elderly and immuno-compromised individuals that depend on river water. A total of 54 water samples collected in winter (April 2007 to July 2007 and summer (December 2007 to March 2008 were cultured on Salmonella-Shigella agar by the spread-plate method. Suspected Shigella isolates obtained were characterised by primary biochemical (Triple Sugar Iron agar and agglutination and molecular (polymerase chain reactions, PCR tests. Amplification of the invasion plasmid gene (ipaH by PCR was done to confirm the presence of Shigella spp. in water. In total, 214 Shigella boydii, 15 Shigella dysenteriae, 11 Shigella flexneri and 2 Shigella sonnei were confirmed by serotyping in both winter and summer samples. The ipaH gene (606 bp was present in 176 and 49 of the winter and summer isolates, respectively. The presence of Shigella spp. in water was confirmed with over 90% specificity. The need for more effective management of these river catchments and the provision of potable water and sanitation facilities is needed to minimise the occurrence and transmission of water-borne diseases caused by these and other pathogenic bacteria.

  4. Catchment Restoration in the Tweed UNESCO-IHP HELP Basin - Eddleston Water

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spray, Christopher

    2013-04-01

    The EU Water Frame Work Directive (WFD) requires member states to work towards the achievement of 'good ecological status' for water bodies, through a 6 year cycle of river basin management plans (RBMPs). Within these RBMPs, states must develop and implement programmes of measures designed to improve the quality of individual water bodies at risk of failing to achieve this status. These RBMPS must not only be focussed on the key causes of failure, but increasingly look to deliver multiple benefits, such as flood risk reduction and improvement to biodiversity from such catchment interventions, and to involve communities and other stakeholders in restoration of their local environment. This paper reports on progress of a detailed study of the restoration of the Eddleston Water, a typical 'failing' water body in Scotland, the monitoring and governance arrangements behind this, and implications for rehabilitation of river systems elsewhere. Within UK rivers, the main causes of failure to achieve good ecological status are historical morphological changes to river courses, diffuse agricultural pollution and invasive non-native species. The Eddleston Water is a 70 sq kms sub-catchment of the Tweed, an UNESCO IHP-HELP basin in the Scottish : English borders, and is currently classified as 'bad' status, due largely to morphological changes to the course and structure of the river over the past 200 years. The main challenge therefor is physical restoration of the river to achieve functional connectivity with the flood plain. At the same time however, the two communities within the catchment suffer from flooding, so a second priority is to intervene within the catchment to reduce the risk of flooding through the use of "natural flood management" measures and, underlying both these two aspects a whole catchment approach to community participation and the achievement of a range of other ecosystem service benefits, including conservation of biodiversity. We report on the

  5. Soil and Terrain Database for Upper Tana River Catchment (version 1.1) - scale 1:250,000 (SOTER_UT_v1.1)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dijkshoorn, J.A.; Macharia, P.; Kempen, B.

    2014-01-01

    The Soil and Terrain database for the Upper Tana River Catchment (version 1.1) (SOTER_UT_v1.1) at scale 1:250,000 was compiled to support the Green Water Credits (GWC) programme by creating a primary SOTER dataset for a hydrology assessment of the basin. The Kenya Soil Survey of the Kenya

  6. Land cover changes in catchment areas of lakes situated in headwaters of the Tyśmienica River

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Grzywna Antoni

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents the history of land cover changes in the catchment area of lakes situated in the headwaters of the Tyśmienica River. The basis of the study were topographic maps in scale 1:50 000, from 1936 and 2014. We analyzed the quantitative aspect of these changes. The study was conducted in three natural lakes (Rogóźno, Krasne, Łukcze, and in one lake transformed into a storage reservoir (Krzczeń. The technical issues of georeferencing maps in the Geographic Information System (GIS software are addressed first. In the landscape of Łęczna and Włodawa Lake District, to the end of the 19th century wetlands and bushes dominated. The first type of human pressure on this area was agriculture. Another type of pressure was recreation. In the catchment areas of studied lakes increased mainly the area of buildings and forests. Significantly increased also the length of roads and watercourses. Almost completely disappeared bushes and wastelands. In most of the analyzed basins, the area of wetlands and arable lands decreased. The probable cause of the changes in catchment use was decline in the water table, and thus overgrowing of meadows and wetlands.

  7. An extensive study of the concentrations of particulate/dissolved radiocaesium derived from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in various river systems and their relationship with catchment inventory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshimura, Kazuya; Onda, Yuichi; Sakaguchi, Aya; Yamamoto, Masayoshi; Matsuura, Yuki

    2015-01-01

    An extensive investigation of particulate radiocaesium in suspended solids and dissolved radiocaesium in river water was undertaken at 30 sites in Fukushima and Miyagi Prefectures in December 2012, and their relationships with catchment inventory and the solid/liquid distribution coefficient (K d ) were evaluated. Rivers located in the coastal region on the north side of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant exhibited relatively higher particulate radiocaesium concentrations. Significant correlations were found between concentrations of particulate/dissolved radiocaesium and average catchment inventories, indicating that the concentrations of particulate/dissolved radiocaesium could be approximated from the catchment inventory. Particulate radiocaesium concentration was significantly correlated with dissolved radiocaesium concentration (with the exception of concentrations measured in estuaries), and the geometric mean K d was calculated as 3.6 × 10 5 with a 95% confidence interval of 2.6–5.1 × 10 5 . - Highlights: • Particulate radiocaesium concentration correlated with catchment inventory. • Particulate size can be an important factor of the correlation. • Solid/liquid distribution coefficients were obtained for extensive area

  8. C, N, P export regimes from headwater catchments to downstream reaches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dupas, R.; Musolff, A.; Jawitz, J. W.; Rao, P. S.; Jaeger, C. G.; Fleckenstein, J. H.; Rode, M.; Borchardt, D.

    2017-12-01

    Excessive amounts of nutrients and dissolved organic matter in freshwater bodies affect aquatic ecosystems. In this study, the spatial and temporal variability in nitrate (NO3), dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) was analyzed in the Selke river continuum from headwaters draining 1 - 3 km² catchments to downstream reaches representing spatially integrated signals from 184 - 456 km² catchments (part of TERENO - Terrestrial Environmental Observatories, in Germany). Three headwater catchments were selected as archetypes of the main landscape units (land use x lithology) present in the Selke catchment. Export regimes in headwater catchments were interpreted in terms of NO3, DOC and SRP land-to-stream transfer processes. Headwater signals were subtracted from downstream signals, with the differences interpreted in terms of in-stream processes and contribution of point-source emissions. The seasonal dynamics for NO3 were opposite those of DOC and SRP in all three headwater catchments, and spatial differences also showed NO3 contrasting with DOC and SRP. These dynamics were interpreted as the result of the interplay of hydrological and biogeochemical processes, for which riparian zones were hypothesized to play a determining role. In the two downstream reaches, NO3 was transported almost conservatively, whereas DOC was consumed and produced in the upper and lower river sections, respectively. The natural export regime of SRP in the three headwater catchments mimicked a point-source signal, which may lead to overestimation of domestic contributions in the downstream reaches. Monitoring the river continuum from headwaters to downstream reaches proved effective to investigate jointly land-to-stream and in-stream transport and transformation processes.

  9. Quantifying sediment-associated metal dispersal using Pb isotopes: Application of binary and multivariate mixing models at the catchment-scale

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bird, Graham; Brewer, Paul A.; Macklin, Mark G.; Nikolova, Mariyana; Kotsev, Tsvetan; Mollov, Mihail; Swain, Catherine

    2010-01-01

    In this study Pb isotope signatures were used to identify the provenance of contaminant metals and establish patterns of downstream sediment dispersal within the River Maritsa catchment, which is impacted by the mining of polymetallic ores. A two-fold modelling approach was undertaken to quantify sediment-associated metal delivery to the Maritsa catchment; employing binary mixing models in tributary systems and a composite fingerprinting and mixing model approach in the wider Maritsa catchment. Composite fingerprints were determined using Pb isotopic and multi-element geochemical data to characterize sediments delivered from tributary catchments. Application of a mixing model allowed a quantification of the percentage contribution of tributary catchments to the sediment load of the River Maritsa. Sediment delivery from tributaries directly affected by mining activity contributes 42-63% to the sediment load of the River Maritsa, with best-fit regression relationships indicating that sediments originating from mining-affected tributaries are being dispersed over 200 km downstream. - Pb isotopic evidence used to quantify sediment-associated metal delivery within a mining-affected river catchment.

  10. Linking coral river runoff proxies with climate variability, hydrology and land-use in Madagascar catchments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maina, Joseph; de Moel, Hans; Vermaat, Jan E; Bruggemann, J Henrich; Guillaume, Mireille M M; Grove, Craig A; Madin, Joshua S; Mertz-Kraus, Regina; Zinke, Jens

    2012-10-01

    Understanding the linkages between coastal watersheds and adjacent coral reefs is expected to lead to better coral reef conservation strategies. Our study aims to examine the main predictors of environmental proxies recorded in near shore corals and therefore how linked near shore reefs are to the catchment physical processes. To achieve these, we developed models to simulate hydrology of two watersheds in Madagascar. We examined relationships between environmental proxies derived from massive Porites spp. coral cores (spectral luminescence and barium/calcium ratios), and corresponding time-series (1950-2006) data of hydrology, climate, land use and human population growth. Results suggest regional differences in the main environmental drivers of reef sedimentation: on annual time-scales, precipitation, river flow and sediment load explained the variability in coral proxies of river discharge for the northeast region, while El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and temperature (air and sea surface) were the best predictors in the southwest region. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Applicability of TOPMODEL in the mountainous catchments in the upper Nysa Kłodzka river basin (SW Poland)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeziorska, Justyna; Niedzielski, Tomasz

    2018-03-01

    River basins located in the Central Sudetes (SW Poland) demonstrate a high vulnerability to flooding. Four mountainous basins and the corresponding outlets have been chosen for modeling the streamflow dynamics using TOPMODEL, a physically based semi-distributed topohydrological model. The model has been calibrated using the Monte Carlo approach—with discharge, rainfall, and evapotranspiration data used to estimate the parameters. The overall performance of the model was judged by interpreting the efficiency measures. TOPMODEL was able to reproduce the main pattern of the hydrograph with acceptable accuracy for two of the investigated catchments. However, it failed to simulate the hydrological response in the remaining two catchments. The best performing data set obtained Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency of 0.78. This data set was chosen to conduct a detailed analysis aiming to estimate the optimal timespan of input data for which TOPMODEL performs best. The best fit was attained for the half-year time span. The model was validated and found to reveal good skills.

  12. Assessment of the effect of land use /land cover changes on total runoff from Ofu River catchment in Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meshach Ileanwa Alfa

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The total runoff from a catchment is dependednt on both the soil characteristics and the land use/land cover (LULC type. This study was conducted to examine the effect of changes in land cover on the total runoff from Ofu River Catchment in Nigeria. Classified Landsat imageries of 1987, 2001 and 2016 in combination with the soil map extracted from the Digital Soil Map of the World was used to estimate the runoff curve number for 1987, 2001 and 2016. The runoff depth for 35 years daily rainfall data was estimated using Natura Resource Conservation Services Curve Number (NRCS-CN method. The runoff depths obtained for the respective years were subjected to a one-way analysis of variance at 95% level of significance. P-value < 0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Runoff curve numbers obtained for 1987, 2001 and 2016 were 61.83, 63.26 and 62.79 respectively. The effects of the changes in LULC for 1987-2001, 2001-2016 and 1987-2016 were statistically significant (P<0.001 at 95% confident interval.  The average change in runoff depths were 79.81%, -11.10% and 48.09% respectively for 1987-2001, 2001-2016 and 1987-2016. The study concluded that the changes in LULC of the catchment had significant effect on the runoff from the catchment.

  13. Estimasi Potensi PLTMH dengan Metode Regionalisasi pada Ungauged Catchments di Kecamatan Suoh

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    Dyah Indriana Kusumastuti

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Electricity is the major problem in Suoh sub-district because there is no electricity distributed by National Electricity Company (PLN. Suoh is located in the upstream of Way Semaka and water is available in river tributaries throughout the year which can be utilized for micro hydro power. This research aims to analyse the potency of the rivers including Way Hantatai, Way Sekandak and Way Gunung Lanang. The three rivers are categorised as ungauged catchments. Research method includes analysis of hydrologic similarity berween Way Semaka and Way Besai catchments, application of regionalization method where FDC for Way Semaka was developed from discharge data from Way Besai located close to Way Semaka. Measurement of flow variables in the rivers are used to verify dependable discharge calculated by regionalization method. The potency of electricity power is calculated based on dependable discharge Q50 and head. The result shows that hydrologic similarity exists between Way Semaka and Way Besai catchments. Calculated discharges based on river measurements comparable to dependable discharges between 80%-93% from the FDCs for the three rivers. The maximum electricity power which can be generated are 15.26 KW, 4.12 KW and 2.71 KW for Way Hantatai, Way Sekandak and Way Gunung Lanang respectively.

  14. The frequency of precipitation days in the Yangtze Catchment from 1950 to 2000

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu Yijin; Becker, Stefan; Jiang Tong; Harmann, Heike; Su Bu Da

    2004-01-01

    This paper explores the frequency of precipitation days by using different percentiles in the Yangtze River catchment from 1950 to 2000. Some interesting facts have been revealed through the present study. The positive (increasing) trends of the yearly precipitation days at the 75 th percentile appears in most of the Yangtze River catchment, especially in the northern regions of the upper and the middle reaches of the catchment. The Sichuan basin is the only region with negative trends. The transitional area from negative to positive trends is found east of the Sichuan basin in the Three Gorges area. For the 95 th percentile, the negative trend regions are still mainly in Sichuan basin but extend to northern regions and there are also obviously increasing trend centers in the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze river catchment. On the decadal time scale, the most significant positive trends at the 75th percentiles are in the middle reaches in 1980s and 1990s. The lower reaches show significant positive trends in 1980s. Those positive phases greatly contribute to the positive trends of the whole catchment during the last two decades. The most significant negative phase also occurs in the middle reaches during the earlier three decades. For this case, it seems that the precipitation days in the middle reaches are more sensitive to changes than other regions in the Yangtze River catchment. Take the Yangtze River catchment as a whole, a positive trend is very obvious for this percentile. For the 95 th percentile, the trends between the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River catchment are coherent: after two decades (1960s and 1970s) of negative phases, the most significant increasing trend is shown in the last two decades. On the other side, the fluctuation of the precipitation days in the catchment of the upper reaches over the 50 years is somewhat smoother than for other regions. For the whole catchment, the precipitation days in the 1950s and in the 1990s are

  15. A comparative analysis of projected impacts of climate change on river runoff from global and catchment-scale hydrological models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gosling, S. N.; Taylor, R. G.; Arnell, N. W.; Todd, M. C.

    2011-01-01

    We present a comparative analysis of projected impacts of climate change on river runoff from two types of distributed hydrological model, a global hydrological model (GHM) and catchment-scale hydrological models (CHM). Analyses are conducted for six catchments that are global in coverage and feature strong contrasts in spatial scale as well as climatic and developmental conditions. These include the Liard (Canada), Mekong (SE Asia), Okavango (SW Africa), Rio Grande (Brazil), Xiangxi (China) and Harper's Brook (UK). A single GHM (Mac-PDM.09) is applied to all catchments whilst different CHMs are applied for each catchment. The CHMs include SLURP v. 12.2 (Liard), SLURP v. 12.7 (Mekong), Pitman (Okavango), MGB-IPH (Rio Grande), AV-SWAT-X 2005 (Xiangxi) and Cat-PDM (Harper's Brook). The CHMs typically simulate water resource impacts based on a more explicit representation of catchment water resources than that available from the GHM and the CHMs include river routing, whereas the GHM does not. Simulations of mean annual runoff, mean monthly runoff and high (Q5) and low (Q95) monthly runoff under baseline (1961-1990) and climate change scenarios are presented. We compare the simulated runoff response of each hydrological model to (1) prescribed increases in global-mean air temperature of 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 and 6.0 °C relative to baseline from the UKMO HadCM3 Global Climate Model (GCM) to explore response to different amounts of climate forcing, and (2) a prescribed increase in global-mean air temperature of 2.0 °C relative to baseline for seven GCMs to explore response to climate model structural uncertainty. We find that the differences in projected changes of mean annual runoff between the two types of hydrological model can be substantial for a given GCM (e.g. an absolute GHM-CHM difference in mean annual runoff percentage change for UKMO HadCM3 2 °C warming of up to 25%), and they are generally larger for indicators of high and low monthly runoff. However

  16. A comparative analysis of projected impacts of climate change on river runoff from global and catchment-scale hydrological models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. N. Gosling

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available We present a comparative analysis of projected impacts of climate change on river runoff from two types of distributed hydrological model, a global hydrological model (GHM and catchment-scale hydrological models (CHM. Analyses are conducted for six catchments that are global in coverage and feature strong contrasts in spatial scale as well as climatic and developmental conditions. These include the Liard (Canada, Mekong (SE Asia, Okavango (SW Africa, Rio Grande (Brazil, Xiangxi (China and Harper's Brook (UK. A single GHM (Mac-PDM.09 is applied to all catchments whilst different CHMs are applied for each catchment. The CHMs include SLURP v. 12.2 (Liard, SLURP v. 12.7 (Mekong, Pitman (Okavango, MGB-IPH (Rio Grande, AV-SWAT-X 2005 (Xiangxi and Cat-PDM (Harper's Brook. The CHMs typically simulate water resource impacts based on a more explicit representation of catchment water resources than that available from the GHM and the CHMs include river routing, whereas the GHM does not. Simulations of mean annual runoff, mean monthly runoff and high (Q5 and low (Q95 monthly runoff under baseline (1961–1990 and climate change scenarios are presented. We compare the simulated runoff response of each hydrological model to (1 prescribed increases in global-mean air temperature of 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 and 6.0 °C relative to baseline from the UKMO HadCM3 Global Climate Model (GCM to explore response to different amounts of climate forcing, and (2 a prescribed increase in global-mean air temperature of 2.0 °C relative to baseline for seven GCMs to explore response to climate model structural uncertainty.

    We find that the differences in projected changes of mean annual runoff between the two types of hydrological model can be substantial for a given GCM (e.g. an absolute GHM-CHM difference in mean annual runoff percentage change for UKMO HadCM3 2 °C warming of up to 25%, and they are generally larger for indicators of high and low monthly runoff

  17. Assessment of surface water resources availability using catchment modeling and the results of tracer studies in the meso-scale Migina Catchment, Rwanda

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munyaneza, O.; Mukubwa, A.; Maskey, S.; Wenninger, J.; Uhlenbrook, S.

    2013-12-01

    In the last couple of years, different hydrological research projects were undertaken in the Migina catchment (243.2 km2), a tributary of the Kagera river in Southern Rwanda. These projects were aimed to understand hydrological processes of the catchment using analytical and experimental approaches and to build a pilot case whose experience can be extended to other catchments in Rwanda. In the present study, we developed a hydrological model of the catchment, which can be used to inform water resources planning and decision making. The semi-distributed hydrological model HEC-HMS (version 3.5) was used with its soil moisture accounting, unit hydrograph, liner reservoir (for base flow) and Muskingum-Cunge (river routing) methods. We used rainfall data from 12 stations and streamflow data from 5 stations, which were collected as part of this study over a period of two years (May 2009 and June 2011). The catchment was divided into five sub-catchments each represented by one of the five observed streamflow gauges. The model parameters were calibrated separately for each sub-catchment using the observed streamflow data. Calibration results obtained were found acceptable at four stations with a Nash-Sutcliffe Model Efficiency of 0.65 on daily runoff at the catchment outlet. Due to the lack of sufficient and reliable data for longer periods, a model validation (split sample test) was not undertaken. However, we used results from tracer based hydrograph separation from a previous study to compare our model results in terms of the runoff components. It was shown that the model performed well in simulating the total flow volume, peak flow and timing as well as the portion of direct runoff and base flow. We observed considerable disparities in the parameters (e.g. groundwater storage) and runoff components across the five sub-catchments, that provided insights into the different hydrological processes at sub-catchment scale. We conclude that such disparities justify the need

  18. Aquifers Characterization and Productivity in Ellala Catchment ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    user

    ... to weak degree of potentiality are found occupying flat to rugged topography of the catchment. ... government and non-governmental organizations. Among various .... Ellala River, forming something like graben structure. This is particularly ...

  19. Zoning of the White Sea catchment area by the degree of continental runoff influence on the marine environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bulavina A. S.

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Methodologies for the integral evaluation of the potential impact of continental runoff on the marine aquatic environment have been developed and tested in relation to the catchment area of the White Sea. Integral indicators of pollution potential (PP and self-purification capacity (SPC of the river waters have been calculated within the boundaries of the hydrologic areas. The following indicators have been used to calculate the PP: the volume of wastewater and the population density in the catchment area (anthropogenic components of pollution, sediment load (a natural component of pollution. Such natural settings of the catchment as the lake percentage, woodiness and the role of topography in self-purification of rivers have been used to calculate the SPC. The quality of river waters, entering the sea, is the result of the ratio of the proposed integrated indicators. On the basis of the quantitative ratios of PP and SPC, the zoning of the catchment area according to the degree of the negative impact of river waters on water quality in the White Sea has been performed. The resulting zoning scheme is demonstrated as a holistic picture, representing a complex of natural-economic factors on the river catchments of the White Sea basin. It has been revealed that river runoff from a considerable part of the catchment area has not a significant negative impact on the water quality on the White Sea. The greatest pollution effect on the waters of the White Sea has the Northern Dvina River and the Niva River. The obtained data are well correlated with the data of hydrochemical observations in the bays of the White Sea. The objectivity of integrated assessment has been provided by the base on a large number of field data and the exception of the indicators that have not quantitative expression. The obtained results can be used to develop scientifically valid environmental programmes and to plan industrial development in the catchment area.

  20. Approximation and spatial regionalization of rainfall erosivity based on sparse data in a mountainous catchment of the Yangtze River in Central China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schönbrodt-Stitt, Sarah; Bosch, Anna; Behrens, Thorsten; Hartmann, Heike; Shi, Xuezheng; Scholten, Thomas

    2013-10-01

    In densely populated countries like China, clean water is one of the most challenging issues of prospective politics and environmental planning. Water pollution and eutrophication by excessive input of nitrogen and phosphorous from nonpoint sources is mostly linked to soil erosion from agricultural land. In order to prevent such water pollution by diffuse matter fluxes, knowledge about the extent of soil loss and the spatial distribution of hot spots of soil erosion is essential. In remote areas such as the mountainous regions of the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River, rainfall data are scarce. Since rainfall erosivity is one of the key factors in soil erosion modeling, e.g., expressed as R factor in the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation model, a methodology is needed to spatially determine rainfall erosivity. Our study aims at the approximation and spatial regionalization of rainfall erosivity from sparse data in the large (3,200 km(2)) and strongly mountainous catchment of the Xiangxi River, a first order tributary to the Yangtze River close to the Three Gorges Dam. As data on rainfall were only obtainable in daily records for one climate station in the central part of the catchment and five stations in its surrounding area, we approximated rainfall erosivity as R factors using regression analysis combined with elevation bands derived from a digital elevation model. The mean annual R factor (R a) amounts for approximately 5,222 MJ mm ha(-1) h(-1) a(-1). With increasing altitudes, R a rises up to maximum 7,547 MJ mm ha(-1) h(-1) a(-1) at an altitude of 3,078 m a.s.l. At the outlet of the Xiangxi catchment erosivity is at minimum with approximate R a=1,986 MJ mm ha(-1) h(-1) a(-1). The comparison of our results with R factors from high-resolution measurements at comparable study sites close to the Xiangxi catchment shows good consistance and allows us to calculate grid-based R a as input for a spatially high-resolution and area-specific assessment of

  1. THE CONFLUENCE RATIO OF THE TRANSYLVANIAN BASIN RIVERS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ROŞIAN GH.

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available There are many possibilities to assess the hydrological and geomorphological evolution of a territory. Among them, one remarks the confluence ratio of the rivers belonging to different catchment areas. The values of this indicator may provide information regarding the stage of evolution of the fluvial landforms in the Transylvanian Basin. Also, the values may serve for the calculation of other parameters of catchment areas like: the degree of finishing of the drainage basin for its corresponding order, the density of river segments within a catchment area etc. To calculate the confluence ratio, 35 catchment areas of different orders have been selected. The confluence ratio varies between 3.04 and 6.07. The large range of values demonstrates the existence of a heterogeneous lithology and of morphological and hydrographical contrasts from one catchment area to the other. The existence of values above 5, correlated also with observations in the field, reveals an accelerated dynamics of the geomorphological processes in those catchment areas. This dynamic is mainly supported by the high landform fragmentation due to the first order rivers. In contrast, the catchment areas that have a confluence ratio below 5 are in a more advanced stage of evolution with stable slopes, unable to initiate new first order river segments.

  2. Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Water Resources in Three Representative Ukrainian Catchments Using Eco-Hydrological Modelling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iulii Didovets

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The information about climate change impact on river discharge is vitally important for planning adaptation measures. The future changes can affect different water-related sectors. The main goal of this study was to investigate the potential water resource changes in Ukraine, focusing on three mesoscale river catchments (Teteriv, Upper Western Bug, and Samara characteristic for different geographical zones. The catchment scale watershed model—Soil and Water Integrated Model (SWIM—was setup, calibrated, and validated for the three catchments under consideration. A set of seven GCM-RCM (General Circulation Model-Regional Climate Model coupled climate scenarios corresponding to RCPs (Representative Concentration Pathways 4.5 and 8.5 were used to drive the hydrological catchment model. The climate projections, used in the study, were considered as three combinations of low, intermediate, and high end scenarios. Our results indicate the shifts in the seasonal distribution of runoff in all three catchments. The spring high flow occurs earlier as a result of temperature increases and earlier snowmelt. The fairly robust trend is an increase in river discharge in the winter season, and most of the scenarios show a potential decrease in river discharge in the spring.

  3. Diatoms as a fingerprint of sub-catchment contributions to meso-scale catchment runoff

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klaus, Julian; Wetzel, Carlos E.; Martinez-Carreras, Nuria; Ector, Luc; Pfister, Laurent

    2014-05-01

    In recent years, calls were made for new eco-hydrological approaches to improve understanding of hydrological processes. Recently diatoms, one of the most common and diverse algal groups that can be easily transported by flowing water due to their small size (~10-200 µm), were used to detect the onset and cessation of surface runoff to small headwater streams and constrain isotopic and hydro-chemical hydrograph separation methods. While the method showed its potential in the hillslope-riparian zone-stream continuum of headwater catchments, the behavior of diatoms and their use for hydrological process research in meso-scale catchments remains uncertain. Diatoms can be a valuable support for isotope and hydro-chemical tracer methods when these become ambiguous with increasing scale. Distribution and abundance of diatom species is controlled by various environmental factors (pH, soil type, moisture conditions, exposition to sunlight, etc.). We therefore hypothesize that species abundance and composition can be used as a proxy for source areas. This presentation evaluates the potential for diatoms to trace source-areas in the nested meso-scale Attert River basin (250 km2, Luxembourg, Europe). We sampled diatom populations in streamwater during one flood event in Fall 2011 in 6 sub-catchments and the basin outlet - 17 to 28 samples/catchment for the different sampling locations. Diatoms were classified and counted in every individual sample. In total more than 400 diatom species were detected. Ordination analysis revealed a clear distinction between communities sampled in different sub-catchments. The species composition at the catchment outlet reflects a mixing of the diatom composition originating from different sub-catchments. This data suggests that diatoms indeed can reflect the geographic origin of stream water at the catchment outlet. The centroids of the ordination analysis might be linked to the physiographic characteristics (geology and land use) of the

  4. Morphology, Geology and Water Quality Assessment of Former Tin Mining Catchment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ashraf, Muhammad Aqeel; Maah, Mohd. Jamil; Yusoff, Ismail

    2012-01-01

    Bestari Jaya, former tin mining catchment covers an area of 2656.31 hectares comprised of four hundred and forty-two different-size lakes and ponds. The present study area comprise of 92 hectares of the catchment that include four large size lakes. Arc GIS version 9.2 used to develop bathymetric map, Global Positioning System (GPS) for hydrographical survey and flow meter was utilized for water discharge analysis (flow routing) of the catchment. The water quality parameters (pH, temperature, electric conductivity, dissolved oxygen DO, total dissolved solids TDS, chlorides, ammonium, nitrates) were analyzed by using Hydrolab. Quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) procedures were strictly followed throughout the field work and data analysis. Different procedures were employed to evaluate the analytical data and to check for possible transcription or dilution errors, changes during analysis, or unusual or unlikely values. The results obtained are compared with interim national water quality standards for Malaysia indicates that water quality of area is highly degraded. It is concluded that Bestri Jaya ex-mining catchment has a high pollution potential due to mining activities and River Ayer Hitam, recipient of catchment water, is a highly polluted river. PMID:22761549

  5. Nested Tracer Studies In Catchment Hydrology: Towards A Multiscale Understanding of Runoff Generation and Catchment Funtioning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soulsby, C.; Rodgers, P.; Malcolm, I. A.; Dunn, S.

    Geochemical and isotopic tracers have been shown to have widespread utility in catch- ment hydrology in terms of identifying hydrological source areas and characterising residence time distributions. In many cases application of tracer techniques has pro- vided insights into catchment functioning that could not be obtained from hydromet- ric and/or modelling studies alone. This paper will show how the use of tracers has contributed to an evolving perceptual model of hydrological pathways and runoff gen- eration processes in catchments in the Scottish highlands. In particular the paper will focus on the different insights that are gained at three different scales of analysis; (a) nested sub-catchments within a mesoscale (ca. 200 square kilometers) experimen- tal catchment; (b) hillslope-riparian interactions and (c) stream bed fluxes. Nested hydrometric and hydrochemical monitoring within the mesoscale Feugh catchment identified three main hydrological response units: (i) plateau peatlands which gener- ated saturation overland flow in the catchment headwaters, (ii) steep valley hillslopes which drain from the plateaux into (iii) alluvial and drift aquifers in the valley bottoms. End Member Mixing Analysis (EMMA) in 8 nested sub-catchments indicated that that stream water tracer concentrations can be modelled in terms of 2 dominant runoff pro- cesses; overland flow from the peat and groundwater from the drift aquifers. Ground- water contributions generally increased with catchment size, though this was moder- ated by the characteristics of individual sub-basins, with drift cover being particularly important. Hillslope riparian interactions were also examined using tracers, hydromet- ric data and a semi-distributed hydrological model. This revealed that in the glaciated, drift covered terrain of the Scottish highlands, extensive valley bottom aquifers effec- tively de-couple hillslope waters from the river channel. Thus, riparian groundwater appears to significantly

  6. Geo-referenced modelling of metal concentrations in river basins at the catchment scale

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hüffmeyer, N.; Berlekamp, J.; Klasmeier, J.

    2009-04-01

    1. Introduction The European Water Framework Directive demands the good ecological and chemical state of surface waters [1]. This implies the reduction of unwanted metal concentrations in surface waters. To define reasonable environmental target values and to develop promising mitigation strategies a detailed exposure assessment is required. This includes the identification of emission sources and the evaluation of their effect on local and regional surface water concentrations. Point source emissions via municipal or industrial wastewater that collect metal loads from a wide variety of applications and products are important anthropogenic pathways into receiving waters. Natural background and historical influences from ore-mining activities may be another important factor. Non-point emissions occur via surface runoff and erosion from drained land area. Besides deposition metals can be deposited by fertilizer application or the use of metal products such as wires or metal fences. Surface water concentrations vary according to the emission strength of sources located nearby and upstream of the considered location. A direct link between specific emission sources and pathways on the one hand and observed concentrations can hardly be established by monitoring alone. Geo-referenced models such as GREAT-ER (Geo-referenced Regional Exposure Assessment Tool for European Rivers) deliver spatially resolved concentrations in a whole river basin and allow for evaluating the causal relationship between specific emissions and resulting concentrations. This study summarizes the results of investigations for the metals zinc and copper in three German catchments. 2. The model GREAT-ER The geo-referenced model GREAT-ER has originally been developed to simulate and assess chemical burden of European river systems from multiple emission sources [2]. Emission loads from private households and rainwater runoff are individually estimated based on average consumption figures, runoff rates

  7. Infiltration Losses Calculated for the Flash Flood in the Upper Catchment of Geru River, Galaţi County, Romania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Balan Isabela

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available MIKE software created by Danish Institute of Hydraulics can be used to perform mathematical modelling of rainfall-runoff process on the hillslopes, resulting in a runoff hydrograph in the closing section of a catchment. The software includes a unitary hydrograph method - UHM in the hydrological module Rainfall - Runoff. Excess rainfall is routed to the river and transited through unit hydrograph method. The model divides the flood generating precipitation in excess rainfall (net rainfall and losses (infiltration.

  8. Dynamic seasonal nitrogen cycling in response to anthropogenic N loading in a tropical catchment, Athi-Galana-Sabaki River, Kenya

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marwick, T. R.; Tamooh, F.; Ogwoka, B.; Teodoru, C.; Borges, A. V.; Darchambeau, F.; Bouillon, S.

    2014-01-01

    As part of a broader study on the riverine biogeochemistry in the Athi-Galana-Sabaki (A-G-S) River catchment (Kenya), we present data constraining the sources, transit and transformation of multiple nitrogen (N) species as they flow through the A-G-S catchment (~47 000 km2). The data set was obtained in August-September 2011, November 2011, and April-May 2012, covering the dry season, short rain season and long rain season respectively. Release of (largely untreated) wastewater from the city of Nairobi had a profound impact on the biogeochemistry of the upper Athi River, leading to low dissolved oxygen (DO) saturation levels (36-67%), high ammonium (NH4+) concentrations (123-1193 μmol L-1), and high dissolved methane (CH4) concentrations (3765-6729 nmol L-1). Riverine dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN; sum of NH4+ and nitrate (NO3-); nitrite was not measured) concentration at the most upstream site on the Athi River was highest during the dry season (1195 μmol L-1), while DIN concentration was an order of magnitude lower during the short and long rain seasons (212 and 193 μmol L-1, respectively). During the rain seasons, low water residence time led to relatively minimal in-stream N cycling prior to discharge to the ocean, whereas during the dry season we speculate that prolonged residence time creates two differences comparative to wet season, where (1) intense N cycling and removal of DIN is possible in the upper to mid-catchment and leads to significantly lower concentrations at the outlet during the dry season, and (2) as a result this leads to the progressive enrichment of 15N in the particulate N (PN) pool, highlighting the dominance of untreated wastewater as the prevailing source of riverine DIN. The rapid removal of NH4+ in the upper reaches during the dry season was accompanied by a quantitatively similar production of NO3- and nitrous oxide (N2O) downstream, pointing towards strong nitrification over this reach during the dry season. Nitrous oxide

  9. Sediment tracing in the upper Hunter catchment using elemental and mineralogical compositions: Implications for catchment-scale suspended sediment (dis)connectivity and management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fryirs, Kirstie; Gore, Damian

    2013-07-01

    River bed colmation layers clog the interstices of gravel-bed rivers, impeding the vertical exchange of water and nutrients that drives ecosystem function in the hyporheic zone. In catchments where fine-grained sediment supply has increased since human disturbance, understanding sediment provenance and the (dis)connectivity of supply allows practitioners to target sediment source problems and treat them within catchment management plans. Release of alluvial fine-grained sediment from channel bank erosion since European settlement has resulted in the formation of a colmation layer along the upper Hunter River at Muswellbrook, eastern Australia. X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD) are used to determine the elemental and mineralogical signatures of colmation layer and floodplain sediment sources across this 4480 km2 catchment. This sediment tracing technique is used to construct a picture of how suspended sediment supply and (dis)connectivity operates in this catchment. In this system, the primary source areas are subcatchments in which sediments are stored largely in partly confined floodplain pockets, but from which sediment supply is unimpeded and directly connected to the receiving reach. Subcatchments in which alluvial sediment storage is significant — and which contain large, laterally unconfined valleys — are essentially 'switched off' or disconnected from the receiving reach. This is because large sediment sinks act to trap fine-grained sediment before it reaches the receiving reach, forming a buffer along the sediment conveyor belt. Given the age structure of floodplains in the receiving reach, this pattern of source area contributions and (dis)connectivity must have occurred throughout the Holocene.

  10. Concentration-Discharge Relationships, Nested Reaction Fronts, and the Balance of Oxidative and Acid-Base Weathering Fluxes in an Alpine Catchment, East River, Colorado

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winnick, M.; Carroll, R. W. H.; Williams, K. H.; Maxwell, R. M.; Maher, K.

    2016-12-01

    Although important for solute production and transport, the varied interactions between biogeochemical processes and subsurface hydrology remain poorly characterized. We investigate these couplings in the headwaters of the East River, CO, a high-elevation shale-dominated catchment system in the Rocky Mountains, using concentration-discharge (C-Q) relationships for major cations, anions, and organic carbon. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) displays a positive C-Q relationship with well-defined clockwise hysteresis, indicating the mobilization and depletion of DOC in the upper soil horizons and highlighting the importance of shallow flowpaths through the snowmelt period. Cation and anion concentrations demonstrate that carbonate weathering, which dominates solute fluxes, is promoted by both carbonic acid and sulfuric acid derived from oxidation of pyrite in the shale bedrock. Sulfuric acid weathering in the deep subsurface dominates during base flow conditions when waters have infiltrated below the hypothesized pyrite oxidation front, whereas carbonic acid weathering plays a dominant role during the snowmelt period as a result of shallow flowpaths. Differential C-Q relationships between solutes suggest that infiltrating waters approach calcite saturation before reaching the pyrite oxidation front, after which sulfuric acid reduces carbonate alkalinity. This increase in CO2(aq) at the expense of HCO3- results in outgassing of CO2 when waters equilibrate to surface conditions, and reduces the export of carbon and alkalinity from the East River by roughly 33% annually. Future changes in snowmelt dynamics that control the balance of carbonic and sulfuric acid weathering therefore have the capacity to substantially alter the cycling of carbon in the East River catchment. Ultimately, we demonstrate that differential C-Q relationships between major solutes can provide unique insights into the complex subsurface flow and biogeochemical dynamics that operate at catchment scales.

  11. Flow dependent water quality impacts of historic coal and oil shale mining in the Almond River catchment, Scotland

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haunch, Simon; MacDonald, Alan M.; Brown, Neil; McDermott, Christopher I.

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • A GIS map of coal and oil shale mining in the Almond basin was constructed. • Water quality data confirms the continued detrimental impact of historic mining. • Oil shale mining is confirmed as a contributor to poor surface water quality. • Surface water flow affects mine contaminant chemistry, behaviour and transport. • River bed iron precipitate is re-suspended and transported downstream at high flow. - Abstract: The Almond River catchment in Central Scotland has experienced extensive coal mining during the last 300 years and also provides an example of enduring pollution associated with historic unconventional hydrocarbon exploitation from oil shale. Detailed spatial analysis of the catchment has identified over 300 abandoned mine and mine waste sites, comprising a significant potential source of mine related contamination. River water quality data, collected over a 15 year period from 1994 to 2008, indicates that both the coal and oil shale mining areas detrimentally impact surface water quality long after mine abandonment, due to the continued release of Fe and SO 4 2- associated with pyrite oxidation at abandoned mine sites. Once in the surface water environment Fe and SO 4 2- display significant concentration-flow dependence: Fe increases at high flows due to the re-suspension of river bed Fe precipitates (Fe(OH) 3 ); SO 4 2- concentrations decrease with higher flow as a result of dilution. Further examination of Fe and SO 4 loading at low flows indicates a close correlation of Fe and SO 4 2- with mined areas; cumulative low flow load calculations indicate that coal and oil shale mining regions contribute 0.21 and 0.31 g/s of Fe, respectively, to the main Almond tributary. Decreases in Fe loading along some river sections demonstrate the deposition and storage of Fe within the river channel. This river bed Fe is re-suspended with increased flow resulting in significant transport of Fe downstream with load values of up to 50 g/s Fe

  12. Trends and seasonality in stream water chemistry in two moorland catchments of the Upper River Wye, Plynlimon

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B. Reynolds

    1997-01-01

    Full Text Available Stream water chemistry in the Cyff and Gwy subcatchments within the headwaters of the River Wye has been monitored regularly since 1980. In the Gwy, which is a predominantly semi-natural grassland catchment, land use has remained relatively static over the monitoring period, whilst the Cyff catchment is more buffered because of base cation inputs from agricultural improvement and ground water sources. Using a variety of statistical techniques, the long-term data are examined for evidence of trends after eliminating seasonal effects. The results highlight some of the difficulties associated with the analysis of longterm water quality data which show considerable variability over a variety of timescales. Some of this variability can be explained in terms of hydrochemical responses to climatic extremes and episodic events such as large atmospheric inputs of seasalts. The long-term fluctuations in solute concentration underline the continuing need for maintaining consistent long-term monitoring at sensitive upland sites if underlying trends related to gradual changes in pollutant deposition or climate are to be detected with any certainty.

  13. Sediment yield during typhoon events in relation to landslides, rainfall, and catchment areas in Taiwan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Chi-Wen; Oguchi, Takashi; Hayakawa, Yuichi S.; Saito, Hitoshi; Chen, Hongey; Lin, Guan-Wei; Wei, Lun-Wei; Chao, Yi-Chiung

    2018-02-01

    Debris sourced from landslides will result in environmental problems such as increased sediment discharge in rivers. This study analyzed the sediment discharge of 17 main rivers in Taiwan during 14 typhoon events, selected from the catchment area and river length, that caused landslides according to government reports. The measured suspended sediment and water discharge, collected from hydrometric stations of the Water Resources Agency of Taiwan, were used to establish rating-curve relationships, a power-law relation between them. Then sediment discharge during typhoon events was estimated using the rating-curve method and the measured data of daily water discharge. Positive correlations between sediment discharge and rainfall conditions for each river indicate that sediment discharge increases when a greater amount of rainfall or a higher intensity of rainfall falls during a typhoon event. In addition, the amount of sediment discharge during a typhoon event is mainly controlled by the total amount of rainfall, not by peak rainfall. Differences in correlation equations among the rivers suggest that catchments with larger areas produce more sediment. Catchments with relatively low sediment discharge show more distinct increases in sediment discharge in response to increases in rainfall, owing to the little opportunity for deposition in small catchments with high connectivity to rivers and the transportation of the majority of landslide debris to rivers during typhoon events. Also, differences in geomorphic and geologic conditions among catchments around Taiwan lead to a variety of suspended sediment dynamics and the sediment budget. Positive correlation between average sediment discharge and average area of landslides during typhoon events indicates that when larger landslides are caused by heavier rainfall during a typhoon event, more loose materials from the most recent landslide debris are flushed into rivers, resulting in higher sediment discharge. The high

  14. Validation of SMOS L1C and L2 Products and Important Parameters of the Retrieval Algorithm in the Skjern River Catchment, Western Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bircher, Simone; Skou, Niels; Kerr, Yann H.

    2013-01-01

    -band Microwave Emission of the Biosphere (L-MEB) model with initial guesses on the two parameters (derived from ECMWF products and ECOCLIMAP Leaf Area Index, respectively) and other auxiliary input. This paper presents the validation work carried out in the Skjern River Catchment, Denmark. L1C/L2 data...

  15. Quantifying in-stream retention of nitrate at catchment scales using a practical mass balance approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwientek, Marc; Selle, Benny

    2016-02-01

    As field data on in-stream nitrate retention is scarce at catchment scales, this study aimed at quantifying net retention of nitrate within the entire river network of a fourth-order stream. For this purpose, a practical mass balance approach combined with a Lagrangian sampling scheme was applied and seasonally repeated to estimate daily in-stream net retention of nitrate for a 17.4 km long, agriculturally influenced, segment of the Steinlach River in southwestern Germany. This river segment represents approximately 70% of the length of the main stem and about 32% of the streambed area of the entire river network. Sampling days in spring and summer were biogeochemically more active than in autumn and winter. Results obtained for the main stem of Steinlach River were subsequently extrapolated to the stream network in the catchment. It was demonstrated that, for baseflow conditions in spring and summer, in-stream nitrate retention could sum up to a relevant term of the catchment's nitrogen balance if the entire stream network was considered.

  16. Response of surface and groundwater on meteorological drought in Topla River catchment, Slovakia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fendekova, Miriam; Fendek, Marian; Vrablikova, Dana; Blaskovicova, Lotta; Slivova, Valeria; Horvat, Oliver

    2016-04-01

    Continuously increasing number of drought studies published in scientific journals reflects the attention of the scientific community paid to drought. The fundamental works among many others were published by Yevjevich (1967), Zelenhasic and Salvai (1987), later by Tallaksen and van Lanen Eds. (2004). The aim of the paper was to analyze the response of surface and groundwater to meteorological drought occurrence in the upper and middle part of the Topla River Basin, Slovakia. This catchment belongs to catchments with unfavourable hydrogeological conditions, being built of rocks with quite low permeability. The basin is located in the north-eastern part of Slovakia covering the area of 1050.05 km2. The response was analyzed using precipitation data from the Bardejov station (long-term annual average of 662 mm in 1981 - 2012) and discharge data from two gauging stations - Bardejov and Hanusovce nad Toplou. Data on groundwater head from eight observation wells, located in the catchment, were also used, covering the same observation period. Meteorological drought was estimated using characterisation of the year humidity and SPI index. Hydrological drought was evaluated using the threshold level method and method of sequent peak algorithm, both with the fixed and also variable thresholds. The centroid method of the cluster analysis with the squared Euclidean distance was used for clustering data according to occurrence of drought periods, lasting for 100 days and more. Results of the SPI index showed very good applicability for drought periods identification in the basin. The most pronounced dry periods occurred in 1982 - 1983, 1984, 1998 and 2012 being classified as moderately dry, and also in 1993 - 1994, 2003 - 2004 and 2007 evolving from moderately to severely dry years. Short-term drought prevailed in discharges, only three periods of drought longer than 100 days occurred during the evaluated period in 1986 - 1987, 1997 and 2003 - 2004. Discharge drought in the

  17. Groundwater–surface water interactions, vegetation dependencies and implications for water resources management in the semi-arid Hailiutu River catchment, China – a synthesis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y. Zhou

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available During the last decades, large-scale land use changes took place in the Hailiutu River catchment, a semi-arid area in northwest China. These changes had significant impacts on the water resources in the area. Insights into groundwater and surface water interactions and vegetation-water dependencies help to understand these impacts and formulate sustainable water resources management policies. In this study, groundwater and surface water interactions were identified using the baseflow index at the catchment scale, and hydraulic and water temperature methods as well as event hydrograph separation techniques at the sub-catchment scale. The results show that almost 90% of the river discharge consists of groundwater. Vegetation dependencies on groundwater were analysed from the relationship between the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI and groundwater depth at the catchment scale and along an ecohydrogeological cross-section, and by measuring the sap flow of different plants, soil water contents and groundwater levels at different research sites. The results show that all vegetation types, i.e. trees (willow (Salix matsudana and poplar (Populus simonii, bushes (salix – Salix psammophila, and agricultural crops (maize – Zea mays, depend largely on groundwater as the source for transpiration. The comparative analysis indicates that maize crops use the largest amount of water, followed by poplar trees, salix bushes, and willow trees. For sustainable water use with the objective of satisfying the water demand for socio-economical development and to prevent desertification and ecological impacts on streams, more water-use-efficient crops such as sorghum, barley or millet should be promoted to reduce the consumptive water use. Willow trees should be used as wind-breaks in croplands and along roads, and drought-resistant and less water-use intensive plants (for instance native bushes should be used to vegetate sand dunes.

  18. Rainfall-runoff model for prediction of waterborne viral contamination in a small river catchment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gelati, E.; Dommar, C.; Lowe, R.; Polcher, J.; Rodó, X.

    2013-12-01

    We present a lumped rainfall-runoff model aimed at providing useful information for the prediction of waterborne viral contamination in small rivers. Viral contamination of water bodies may occur because of the discharge of sewage effluents and of surface runoff over areas affected by animal waste loads. Surface runoff is caused by precipitation that cannot infiltrate due to its intensity and to antecedent soil water content. It may transport animal feces to adjacent water bodies and cause viral contamination. We model streamflow by separating it into two components: subsurface flow, which is produced by infiltrated precipitation; and surface runoff. The model estimates infiltrated and non-infiltrated precipitation and uses impulse-response functions to compute the corresponding fractions of streamflow. The developed methodologies are applied to the Glafkos river, whose catchment extends for 102 km2 and includes the city of Patra. Streamflow and precipitation observations are available at a daily time resolution. Waterborne virus concentration measurements were performed approximately every second week from the beginning of 2011 to mid 2012. Samples were taken at several locations: in river water upstream of Patras and in the urban area; in sea water at the river outlet and approximately 2 km south-west of Patras; in sewage effluents before and after treatment. The rainfall-runoff model was calibrated and validated using observed streamflow and precipitation data. The model contribution to waterborne viral contamination prediction was benchmarked by analyzing the virus concentration measurements together with the estimated surface runoff values. The presented methodology may be a first step towards the development of waterborne viral contamination alert systems. Predicting viral contamination of water bodies would benefit sectors such as water supply and tourism.

  19. A tracer test to determine a hydraulic connection between the Lauchert and Danube karst catchments (Swabian Alb, Germany)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knöll, Paul; Scheytt, Traugott

    2018-03-01

    A dye tracer experiment was conducted between the rivers Lauchert and Danube near Sigmaringen (Swabian Alb, southern Germany). After a flood event in the River Lauchert, it was suspected that flood water infiltrated into the karst system and drained towards springs in the Danube Valley. A potential connection of the two rivers is provided by the margin of a tectonic graben crossing the valleys. The aim of the tracer experiment was to gain insight into the dominant groundwater flow direction as well as to study a possible preferential connection between the Lauchert surface catchment area and springs in the Danube Valley. After introducing sodium-fluorescein into the unsaturated zone, six springs in the Danube Valley and the River Lauchert itself were observed. Tracer breakthrough at three springs showed that these springs are fed by groundwater originating in the Lauchert surface catchment. Adjacent springs were not affected by the experiment, indicating a rather sharp divide between separate spring catchments. Analyses of tracer breakthrough curves suggest that springs with a tracer occurrence are fed by the same conduit system. It was possible to show that spring catchments in Sigmaringen reach significantly into the Lauchert surface catchment. As a consequence, a drinking-water supplier has changed its supply strategy. The results also help to explain significant differences between flood damage in the central and lower courses of the River Lauchert.

  20. Restoring the Mississippi River Basin from the Catchment to the Coast Defines Science and Policy Issues of Ecosystem Services Associated with Alluvial and Coastal Deltaic Floodplains: Soil Conservation, Nutrient Reduction, Carbon Sequestration, and Flood Control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Twilley, R.

    2014-12-01

    Large river systems are major economic engines that provide national economic wealth in transporting commerce and providing extensive agriculture production, and their coastal deltas are sites of significant ports, energy resources and fisheries. These coupled natural and social systems from the catchment to the coast depend on how national policies manage the river basins that they depend. The fundamental principle of the Mississippi River Basin, as in all basins, is to capitalize on the ability of fertile soil that moves from erosional regions of a large watershed, through downstream regions of the catchment where sediment transport and storage builds extensive floodplains, to the coastal region of deposition where deltas capture sediment and nutrients before exported to the oceans. The fate of soil, and the ability of that soil to do work, supports the goods and services along its path from the catchment to the coast in all large river basin and delta systems. Sediment is the commodity of all large river basin systems that together with the seasonal pulse of floods across the interior of continents provide access to the sea forming the assets that civilization and economic engines have tapped to build national and global wealth. Coastal landscapes represent some of the most altered ecosystems worldwide and often integrate the effects of processes over their entire catchment, requiring systemic solutions to achieve restoration goals from alluvial floodplains upstream to coastal deltaic floodplains downstream. The urgent need for wetland rehabilitation at landscape scales has been initiated through major floodplain reclamation and hydrologic diversions to reconnect the river with wetland processes. But the constraints of sediment delivery and nutrient enrichment represent some critical conflicts in earth surface processes that limit the ability to design 'self sustaining' public work projects; particularly with the challenges of accelerated sea level rise. Only

  1. The Water Quality of the River Enborne, UK: Observations from High-Frequency Monitoring in a Rural, Lowland River System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarah J. Halliday

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper reports the results of a 2-year study of water quality in the River Enborne, a rural river in lowland England. Concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus species and other chemical determinands were monitored both at high-frequency (hourly, using automated in situ instrumentation, and by manual weekly sampling and laboratory analysis. The catchment land use is largely agricultural, with a population density of 123 persons km−2. The river water is largely derived from calcareous groundwater, and there are high nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations. Agricultural fertiliser is the dominant source of annual loads of both nitrogen and phosphorus. However, the data show that sewage effluent discharges have a disproportionate effect on the river nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics. At least 38% of the catchment population use septic tank systems, but the effects are hard to quantify as only 6% are officially registered, and the characteristics of the others are unknown. Only 4% of the phosphorus input and 9% of the nitrogen input is exported from the catchment by the river, highlighting the importance of catchment process understanding in predicting nutrient concentrations. High-frequency monitoring will be a key to developing this vital process understanding.

  2. A new perspective on catchment storage gained from a nested catchment experiment in Luxembourg (Europe)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pfister, Laurent; Klaus, Julian; Hissler, Christophe; François Iffly, Jean; Gourdol, Laurent; Martinez-Carreras, Nuria; McDonnell, Jeffrey J.

    2014-05-01

    Recent hydrological process research focussed on how much water a catchment can store and how these catchments store and release water. Storage can be a valuable metric for catchment description, inter-comparison, and classification. Further storage controls catchment mixing, non-linearities in rainfall-runoff transformation and eco-hydrological processes. Various methods exist to determine catchment storage (e.g. natural tracer, soil moisture and groundwater data, hydrological models). Today it remains unclear what parts of the catchment storage are measured with the different models. Here we present a new hydrometric approach to answer the question how much water a catchment can store. We tested our approach in a dense hydro-climatological monitoring network that encompasses 16 recording streamgauges and 21 pluviographs in the Alzette River basin in Luxembourg (Europe). Catchment scales are ranging from 0.47 to 285 km2 and they have clean- and mixed combinations of distinct geologies ranging from schists to marls, sandstone, dolomite and limestone. Previous investigations in the area of interest have shown that geology largely controls winter runoff coefficients. Here, we focus at how catchment geology is ultimately affecting catchment storage. We used the approach of Sayama et al. (2011) to compute catchment dynamic storage changes for each winter season over the period 2002-2012 (based on precipitation as input; discharge and evapotranspiration as output). We determined dynamic storage changes for each winter semester (October to March) in all 16 catchments over the period 2002-2012. At the beginning of each hydrological winter season, all catchments showed similar trends in storage change. A few weeks into the winter season, catchments with lowest permeability (e.g. marls) started to plateau. The highest storage values were reached several months later in the season in catchments dominated by permeable substrate (e.g. sandstone). For most catchments, we found

  3. Spatiotemporal patterns of non-point source nitrogen loss in an agricultural catchment

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    Jian-feng Xu

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Non-point source nitrogen loss poses a risk to sustainable aquatic ecosystems. However, non-point sources, as well as impaired river segments with high nitrogen concentrations, are difficult to monitor and regulate because of their diffusive nature, budget constraints, and resource deficiencies. For the purpose of catchment management, the Bayesian maximum entropy approach and spatial regression models have been used to explore the spatiotemporal patterns of non-point source nitrogen loss. In this study, a total of 18 sampling sites were selected along the river network in the Hujiashan Catchment. Over the time period of 2008–2012, water samples were collected 116 times at each site and analyzed for non-point source nitrogen loss. The morphometric variables and soil drainage of different land cover types were studied and considered potential factors affecting nitrogen loss. The results revealed that, compared with the approach using the Euclidean distance, the Bayesian maximum entropy approach using the river distance led to an appreciable 10.1% reduction in the estimation error, and more than 53.3% and 44.7% of the river network in the dry and wet seasons, respectively, had a probability of non-point source nitrogen impairment. The proportion of the impaired river segments exhibited an overall decreasing trend in the study catchment from 2008 to 2012, and the reduction in the wet seasons was greater than that in the dry seasons. High nitrogen concentrations were primarily found in the downstream reaches and river segments close to the residential lands. Croplands and residential lands were the dominant factors affecting non-point source nitrogen loss, and explained up to 70.7% of total nitrogen in the dry seasons and 54.7% in the wet seasons. A thorough understanding of the location of impaired river segments and the dominant factors affecting total nitrogen concentration would have considerable importance for catchment management.

  4. Attributes for MRB_E2RF1 Catchments by Major River Basins in the Conterminous United States: Normalized Atmospheric Deposition for 2002, Nitrate (NO3)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wieczorek, Michael; LaMotte, Andrew E.

    2010-01-01

    This tabular data set represents the average normalized (wet) deposition, in kilograms per square kilometer multiplied by 100, of Nitrate (NO3) for the year 2002 compiled for every MRB_E2RF1 catchment of the Major River Basins (MRBs, Crawford and others, 2006). Estimates of NO3 deposition are based on National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) measurements (B. Larsen, U.S. Geological Survey, written. commun., 2007). De-trending methods applied to the year 2002 are described in Alexander and others, 2001. NADP site selection met the following criteria: stations must have records from 1995 to 2002 and have a minimum of 30 observations. The MRB_E2RF1 catchments are based on a modified version of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) ERF1_2 and include enhancements to support national and regional-scale surface-water quality modeling (Nolan and others, 2002; Brakebill and others, 2011). Data were compiled for every MRB_E2RF1 catchment for the conterminous United States covering New England and Mid-Atlantic (MRB1), South Atlantic-Gulf and Tennessee (MRB2), the Great Lakes, Ohio, Upper Mississippi, and Souris-Red-Rainy (MRB3), the Missouri (MRB4), the Lower Mississippi, Arkansas-White-Red, and Texas-Gulf (MRB5), the Rio Grande, Colorado, and the Great basin (MRB6), the Pacific Northwest (MRB7) river basins, and California (MRB8).

  5. Attributes for MRB_E2RF1 Catchments by Major River Basins in the Conterminous United States: Normalized Atmospheric Deposition for 2002, Total Inorganic Nitrogen

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wieczorek, Michael; LaMotte, Andrew E.

    2010-01-01

    This tabular data set represents the average normalized atmospheric (wet) deposition, in kilograms per square kilometer multiplied by 100, of Total Inorganic Nitrogen for the year 2002 compiled for every MRB_E2RF1 catchment of selected Major River Basins (MRBs, Crawford and others, 2006). Estimates of Total Inorganic Nitrogen deposition are based on National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) measurements (B. Larsen, U.S. Geological Survey, written. commun., 2007). De-trending methods applied to the year 2002 are described in Alexander and others, 2001. NADP site selection met the following criteria: stations must have records from 1995 to 2002 and have a minimum of 30 observations. The MRB_E2RF1 catchments are based on a modified version of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) ERF1_2 and include enhancements to support national and regional-scale surface-water quality modeling (Nolan and others, 2002; Brakebill and others, 2011). Data were compiled for every MRB_E2RF1 catchment for the conterminous United States covering New England and Mid-Atlantic (MRB1), South Atlantic-Gulf and Tennessee (MRB2), the Great Lakes, Ohio, Upper Mississippi, and Souris-Red-Rainy (MRB3), the Missouri (MRB4), the Lower Mississippi, Arkansas-White-Red, and Texas-Gulf (MRB5), the Rio Grande, Colorado, and the Great basin (MRB6), the Pacific Northwest (MRB7) river basins, and California (MRB8).

  6. Attributes for MRB_E2RF1 Catchments by Major River Basins in the Conterminous United States: Normalized Atmospheric Deposition for 2002, Ammonium (NH4)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wieczorek, Michael; LaMotte, Andrew E.

    2010-01-01

    This tabular data set represents the average normalized (wet) deposition, in kilograms per square kilometer multiplied by 100, of ammonium (NH4) for the year 2002 compiled for every MRB_E2RF1 catchment of the Major River Basins (MRBs, Crawford and others, 2006). Estimates of NH4 deposition are based on National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) measurements (B. Larsen, U.S. Geological Survey, written. commun., 2007). De-trending methods applied to the year 2002 are described in Alexander and others, 2001. NADP site selection met the following criteria: stations must have records from 1995 to 2002 and have a minimum of 30 observations. The MRB_E2RF1 catchments are based on a modified version of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) ERF1_2 and include enhancements to support national and regional-scale surface-water quality modeling (Nolan and others, 2002; Brakebill and others, 2011). Data were compiled for every MRB_E2RF1 catchment for the conterminous United States covering New England and Mid-Atlantic (MRB1), South Atlantic-Gulf and Tennessee (MRB2), the Great Lakes, Ohio, Upper Mississippi, and Souris-Red-Rainy (MRB3), the Missouri (MRB4), the Lower Mississippi, Arkansas-White-Red, and Texas-Gulf (MRB5), the Rio Grande, Colorado, and the Great basin (MRB6), the Pacific Northwest (MRB7) river basins, and California (MRB8).

  7. Catchment-coastal zone interaction based upon scenario and model analysis: Elbe and the German Bight case study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hofmann, J.; Behrendt, H.; Gilbert, A.J.; Janssen, R.; Kannen, A.; Kappenberg, J.W.; Lenhart, H.; Lise, W.; Nunneri, C.; Windhorst, W.

    2005-01-01

    This paper presents a holistic strategy on the interaction of activities in the Elbe river basin and their effects on eutrophication in the coastal waters of the German Bight. This catchment-coastal zone interaction is the main target of the EUROCAT (EUROpean CATchments, catchment changes and their

  8. Landscape elements and river chemistry as affected by river regulation – a 3-D perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. Smedberg

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available We tested the hypothesis whether individual land classes within a river catchment contribute equally to river loading with dissolved constituents or whether some land classes act as "hot spots" to river loading and if so, are these land classes especially affected by hydrological alterations. The amount of land covered by forests and wetlands and the average soil depth (throughout this paper soil refers to everything overlying bedrock i.e. regolith of a river catchment explain 58–93% of the variability in total organic carbon (TOC and dissolved silicate (DSi concentrations for 22 river catchments in Northern Sweden. For the heavily regulated Luleälven, with 7 studied sub-catchments, only 3% of the headwater areas have been inundated by reservoirs, some 10% of the soils and aggregated forest and wetland areas have been lost due to damming and further hydrological alteration such as bypassing entire sub-catchments by headrace tunnels. However, looking at individual forest classes, our estimates indicate that some 37% of the deciduous forests have been inundated by the four major reservoirs built in the Luleälven headwaters. These deciduous forest and wetlands formerly growing on top of alluvial deposits along the river corridors forming the riparian zone play a vital role in loading river water with dissolved constituents, especially DSi. A digital elevation model draped with land classes and soil depths which highlights that topography of various land classes acting as hot spots is critical in determining water residence time in soils and biogeochemical fluxes. Thus, headwater areas of the Luleälven appear to be most sensitive to hydrological alterations due to the thin soil cover (on average 2.7–4.5 m and only patchy appearance of forest and wetlands that were significantly perturbed. Hydrological alterations of these relatively small headwater areas significantly impacts downstream flux of dissolved constituents and their delivery to

  9. Hydrological impacts of urbanization at the catchment scale

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oudin, Ludovic; Salavati, Bahar; Furusho-Percot, Carina; Ribstein, Pierre; Saadi, Mohamed

    2018-04-01

    The impacts of urbanization on floods, droughts and the overall river regime have been largely investigated in the past few decades, but the quantification and the prediction of such impacts still remain a challenge in hydrology. We gathered a sample of 142 catchments that have a documented increase in urban areas over the hydrometeorological record period in the United States. The changes in river flow regimes due to urban spread were differentiated from climate variability using the GR4J conceptual hydrological model. High, low and mean flows were impacted at a threshold of a 10% total impervious area. Moreover, the historical evolution of urban landscape spatial patterns was used to further detail the urbanization process in terms of extent and fragmentation of urban areas throughout the catchment and to help interpret the divergent impacts observed in streamflow behaviors. Regression analysis pointed out the importance of major wastewater treatment facilities that might overpass the effects of imperviousness, and therefore further research should either take them explicitly into account or select a wastewater facility-free catchment sample to clearly evaluate the impacts of urban landscape on low flows.

  10. Groundwater and surface-water interactions and impacts of human activities in the Hailiutu catchment, northwest China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Zhi; Zhou, Yangxiao; Wenninger, Jochen; Uhlenbrook, Stefan; Wang, Xusheng; Wan, Li

    2017-08-01

    The interactions between groundwater and surface water have been significantly affected by human activities in the semi-arid Hailiutu catchment, northwest China. Several methods were used to investigate the spatial and temporal interactions between groundwater and surface water. Isotopic and chemical analyses of water samples determined that groundwater discharges to the Hailiutu River, and mass balance equations were employed to estimate groundwater seepage rates along the river using chemical profiles. The hydrograph separation method was used to estimate temporal variations of groundwater discharges to the river. A numerical groundwater model was constructed to simulate groundwater discharges along the river and to analyze effects of water use in the catchment. The simulated seepage rates along the river compare reasonably well with the seepage estimates derived from a chemical profile in 2012. The impacts of human activities (river-water diversion and groundwater abstraction) on the river discharge were analyzed by calculating the differences between the simulated natural groundwater discharge and the measured river discharge. Water use associated with the Hailiutu River increased from 1986 to 1991, reached its highest level from 1992 to 2000, and decreased from 2001 onwards. The reduction of river discharge might have negative impacts on the riparian ecosystem and the water availability for downstream users. The interactions between groundwater and surface water as well as the consequences of human activities should be taken into account when implementing sustainable water resources management in the Hailiutu catchment.

  11. Eco-physiological Study on the Influence of Contaminated Waters from the Topolnitza River Catchment Area on Some Crops

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iliana Velcheva

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The present study is a small part of a program for an investigation of the water conditions in the Topolnitza Dam Lake, Topolnitza River and its catchment area. The sensitivity of seeds and young wheat, sunflower and mustard plants to heavy metal stress was examined at laboratory conditions. Our results showed that seedling growth was more sensitive to heavy metals in comparison to seed germination. The length of shoot and root has been adversely affected due to water contamination when compared to the control. A certain negative effect on the photosynthetic pigments content was registered.

  12. Spatial and temporal variations in landscape evolution: historic and longer-term sediment flux through global catchments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Covault, Jacob A.; Craddock, William H.; Romans, Brian W.; Fildani, Andrea; Gosai, Mayur

    2013-01-01

    Sediment generation and transport through terrestrial catchments influence soil distribution, geochemical cycling of particulate and dissolved loads, and the character of the stratigraphic record of Earth history. To assess the spatiotemporal variation in landscape evolution, we compare global compilations of stream gauge–derived () and cosmogenic radionuclide (CRN)–derived (predominantly 10Be; ) denudation of catchments (mm/yr) and sediment load of rivers (Mt/yr). Stream gauges measure suspended sediment loads of rivers during several to tens of years, whereas CRNs provide catchment-integrated denudation rates at 102–105-yr time scales. Stream gauge–derived and CRN-derived sediment loads in close proximity to one another (temporary storage of sediment in flood plains can provide stream gauge–based sediment loads and denudation rates that are applicable over longer periods than the durations of gauge measurements. The buffering capacity of catchments also has implications for interpreting the stratigraphic record; delayed sediment transfer might complicate the stratigraphic record of external forcings and catchment modification.

  13. Case Study: Effect of Climatic Characterization on River Discharge in an Alpine-Prealpine Catchment of the Spanish Pyrenees Using the SWAT Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leticia Palazón

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The new challenges in assessment of water resources demand new approaches and tools, such as the use of hydrologic models, which could serve to assist managers in the prediction, planning and management of catchment water supplies in view of increased demand of water for irrigation and climatic change. Good characterization of the spatial patterns of climate variables is of paramount importance in hydrological modelling. This is especially so when modelling mountain environments which are characterized by strong altitudinal climate gradients. However, very often there is a poor distribution of climatic stations in these areas, which in many cases, results in under representation of high altitude areas with respect to climatic data. This results in the poor performance of the models. In the present study, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT model was applied to the Barasona reservoir catchment in the Central Spanish Pyrenees in order to assess the influence of different climatic characterizations in the monthly river discharges. Four simulations with different input data were assessed, using only the available climate data (A1; the former plus one synthetic dataset at a higher altitude (B1; and both plus the altitudinal climate gradient (A2 and B2. The model’s performance was evaluated against the river discharges for the representative periods of 2003–2005 and 1994–1996 by means of commonly used statistical measures. The best results were obtained using the altitudinal climate gradient alone (scenario A2. This study provided insight into the importance of taking into account the sources and the spatial distribution of weather data in modelling water resources in mountainous catchments.

  14. Spatial Analysis for Potential Water Catchment Areas using GIS: Weighted Overlay Technique

    Science.gov (United States)

    Awanda, Disyacitta; Anugrah Nurul, H.; Musfiroh, Zahrotul; Dinda Dwi, N. P.

    2017-12-01

    The development of applied GIS is growing rapidly and has been widely applied in various fields. Preparation of a model to obtain information is one of the benefits of GIS. Obtaining information for water resources such as water catchment areas is one part of GIS modelling. Water catchment model can be utilized to see the distribution of potential and ability of a region in water absorbing. The use of overlay techniques with the weighting obtained from the literature from previous research is used to build the model. Model builder parameters are obtained through remote sensing interpretation techniques such as land use, landforms, and soil texture. Secondary data such as rock type maps are also used as water catchment model parameters. The location of this research is in the upstream part of the Opak river basin. The purpose of this research is to get information about potential distribution of water catchment area with overlay technique. The results of this study indicate the potential of water catchment areas with excellent category, good, medium, poor and very poor. These results may indicate that the Upper river basin is either good or in bad condition, so it can be used for better water resources management policy determination.

  15. River ecosystem response to prescribed vegetation burning on Blanket Peatland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Lee E; Johnston, Kerrylyn; Palmer, Sheila M; Aspray, Katie L; Holden, Joseph

    2013-01-01

    Catchment-scale land-use change is recognised as a major threat to aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem functioning globally. In the UK uplands rotational vegetation burning is practised widely to boost production of recreational game birds, and while some recent studies have suggested burning can alter river water quality there has been minimal attention paid to effects on aquatic biota. We studied ten rivers across the north of England between March 2010 and October 2011, five of which drained burned catchments and five from unburned catchments. There were significant effects of burning, season and their interaction on river macroinvertebrate communities, with rivers draining burned catchments having significantly lower taxonomic richness and Simpson's diversity. ANOSIM revealed a significant effect of burning on macroinvertebrate community composition, with typically reduced Ephemeroptera abundance and diversity and greater abundance of Chironomidae and Nemouridae. Grazer and collector-gatherer feeding groups were also significantly less abundant in rivers draining burned catchments. These biotic changes were associated with lower pH and higher Si, Mn, Fe and Al in burned systems. Vegetation burning on peatland therefore has effects beyond the terrestrial part of the system where the management intervention is being practiced. Similar responses of river macroinvertebrate communities have been observed in peatlands disturbed by forestry activity across northern Europe. Finally we found river ecosystem changes similar to those observed in studies of wild and prescribed forest fires across North America and South Africa, illustrating some potentially generic effects of fire on aquatic ecosystems.

  16. [Temporal-spatial Variation and Source Identification of Hydro-chemical Characteristics in Shima River Catchment, Dongguan City].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Lei; Chen, Jian-yao; Wang, Jiang; Ke, Zhi-ting; Zhu, Ai-ping; Xu, Kai

    2015-05-01

    Shima River catchment is of strategic importance to urban water supply in Dongjiang portable water source area. To investigate the hydro-chemical characteristics of Shima River, 39 river water samples were collected in February, June and November, 2012 to analyze the major ions (K+, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl-, SO4(2-) , HCO3-) and nutritive salts (PO4(3-), NO3- and NH4+) and to discuss the temporal-spatial variation and controlling factors of hydro-chemical composition, relative sources identification of varied ions was performed as well. The results showed that the hydro-chemical composition exhibited significant differences in different periods. The average concentration of total dissolved solid ( TDS) and nutritive salts in different investigated periods followed the decreasing order of November > February > June. The dominant anion of Shima River was HCO3-, and Na+ + K+ were the major cations in February and November which were changed to Ca2+ in June, the hydro-chemical types were determined as HCO(3-)-Na+ and HCO(3-)- Ca2+ in dry (February and November) and rainy (June) seasons, respectively. Spatial variations of concentration of nutritive salts were mainly affected by the discharges of N- and P-containing waste water resulted from human activities. The ratio between N and P of water sample (R7) was 18.4:1 which boosted the "crazy growth" of phytoplankton and led to severe eutrophication. According to Gibbs distribution of water samples, dissolution of hydatogenic rocks was the primary factor to control the major cations of river water in dry season, however, the hydro-chemical composition was significantly affected by the combination of hydatogenic and carbonate rocks in rainy season. The deposition of sea-salts contributed less to chemical substances in river. Correlation analysis revealed that K+, Na+, Mg2+, Cl- and SO4(2-) were partly derived from the application of fertilizer and the discharge of industrial effluent; Waste water of poultry feeding and

  17. Impacts of climate change on the seasonality of low flows in 134 catchments in the river Rhine basin using an ensemble of bias-corrected regional climate simulations.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Demirel, M.C.; Booij, Martijn J.; Hoekstra, Arjen Ysbert

    2013-01-01

    The impacts of climate change on the seasonality of low flows were analysed for 134 sub-catchments covering the River Rhine basin upstream of the Dutch-German border. Three seasonality indices for low flows were estimated, namely the seasonality ratio (SR), weighted mean occurrence day (WMOD) and

  18. Modelling the impact of prescribed global warming on runoff from headwater catchments of the Irrawaddy River and their implications for the water level regime of Loktak Lake, northeast India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. R. Singh

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available Climate change is likely to have major implications for wetland ecosystems, which will include altered water level regimes due to modifications in local and catchment hydrology. However, substantial uncertainty exists in the precise impacts of climate change on wetlands due in part to uncertainty in GCM projections. This paper explores the impacts of climate change upon river discharge within three sub-catchments of Loktak Lake, an internationally important wetland in northeast India. This is achieved by running pattern-scaled GCM output through distributed hydrological models (developed using MIKE SHE of each sub-catchment. The impacts of climate change upon water levels within Loktak Lake are subsequently investigated using a water balance model. Two groups of climate change scenarios are investigated. Group 1 uses results from seven different GCMs for an increase in global mean temperature of 2 °C, the purported threshold of ''dangerous'' climate change, whilst Group 2 is based on results from the HadCM3 GCM for increases in global mean temperature between 1 °C and 6 °C. Results from the Group 1 scenarios show varying responses between the three sub-catchments. The majority of scenario-sub-catchment combinations (13 out of 21 indicate increases in discharge which vary from <1% to 42% although, in some cases, discharge decreases by as much as 20%. Six of the GCMs suggest overall increases in river flow to Loktak Lake (2–27% whilst the other results in a modest (6% decline. In contrast, the Group 2 scenarios lead to an almost linear increase in total river flow to Loktak Lake with increasing temperature (up to 27% for 6 °C, although two sub-catchments experience reductions in mean discharge for the smallest temperature increases. In all but one Group 1 scenario, and all the Group 2 scenarios, Loktak Lake water levels are higher, regularly reaching the top of a downstream hydropower barrage that impounds the lake and necessitating the

  19. Design for participation in ecologically sound management of South Africa's Mlazi River catchment

    OpenAIRE

    Auerbach, R.

    1999-01-01

    Without local participation, integrated catchment management and Landcare will not become a general reality in South Africa. With support from the South African Water Research Commission, the University of Natal's Farmer Support Group set up the Ntshongweni Catchment Management Programme (NCMP) as a practical participatory action research investigation of ecological farming systems, integrated catchment management and Landcare. Local experience played a crucial role in helping to bui...

  20. Soil erosion and sediment delivery issues in a large hydro-electric power reservoir catchment, Ethiopia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nebiyu, Amsalu; Dume, Bayu; Bode, Samuel; Ram, Hari; Boeckx, Pascal

    2017-04-01

    Land degradation and associated processes such as gullying, flooding and sedimentation, are among the developmental challenges in many countries and HEP reservoirs in the Gilgel Gibe catchment, Ethiopia, are under threat from siltation. Soil erosion is one of the biggest global environmental problems resulting in both on-site and offsite effects which have economic implications and an essential actor in assessing ecosystem health and function. Sediment supply in a catchment is heterogeneous in time and space depending on climate, land use and a number of landscape characteristics such as slope, topography, soil type, vegetation and drainage conditions. In the Ethiopian highlands, sediment delivery depends on discharge, the onset of rainfall, land use and land cover, which varies between rainfall seasons. There is also a variation among catchments in suspended sediment concentration due to the variation in the catchments characteristics in Ethiopia. Rainfall-runoff relationship, sediment production and delivery to rivers or dams is variable and poorly understood; due to heterogeneous lithology; various climatic conditions across small spatial scales; land use and land management practices in Ethiopia. Spatial variation in sediment yield in Africa varies to differences in seismic activity, topography, vegetation cover and annual runoff depth. In the Gilgel-Gibe catchment, the annual sediment load of the Gilgel-Gibe River has been estimated to be about 4.5×107 tons taking the contribution of sheet erosion alone. Also, the suspended sediment yield of the tributaries in Gilgel-Gibe catchment has been estimated to be in the range of 0.4-132.1 tons per hectare per year. The soil loss due to landslide alone in the past 20 years in the catchment was about 11 t/ha/yr. Heavy rainfall, bank erosion and river incisions have been indicated as the main triggering factors for landslides and the associated sediment delivery in the Gilgel-Gibe catchment. Approaches for catchment

  1. Sediment dynamics during the rainy season in tropical highland catchments of central Mexico using fallout radionuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Evrard, Olivier; Ayrault, Sophie; Lefevre, Irene; Bonte, Philippe; Nemery, Julien; Gratiot, Nicolas; Duvert, Clement; Prat, Christian; Esteves, Michel; Poulenard, Jerome

    2010-01-01

    Tropical regions are affected by intense soil erosion associated with deforestation, overgrazing, and cropping intensification. This land degradation leads to important on-site (e.g., decrease in soil fertility) and off-site (e.g., reservoir siltation and water pollution) impacts. This study determined the mean soil particle and sediment residence times in soils and rivers of three sub-catchments (3-12 km 2 ) with contrasted land uses (i.e., cropland, forests, and rangelands) draining to a reservoir located in highlands of the trans-volcanic Mexican belt. Calculations were based on rainfall amount and river discharges as well as on fallout radionuclide measurements (Be-7, Cs-137, and Pb-210) conducted on rainfall precipitated samples, soil sampled in the catchments, and suspended sediment collected by automatic samplers in the river during most storms recorded throughout the 2009 rainy season. Calculations using a radionuclide two-box balance model showed that the mean residence time of particles in soils ranged between 5000 ± 1500 and 23, 300 ± 7000 years. In contrast, sediment residence time in rivers was much shorter, fluctuating between 50 ± 30 and 200 ± 70 days. The shortest mean residence times were measured in a hilly catchment dominated by cropland and rangelands, whereas they were the longest in an undulating catchment dominated by forests and cropland. Calculation of the Be-7/excess-Pb-210 in both rainfall and sediment allowed gaining insight on sediment dynamics throughout the rainy season. The first heavy storms of the year exported the bulk of the sediment stock accumulated in the river channel during the previous year. Then, during the rainy season, the two steeper catchments dominated by cropland and rangelands reacted strongly to rainfall. Sediment was indeed eroded and exported from both catchments during single heavy storms on several occasions in 2009. In contrast, the agro-forested catchment with gentler slopes exported sediment at a

  2. Questa baseline and pre-mining ground-water quality investigation. 14. Interpretation of ground-water geochemistry in catchments other than the Straight Creek catchment, Red River Valley, Taos County, New Mexico, 2002-2003

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nordstrom, D. Kirk; McCleskey, R. Blaine; Hunt, Andrew G.; Naus, Cheryl A.

    2005-01-01

    The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Mexico Environment Department, is investigating the pre-mining ground-water chemistry at the Molycorp molybdenum mine in the Red River Valley, New Mexico. The primary approach is to determine the processes controlling ground-water chemistry at an unmined, off-site but proximal analog. The Straight Creek catchment, chosen for this purpose, consists of the same Tertiary-age quartz-sericite-pyrite altered andesite and rhyolitic volcanics as the mine site. Straight Creek is about 5 kilometers east of the eastern boundary of the mine site. Both Straight Creek and the mine site are at approximately the same altitude, face south, and have the same climatic conditions. Thirteen wells in the proximal analog drainage catchment were sampled for ground-water chemistry. Eleven wells were installed for this study and two existing wells at the Advanced Waste-Water Treatment (AWWT) facility were included in this study. Eight wells were sampled outside the Straight Creek catchment: one each in the Hansen, Hottentot, and La Bobita debris fans, four in a well cluster in upper Capulin Canyon (three in alluvial deposits and one in bedrock), and an existing well at the U.S. Forest Service Questa Ranger Station in Red River alluvial deposits. Two surface waters from the Hansen Creek catchment and two from the Hottentot drainage catchment also were sampled for comparison to ground-water compositions. In this report, these samples are evaluated to determine if the geochemical interpretations from the Straight Creek ground-water geochemistry could be extended to other ground waters in the Red River Valley , including the mine site. Total-recoverable major cations and trace metals and dissolved major cations, selected trace metals, anions, alkalinity; and iron-redox species were determined for all surface- and ground-water samples. Rare-earth elements and low-level As, Bi, Mo, Rb, Re, Sb, Se, Te, Th, U, Tl, V, W, Y, and Zr were

  3. The 87Sr/86Sr aquatic isoscape of the Danube catchment from the source to the mouth as tool for studying fish migrations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zitek, Andreas; Tchaikovsky, Anastassiya; Irrgeher, Johanna; Waidbacher, Herwig; Prohaska, Thomas

    2014-05-01

    Isoscapes - spatially distributed isotope patterns across landscapes - are increasingly used as important basis for ecological studies. The natural variation of the isotopic abundances in a studied area bears the potential to be used as natural tracer for studying e.g. migrations of animals or prey-predator relations. The 87Sr/86Sr ratio is one important tracer, since it is known to provide a direct relation of biological samples to geologically distinct regions, as Sr isotopes are incorporated into living tissues as a proxy for calcium and taken up from the environment without any significant fractionation. Although until now the focus has been mainly set on terrestrial systems, maps for aquatic systems are increasingly being established. Here we present the first 87Sr/86Sr aquatic isoscape of the Danube catchment, the second largest river catchment in Europe, from near its source starting at river km 2581 in Germany down to its mouth to river km 107 in Romania. The total length of the river Danube is 2780 km draining a catchment area 801 463 km2 (10 % of the European continent). The major purpose of this study was to assess the potential of the 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratio to be used as tool for studying fish migrations at different scales in the entire Danube catchment. Within the Joint Danube Research 3 (JDS 3), the biggest scientific multi-disciplinary river expedition of the World in 2013 aiming at the assessment of the ecological status and degree of human alterations along the river Danube, water samples were taken at 68 pre-defined sites along the course of the river Danube including the major tributaries as a basis to create the so called 'Isoscape of the Danube catchment'. The determination of 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratio in river water was performed by multicollector-sector field-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (MC-SF-ICP-MS). The JDS 3 data were combined with existing data from prior studies conducted within the Austrian part of the Danube catchment

  4. Sedimentation studies at MUDA catchment area, Kedah, Malaysia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kamarudin Samuding; Juhari Yusuf; Wan Abdul Aziz; Juhari Latiff

    2000-01-01

    A study on the sediment size distribution and determination of sediment density profile in the selected area of Muda dam catchment area, Kedah is presented. The objective of the study was to establish a base line data of the input sedimentation with regards to the effects of development within the catchment in the future. Three main sampling locations were identified namely at Sungai Teliang, Sungai Muda and Muda reservoir. Measurement of sediment thickness was performed by using nuclear gauges i.e. direct transmission and backscattering methods. Results showed that the grain size distribution of sediment ranges from gravel to clay sizes. In the reservoir and downstream of the river, most of the samples studied consisting of fine sediment i.e silt and clay sizes (<63,um). However, sediment distribution in the upstream section of Sungai Teliang mainly consist of fine to coarse sand. Sediment density profiles in the reservoir showed little changes, whereas bed sediment profiles in the river cross-sectional areas exhibit some changes. The results also showed that thickness of bedload sediment were different from one location to another, in which the thickness may achieve up to 0.75 metre in some areas. Based on the sediment distribution profile analysis, the study site could be divided into two parts comprising of dynamic area (region) covering selected locations along the river and deposited sediment in the reservoir. Basic information derived from this study may provide as one of the important inputs for the MADA reservoir management authority in monitoring, supervising y and identifying rate and source of sediment in the catchment area

  5. Long-term integrated river basin planning and management of water quantity and water quality in mining impacted catchments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pohle, Ina; Zimmermann, Kai; Claus, Thomas; Koch, Hagen; Gädeke, Anne; Uhlmann, Wilfried; Kaltofen, Michael; Müller, Fabian; Redetzky, Michael; Schramm, Martina; Schoenheinz, Dagmar; Grünewald, Uwe

    2015-04-01

    During the last decades, socioeconomic change in the catchment of the Spree River, a tributary of the Elbe, has been to a large extent associated with lignite mining activities and the rapid decrease of these activities in the 1990s. There are multiple interconnections between lignite mining and water management both in terms of water quantity and quality. During the active mining period a large-scale groundwater depression cone has been formed while river discharges have been artificially increased. Now, the decommissioned opencast mines are being transformed into Europe's largest man-made lake district. However, acid mine drainage causes low pH in post mining lakes and high concentrations of iron and sulphate in post mining lakes and the river system. Next to potential changes in mining activities, also the potential impacts of climate change (increasing temperature and decreasing precipitation) on water resources of the region are of major interest. The fundamental question is to what extent problems in terms of water quantity and water quality are exacerbated and whether they can be mitigated by adaptation measures. In consequence, long term water resource planning in the region has to formulate adaptation measures to climate change and socioeconomic change in terms of mining activities which consider both, water quantity and water quality aspects. To assess potential impacts of climate and socioeconomic change on water quantity and water quality of the Spree River catchment up to the Spremberg reservoir in the scenario period up to 2052, we used a model chain which consists of (i) the regional climate model STAR (scenarios with a further increase in temperature of 0 and 2 K), (ii) mining scenarios (mining discharges, cooling water consumption of thermal power plants), (iii) the ecohydrological model SWIM (natural water balance), (iv) the long term water management model WBalMo (managed discharges, withdrawal of water users, reservoir operation) and (v) the

  6. Land-use effects on fluxes of suspended sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus from a river catchment of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunter, Heather M.; Walton, Richard S.

    2008-07-01

    SummaryA 6-year study was conducted in the Johnstone River system in the wet tropics of north-eastern Australia, to address concerns that the Great Barrier Reef is at risk from elevated levels of suspended sediment (SS) and nutrients discharged from its river catchments. Aims were to quantify: (i) fluxes of SS, phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) exported annually from the catchment and (ii) the influence of rural land uses on these fluxes. Around 55% of the 1602 km2 catchment was native rainforest, with the reminder developed mainly for livestock and crop production. Water quality and stream flow were monitored at 16 sites, with the emphasis on sampling major runoff events. Monitoring data were used to calibrate a water quality model for the catchment (HSPF), which was run with 39 years of historical precipitation and evaporation data. Modelled specific fluxes from the catchment of 1.2 ± 1.1 t SS ha-1 y-1, 2.2 ± 1.8 kg P ha-1 y-1 and 11.4 ± 7.3 kg N ha-1y-1 were highly variable between and within years. Fluxes of SS and P were strongly dominated by major events, with 91% of SS and 84% of P exported during the highest 10% of daily flows. On average, sediment P comprised 81% of the total P flux. The N flux was less strongly dominated by major events and sediment N comprised 46% of total N exports. Specific fluxes of SS, N and P from areas receiving precipitation of 3545 mm y-1 were around 3-4 times those from areas receiving 1673 mm y-1. For a given mean annual precipitation, specific fluxes of SS and P from beef pastures, dairy pastures and unsewered residential areas were similar to those from rainforest, while fluxes from areas of sugar cane and bananas were 3-4 times higher. Specific fluxes of N from areas with an annual precipitation of 3545 mm ranged from 8.9 ± 6.5 kg N ha-1 y-1 (rainforest) to 72 ± 50 kg N ha-1 y-1 (unsewered residential). Aggregated across the entire catchment, disproportionately large fluxes of SS, total P and total N were derived from

  7. Establishing an Integrated Catchment Management (ICM) program in East Java, Indonesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Booth, C A; Warianti, A; Wrigley, T

    2001-01-01

    The Brantas is one of Indonesia's most important catchments. It is the "rice bowl" of Java and nationally important for its industrial activity. Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city, is located at the mouth of the Brantas River which is pivotal to the city's water supply. The challenges associated with the institutional framework for natural resource management in East Java parallels that of many states and provinces around the globe. It is multi-layered and complex. Integrated Catchment Management (ICM) may be defined as "the co-ordinated and sustainable management of land, water, soil vegetation, fauna and other natural resources on a water catchment basis". Over a period of six months, an ICM Strategy was researched and facilitated for the Brantas River Catchment in East Java via a short term advisor attachment. The aim of the Strategy is to improve coordination, co-operation, communication and consistency of government and community efforts towards sustaining the catchment's environmental, economic and social values. The attachment was part of the Pollution Control Implementation (PCI) Project funded by AusAid and the Indonesian Government. The ICM Strategy developed was broad based and addressed the priority natural resource management issues facing the Brantas Catchment. It was co-ordinated by BAPEDALDA, the Provincial Environmental Protection Agency, and developed by all agencies involved in natural resource management in the catchment. Various Universities and Non Government Organisations (NGOs) were also involved in the ICM process which developed the Strategy. At the conclusion of the attachment, a draft ICM Strategy and a proposed institutional framework had been developed. A working group of key agencies was also established to further enhance local "ownership", finalise timescales and implementation responsibilities within the Strategy and bring the institutional arrangements into being through a Governor's Decree.

  8. Mapping the temporary and perennial character of whole river networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    González-Ferreras, A. M.; Barquín, J.

    2017-08-01

    Knowledge of the spatial distribution of temporary and perennial river channels in a whole catchment is important for effective integrated basin management and river biodiversity conservation. However, this information is usually not available or is incomplete. In this study, we present a statistically based methodology to classify river segments from a whole river network (Deva-Cares catchment, Northern Spain) as temporary or perennial. This method is based on an a priori classification of a subset of river segments as temporary or perennial, using field surveys and aerial images, and then running Random Forest models to predict classification membership for the rest of the river network. The independent variables and the river network were derived following a computer-based geospatial simulation of riverine landscapes. The model results show high values of overall accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity for the evaluation of the fitted model to the training and testing data set (≥0.9). The most important independent variables were catchment area, area occupied by broadleaf forest, minimum monthly precipitation in August, and average catchment elevation. The final map shows 7525 temporary river segments (1012.5 km) and 3731 perennial river segments (662.5 km). A subsequent validation of the mapping results using River Habitat Survey data and expert knowledge supported the validity of the proposed maps. We conclude that the proposed methodology is a valid method for mapping the limits of flow permanence that could substantially increase our understanding of the spatial links between terrestrial and aquatic interfaces, improving the research, management, and conservation of river biodiversity and functioning.

  9. RESEARCH ON HEAVY METAL POLLUTION OF THE RIVER MUREŞ IN HUNEDOARA COUNTY DUE TRIBUTARIES AFFECTED BY HUMAN ACTIVITIES, INDUSTRIAL AND MINING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    SZOLLOSI-MOŢA ANDREI

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Mureş crosses over a length of 105 km, a broad tectonic corridor between mountains Şureanu, Poiana Rusca Mountains and the Apuseni Mountains in the north. Hunedoara County has significant quantities of mineral resources, mining specific activities effectively represents one of the main economic sectors. Ore processing gave rise to significant amounts of mining waste. Tailings dams and waste dumps obtained from ore processing in preparation plants are large and have led to changes in the morphology of the area. The purpose of this study is to examine the degree of pollution of the river Mures in Hunedoara county, with heavy metals due to various human activities. For monitoring and evaluation in terms of water quality of the river Mures and studying the degree and effects of pollution were collected and analyzed water samples from Mures River and tributaries from the main mining areas, such Certej. Samples were analyzed by emission spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma and the results of measurements allowed us to assess the degree of pollution of the aquatic environment and sediments . The effects of mining waste on the environment persists for a long time , even after the operation closed. Rehabilitation mining areas and those adjacent to improve the quality of life, as a prerequisite for sustainable development.

  10. Water Quality Changes during Rapid Urbanization in the Shenzhen River Catchment: An Integrated View of Socio-Economic and Infrastructure Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hua-peng Qin

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Surface water quality deterioration is a serious problem in many rapidly urbanizing catchments in developing countries. There is currently a lack of studies that quantify water quality variation (deterioration or otherwise due to both socio-economic and infrastructure development in a catchment. This paper investigates the causes of water quality changes over the rapid urbanization period of 1985–2009 in the Shenzhen River catchment, China and examines the changes in relation to infrastructure development and socio-economic policies. The results indicate that the water quality deteriorated rapidly during the earlier urbanization stages before gradually improving over recent years, and that rapid increases in domestic discharge were the major causes of water quality deterioration. Although construction of additional wastewater infrastructure can significantly improve water quality, it was unable to dispose all of the wastewater in the catchment. However, it was found that socio-economic measures can significantly improve water quality by decreasing pollutant load per gross regional production (GRP or increasing labor productivity. Our findings suggest that sustainable development during urbanization is possible, provided that: (1 the wastewater infrastructure should be constructed timely and revitalized regularly in line with urbanization, and wastewater treatment facilities should be upgraded to improve their nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiencies; (2 administrative regulation policies, economic incentives and financial policies should be implemented to encourage industries to prevent or reduce the pollution at the source; (3 the environmental awareness and education level of local population should be increased; (4 planners from various sectors should consult each other and adapt an integrated planning approach for socio-economic and wastewater infrastructure development.

  11. Sedimentation and Its Impacts/Effects on River System and Reservoir Water Quality: case Study of Mazowe Catchment, Zimbabwe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tundu, Colleta; Tumbare, Michael James; Kileshye Onema, Jean-Marie

    2018-04-01

    Sediment delivery into water sources and bodies results in the reduction of water quantity and quality, increasing costs of water purification whilst reducing the available water for various other uses. The paper gives an analysis of sedimentation in one of Zimbabwe's seven rivers, the Mazowe Catchment, and its impact on water quality. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model was used to compute soil lost from the catchment as a result of soil erosion. The model was used in conjunction with GIS remotely sensed data and limited ground observations. The estimated annual soil loss in the catchment indicates soil loss ranging from 0 to 65 t ha yr-1. Bathymetric survey at Chimhanda Dam showed that the capacity of the dam had reduced by 39 % as a result of sedimentation and the annual sediment deposition into Chimhanda Dam was estimated to be 330 t with a specific yield of 226 t km-2 yr-1. Relationship between selected water quality parameters, TSS, DO, NO3, pH, TDS, turbidity and sediment yield for selected water sampling points and Chimhanda Dam was analyzed. It was established that there is a strong positive relationship between the sediment yield and the water quality parameters. Sediment yield showed high positive correlation with turbidity (0.63) and TDS (0.64). Water quality data from Chimhanda treatment plant water works revealed that the quality of water is deteriorating as a result of increase in sediment accumulation in the dam. The study concluded that sedimentation can affect the water quality of water sources.

  12. Effect of slope failures on river-network pattern: A river piracy case study from the flysch belt of the Outer Western Carpathians

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baroň, Ivo; Bíl, Michal; Bábek, Ondřej; Smolková, Veronika; Pánek, Tomáš; Macur, Lukáš

    2014-06-01

    Landslides are important geomorphic agents in various mountainous settings. We document here a case of river piracy from the upper part of the Malá Brodská Valley in the Vsetínské Mts., Czech Republic (Rača Unit of the flysch Magura Group of Nappes, flysch belt of the Outer Western Carpathians) controlled by mass movement processes. Based on the field geological, geomorphological and geophysical data, we found out that the landslide accumulations pushed the more active river of out of two subparallel river channels with different erosion activity westwards and forced intensive lateral erosion towards the recently abandoned valley. Apart from the landslide processes, the presence of the N-striking fault, accentuated by higher flow rates of the eastern channel as a result of its larger catchment area, were the most critical factors of the river piracy. As a consequence of the river piracy, intensive retrograde erosion in the elbow of capture and also within the upper portion of the western catchment occurred. Deposits of two landslide dams document recent minimum erosion rates to be 18.8 mm.ky- 1 in the western (captured) catchment, and 3.6 mm.ky- 1 in the eastern catchment respectively. The maximum age of the river piracy is estimated to be of the late Glacial and/or the early Holocene.

  13. Land use and cover changes in the Likangala catchment of the Lake ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    High soil losses of 100t ha–1 yr–1 were estimated in the upper reaches of the catchment. High rainfall kinetic energy and poor vegetation cover were major determinants of soil loss. Sediment yield was high (374t km–2 yr–1) in the more degraded catchment of the Likangala River, compared to 315t km–2 yr–1 in the less ...

  14. Attributes for MRB_E2RF1 Catchments by Major River Basins in the Conterminous United States: Nutrient Application (Phosphorus and Nitrogen) for Fertilizer and Manure Applied to Crops (Cropsplit), 2002

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wieczorek, Michael; LaMotte, Andrew E.

    2010-01-01

    This tabular data set represents the estimated amount of phosphorus and nitrogen fertilizers applied to selected crops for the year 2002, compiled for every MRB_E2RF1 catchment of Major River Basins (MRBs, Crawford and others, 2006). The source data set is based on 2002 fertilizer data (Ruddy and others, 2006) and tabulated by crop type per county (Alexander and others, 2007). The MRB_E2RF1 catchments are based on a modified version of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) ERF1_2 and include enhancements to support national and regional-scale surface-water quality modeling (Nolan and others, 2002; Brakebill and others, 2011). Data were compiled for MRB_E2RF1 catchments for the conterminous United States covering New England and Mid-Atlantic (MRB1), South Atlantic-Gulf and Tennessee (MRB2), the Great Lakes, Ohio, Upper Mississippi, and Souris-Red-Rainy (MRB3), the Missouri (MRB4), the Lower Mississippi, Arkansas-White-Red, and Texas-Gulf (MRB5), the Rio Grande, Colorado, and the Great basin (MRB6), the Pacific Northwest (MRB7) river basins, and California (MRB8).

  15. Geological controls on isotopic signatures of streamflow: results from a nested catchment experiment in Luxembourg (Europe)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pfister, Laurent; McDonnell, Jeffrey J.; Hissler, Christophe; Martinez-Carreras, Nuria; Gourdol, Laurent; Klaus, Julian; François Iffly, Jean; Barnich, François; Stewart, Mike K.

    2014-05-01

    Controls of geology and topography on hydrological metrics, like summer low flow (Grant and Tague, 2004) or dynamic storage (Sayama et al., 2011), have been identified in nested catchment experiments. However, most tracer-based studies on streamflow generation have been carried out in small (10 km2) homogenous catchments (Klaus and McDonnell, 2013). The controlling effects of catchment physiography on how catchments store and release water, and how this eventually controls stream isotope behaviour over a large range of scale are poorly understood. Here, we present results from a nested catchment analysis in the Alzette River basin (Luxembourg, Europe). Our hydro-climatological network consists of 16 recording streamgauges and 21 pluviographs. Catchment areas range from 0.47 to 285 km2, with clean and mixed combinations of distinct geologies ranging from schists to marls, sandstone, dolomite and limestone. Our objective was to identify geological controls on (i) winter runoff ratios, (ii) maximum storage and (iii) isotopic signatures in streamflow. For each catchment we determined average runoff ratios from winter season precipitation-discharge double-mass curves. Maximum catchment storage was based on the dynamic storage change approach of Sayama et al. (2011). Changes in isotopic signatures of streamflow were documented along individual catchment flow duration curves. We found strong correlations between average winter runoff ratios, maximum storage and the prevailing geological settings. Catchments with impermeable bedrock (e.g. marls or schists) were characterised by small storage potential and high average filling ratios. As a consequence, these catchments also exhibited the highest average runoff ratios. In catchments underlain by permeable bedrock (e.g. sandstone), storage potential was significantly higher and runoff ratios were considerably smaller. The isotopic signatures of streamflow showed large differences between catchments. In catchments dominated by

  16. Land Management, River Restoration and the Water Framework Directive

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Ben; Clifford, Nicholas

    2014-05-01

    The influence of catchment land-use on river ecosystems is well established, with negative changes in hydrology, sediment supply and pollutants causing widespread degradation in modified catchments across Europe. The strength of relationship found between different land-use types and impacts on river systems varies from study to study as a result of issues around data quality, scale, study design and the interaction of stressors at multiple scales. Analysis of large-scale datasets can provide important information about the way that catchments pressures affect WFD objectives at a national scale. Comparisons of relationships between land-use and WFD status in different types of catchment within the UK allow an assessment of catchment sensitivity and analysis of the catchment characteristics which influence these relationships. The results suggest prioritising catchments at or near land-use thresholds, or targeting waterbodies with limited land-use pressures but which are failing to achieve GES or GEP. This paper uses UK datasets on land cover and WFD waterbody status to examine how catchment land-use impacts on WFD status and to evaluate opportunities to achieve Good Ecological Status or Good Ecological Potential. Agricultural and urban land-use are shown to have different types of relationship with respect to the likelihood of achieving Good Ecological Status, and with clear threshold effects apparent for urban land-use in the catchment. Broad-scale analysis shows the influence of different sized buffer strips in mitigating the negative effects of different types of land-cover, and reinforces the positive effects of riparian woodland on river ecosystems and their potential under the WFD.

  17. Water and salt balance modelling to predict the effects of land-use changes in forested catchments. 1. Small catchment water balance model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sivapalan, Murugesu; Ruprecht, John K.; Viney, Neil R.

    1996-03-01

    A long-term water balance model has been developed to predict the hydrological effects of land-use change (especially forest clearing) in small experimental catchments in the south-west of Western Australia. This small catchment model has been used as the building block for the development of a large catchment-scale model, and has also formed the basis for a coupled water and salt balance model, developed to predict the changes in stream salinity resulting from land-use and climate change. The application of the coupled salt and water balance model to predict stream salinities in two small experimental catchments, and the application of the large catchment-scale model to predict changes in water yield in a medium-sized catchment that is being mined for bauxite, are presented in Parts 2 and 3, respectively, of this series of papers.The small catchment model has been designed as a simple, robust, conceptually based model of the basic daily water balance fluxes in forested catchments. The responses of the catchment to rainfall and pan evaporation are conceptualized in terms of three interdependent subsurface stores A, B and F. Store A depicts a near-stream perched aquifer system; B represents a deeper, permanent groundwater system; and F is an intermediate, unsaturated infiltration store. The responses of these stores are characterized by a set of constitutive relations which involves a number of conceptual parameters. These parameters are estimated by calibration by comparing observed and predicted runoff. The model has performed very well in simulations carried out on Salmon and Wights, two small experimental catchments in the Collie River basin in south-west Western Australia. The results from the application of the model to these small catchments are presented in this paper.

  18. Assessment of surface water resources availability using catchment modelling and the results of tracer studies in the mesoscale Migina Catchment, Rwanda

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munyaneza, O.; Mukubwa, A.; Maskey, S.; Uhlenbrook, S.; Wenninger, J.

    2014-12-01

    In the present study, we developed a catchment hydrological model which can be used to inform water resources planning and decision making for better management of the Migina Catchment (257.4 km2). The semi-distributed hydrological model HEC-HMS (Hydrologic Engineering Center - the Hydrologic Modelling System) (version 3.5) was used with its soil moisture accounting, unit hydrograph, liner reservoir (for baseflow) and Muskingum-Cunge (river routing) methods. We used rainfall data from 12 stations and streamflow data from 5 stations, which were collected as part of this study over a period of 2 years (May 2009 and June 2011). The catchment was divided into five sub-catchments. The model parameters were calibrated separately for each sub-catchment using the observed streamflow data. Calibration results obtained were found acceptable at four stations with a Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency index (NS) of 0.65 on daily runoff at the catchment outlet. Due to the lack of sufficient and reliable data for longer periods, a model validation was not undertaken. However, we used results from tracer-based hydrograph separation from a previous study to compare our model results in terms of the runoff components. The model performed reasonably well in simulating the total flow volume, peak flow and timing as well as the portion of direct runoff and baseflow. We observed considerable disparities in the parameters (e.g. groundwater storage) and runoff components across the five sub-catchments, which provided insights into the different hydrological processes on a sub-catchment scale. We conclude that such disparities justify the need to consider catchment subdivisions if such parameters and components of the water cycle are to form the base for decision making in water resources planning in the catchment.

  19. Phylogeographic analysis of the true lemurs (genus Eulemur) underlines the role of river catchments for the evolution of micro-endemism in Madagascar.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Markolf, Matthias; Kappeler, Peter M

    2013-11-14

    Due to its remarkable species diversity and micro-endemism, Madagascar has recently been suggested to serve as a biogeographic model region. However, hypothesis-based tests of various diversification mechanisms that have been proposed for the evolution of the island's micro-endemic lineages are still limited. Here, we test the fit of several diversification hypotheses with new data on the broadly distributed genus Eulemur using coalescent-based phylogeographic analyses. Time-calibrated species tree analyses and population genetic clustering resolved the previously polytomic species relationships among eulemurs. The most recent common ancestor of eulemurs was estimated to have lived about 4.45 million years ago (mya). Divergence date estimates furthermore suggested a very recent diversification among the members of the "brown lemur complex", i.e. former subspecies of E. fulvus, during the Pleistocene (0.33-1.43 mya). Phylogeographic model comparisons of past migration rates showed significant levels of gene flow between lineages of neighboring river catchments as well as between eastern and western populations of the redfronted lemur (E. rufifrons). Together, our results are concordant with the centers of endemism hypothesis (Wilmé et al. 2006, Science 312:1063-1065), highlight the importance of river catchments for the evolution of Madagascar's micro-endemic biota, and they underline the usefulness of testing diversification mechanisms using coalescent-based phylogeographic methods.

  20. The Serchio River catchment, northern Tuscany: Geochemistry of stream waters and sediments, and isotopic composition of dissolved sulfate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cortecci, Gianni; Dinelli, Enrico; Boschetti, Tiziano; Arbizzani, Paola; Pompilio, Loredana; Mussi, Mario

    2008-01-01

    The Serchio River and its tributaries in northern Tuscany were investigated for the chemical and isotopic compositions of waters and bed sediments. Bedrocks are mostly limestone/dolomite and siliciclastics, thermal spring systems are present in the catchment, and the main industrial activity is represented by paper-mills. Main results obtained are: (1) major ions in solution appear to be basically controlled by precipitation and lithology, as well as subordinately by direct inputs of thermal springs, (2) human influence on metals in the waters along the main Serchio and Lima rivers is indicated at a number of sites by increases in concentration compared to the chemical composition of upstream tributaries, (3) S and O isotope compositions delineate two main sources for aqueous SO 4 2- , that is dissolution of Triassic evaporite (directly or via thermal springs) and oxidation of sulfide dispersed in siliciclastic rocks. Anthropogenic contributions are probable, but they cannot be quantitatively assessed. Only SO 4 2- in the notoriously polluted Ozzeri tributary is suspected to be largely anthropogenic, and (4) the chemical composition of bed sediments is mainly influenced by lithology, apart from a number of technogenic elements in the upper part of the Serchio River and in some tributaries. Contamination possibly occurs at other sites, but geochemical indications are weak

  1. Urban River Restoration in Tehran: Challenges and Opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azizi, S.; Mousavi, H.; Farshad, F.; Hoseinzade Vahedi, N.; Zanjanian, M.; Khamesi, A.; Shojaee, M.; Safdarnejad, S. M.; Mirrahimi, H.; Ahmari, N.

    2015-12-01

    The typical treatment of urban river streams in Tehran has been limited channelization over the last 30 years. Changes in stream hydrology resulting from urbanization causes a widening gap between river and neighborhoods that results in the ecological and visual division between built and natural environments. To address these problems, a new management perspective in Tehran municipality seeks creating a sequence of thematic green spaces which serve as meeting points for adjacent neighborhoods. Implementation of pilot projects has proved that restoration of urban rivers requires a holistic approach with a range of technologies and tools that contribute to the goal of integrated planning. Currently, our team is working on Darband and Darabad catchments in north east Tehran,to provide opportunities for restoration of natural life in order to improve the amenity, ecology and sustainability of an urban river environment based on 4 key planning principles of: Demonstrating characteristics of the city's unique relationship to the river in the riverfront design; Knowing the river ecosystem and planning for a scale larger than the river front; minimizing new floodplain development; and Providing public access, connections, and recreational uses. This presentation will discuss the process of developing a new integrated GIS-based catchment planning system which helped the City shape its strategic plan for two catchments for the 2015-2030 period through multi-objective and multi-criteria optimization. The strategic plan is expected to enable the city to project the effects of introducing any future development in the catchment area on the river system, helping it to prevent such development activities which can have unintended long-term impacts.

  2. Design for participation in ecologically sound management of South Africa's Mlazi River catchment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Auerbach, R.

    1999-01-01

    Without local participation, integrated catchment management and Landcare will not become a general reality in South Africa. With support from the South African Water Research Commission, the University of Natal's Farmer Support Group set up the Ntshongweni Catchment Management Programme

  3. Tracing sediment sources in the Williams River catchment using caesium-137 and heavy metals: towards an assessment of the relative importance of surface erosion and gully erosion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krause, A.K.; Kalma, J.D.; Loughran, R.J.

    1999-01-01

    Recent sediment sourcing in the 1175km 2 Williams River catchment near Newcastle, NSW, has involved the use of caesium-137 ( 137 Cs) and heavy metals to identify zones of erosion and estimate erosion rates. Sediment sources to the Williams River include sheet erosion from forested and grazed lands, stream channels (especially banks), gullies and roads. The fallout environmental radioisotope 137 Cs was used to assess the erosion status of five vegetated slopes using soil sampling along transects. The net loss or gain of 137 Cs at each sampling point was compared with the 137 Cs level at a reference site at the slope crest. Net soil loss at each point was calculated from an Australian regression model relating net soil loss from runoff-erosion plots to 137 Cs deficit in soils (n=34; r=0.84). Net soil gain was calculated using the regression model in reverse mode. A weighted net soil loss (or gain) was then calculated for each slope transect. Results showed low net soil loss, ranging from zero to 0.64 t ha -1 yr 1 , suggesting that slopes were not major contributors of sediment to the Williams River. A small sub-catchment south of Wirragulla Hill, typical of the lower Williams region, was selected for more detailed tracing of sediment sources. The catchment contains gullies, sheet-erosion exposed sub-soil, grassland and one unsealed road. Heavy metals and 137 Cs have been used to fingerprint the sources, and these measurements will be compared with suspended sediment collected from drainage water in the creek. Only preliminary results have been obtained for this component of the study. The paper will assess these two approaches for the identification of sediment sources and discuss practical applications in water resources management

  4. Influence of the permafrost boundary on dissolved organic matter characteristics in rivers within the Boreal and Taiga plains of western Canada

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olefeldt, D; Turetsky, M R; Persson, A

    2014-01-01

    Catchment export of terrestrial dissolved organic matter (DOM) and its downstream degradation in aquatic ecosystems are important components of landscape scale carbon balances. In order to assess the influence of peatland permafrost on river DOM characteristics, we sampled 65 rivers along a 900 km transect crossing into the southern discontinuous permafrost zone on the Boreal and Tundra Plains of western Canada. Catchment peatland cover and catchment location north or south of the permafrost boundary were found together to have strong influences on dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations and DOM chemical composition. River DOC concentrations increased with catchment peatland cover, but were consistently lower for catchments north of the permafrost boundary. In contrast, protein fluorescence (PARAFAC analysis), was unrelated to catchment peatland cover but increased significantly in rivers north of the permafrost boundary. Humic and fulvic acid contribution to DOM fluorescence was lower in rivers draining catchments with large lakes than in other rivers, consistent with extensive photodegradation, but humic and fulvic acid fluorescence were also lower in rivers north of the permafrost boundary than in rivers to the south. We hypothesize that shifts in river DOM characteristics when crossing the permafrost boundary are related to the influence of permafrost on peatland hydrological connectivity to stream networks, peatland DOM characteristics and differences in DOM degradation within aquatic ecosystems. (paper)

  5. The influence of model parameters on catchment-response

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shah, S.M.S.; Gabriel, H.F.; Khan, A.A.

    2002-01-01

    This paper deals with the study of influence of influence of conceptual rainfall-runoff model parameters on catchment response (runoff). A conceptual modified watershed yield model is employed to study the effects of model-parameters on catchment-response, i.e. runoff. The model is calibrated, using manual parameter-fitting approach, also known as trial and error parameter-fitting. In all, there are twenty one (21) parameters that control the functioning of the model. A lumped parametric approach is used. The detailed analysis was performed on Ling River near Kahuta, having catchment area of 56 sq. miles. The model includes physical parameters like GWSM, PETS, PGWRO, etc. fitting coefficients like CINF, CGWS, etc. and initial estimates of the surface-water and groundwater storages i.e. srosp and gwsp. Sensitivity analysis offers a good way, without repetititious computations, the proper weight and consideration that must be taken when each of the influencing factor is evaluated. Sensitivity-analysis was performed to evaluate the influence of model-parameters on runoff. The sensitivity and relative contributions of model parameters influencing catchment-response are studied. (author)

  6. Holocene volcanism of the upper McKenzie River catchment, central Oregon Cascades, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deligne, Natalia I.; Conrey, Richard M.; Cashman, Katharine V.; Champion, Duane E.; Amidon, William H.

    2016-01-01

    To assess the complexity of eruptive activity within mafic volcanic fields, we present a detailed geologic investigation of Holocene volcanism in the upper McKenzie River catchment in the central Oregon Cascades, United States. We focus on the Sand Mountain volcanic field, which covers 76 km2 and consists of 23 vents, associated tephra deposits, and lava fields. We find that the Sand Mountain volcanic field was active for a few decades around 3 ka and involved at least 13 eruptive units. Despite the small total volume erupted (∼1 km3 dense rock equivalent [DRE]), Sand Mountain volcanic field lava geochemistry indicates that erupted magmas were derived from at least two, and likely three, different magma sources. Single units erupted from one or more vents, and field data provide evidence of both vent migration and reoccupation. Overall, our study shows that mafic volcanism was clustered in space and time, involved both explosive and effusive behavior, and tapped several magma sources. These observations provide important insights on possible future hazards from mafic volcanism in the central Oregon Cascades.

  7. Cesium-137 global fallout into the Ob river basin and its influence on the Kara sea contamination - Weapons fallout cesium-137 in the Ob' catchment landscapes and its influence on radioactive contamination of the Kara sea: Western Siberia, Russia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Semenkov, Ivan N.; Miroshnikov, Alexey Yu. [The Organization of Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of geology of ore deposits, petrography, mineralogy and geochemistry Russian Academy of Sciences (Russian Federation)

    2014-07-01

    There are several high level {sup 137}Cs anomaly zones detected in the deposits of the SW part of the Kara Sea. These anomaly zones were formed in the Ob' and the Enisey river estuaries due to the geochemical 'river-sea' boarder barrier. Level of radiocaesium specific activity reaches 120 Bq*kg{sup -1} in the deposits from these zones. Radiochemical enterprises occur in the both river basins. Their activity results in caesium-137 transfer into the river net. Vast area is contaminated by {sup 137}Cs after nuclear weapons in Semipalatinsk test-site and Kyshtym disaster in the Ob' river basin. Moreover, caesium comes to the Ob' and the Enisey river basins with global atmospheric fallout. The inflow of global fallout caesium-137 to the catchments is 660 kCi (320 kCi including radioactive decay) that is 4 times higher than {sup 137}Cs emission due to Fukushima disaster. Therefore, these river basins as any other huge catchment are an important sources of radioactive contamination of the Arctic Ocean. The aim of our research is to study behavior of global fallout caesium-137 in the landscapes of the Ob and the Enisey river basins. We studied caesium-137 behavior on the example of first order catchments in taiga, wetland, forest-steppe, steppe, and semi-arid landscapes. Geographic information system (GIS) was made. The tenth-order catchments (n=154, Horton coding system) shape 20-groups due to topsoil properties controlling cesium mobility. Eleven first-order basins, characterized 7 groups of tenth order catchments, were studied. And 700 bulk-core soil samples were collected in 2011-2013. Cesium runoff is calculated for 3 first-order river basins in taiga and forest-steppe landscapes. Storage of global fallout caesium-137 declines from undisturbing taiga first-order river basin (90% of cumulative fallout including radioactive decay)> arable steppe and fores-steppe (70 - 75%)> undisturbing wetland (60%). Caesium-137 transfer is high in arable lands

  8. The role of climatic and terrain attributes in estimating baseflow recession in tropical catchments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. L. Peña-Arancibia

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available The understanding of low flows in rivers is paramount more than ever as demand for water increases on a global scale. At the same time, limited streamflow data to investigate this phenomenon, particularly in the tropics, makes the provision of accurate estimations in ungauged areas an ongoing research need. This paper analysed the potential of climatic and terrain attributes of 167 tropical and sub-tropical unregulated catchments to predict baseflow recession rates. Daily streamflow data (m3 s–1 from the Global River Discharge Center (GRDC and a linear reservoir model were used to obtain baseflow recession coefficients (kbf for these catchments. Climatic attributes included annual and seasonal indicators of rainfall and potential evapotranspiration. Terrain attributes included indicators of catchment shape, morphology, land cover, soils and geology. Stepwise regression was used to identify the best predictors for baseflow recession coefficients. Mean annual rainfall (MAR and aridity index (AI were found to explain 49% of the spatial variation of kbf. The rest of climatic indices and the terrain indices average catchment slope (SLO and tree cover were also good predictors, but co-correlated with MAR. Catchment elongation (CE, a measure of catchment shape, was also found to be statistically significant, although weakly correlated. An analysis of clusters of catchments of smaller size, showed that in these areas, presumably with some similarity of soils and geology due to proximity, residuals of the regression could be explained by SLO and CE. The approach used provides a potential alternative for kbf parameterisation in ungauged catchments.

  9. Scale and legacy controls on catchment nutrient export regimes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howden, N. J. K.; Burt, T.; Worrall, F.

    2017-12-01

    Nutrient dynamics in river catchments are complex: water and chemical fluxes are highly variable in low-order streams, but this variability declines as fluxes move through higher-order reaches. This poses a major challenge for process understanding as much effort is focussed on long-term monitoring of the main river channel (a high-order reach), and therefore the data available to support process understanding are predominantly derived from sites where much of the transient response of nutrient export is masked by the effect of averaging over both space and time. This may be further exacerbated at all scales by the accumulation of legacy nutrient sources in soils, aquifers and pore waters, where historical activities have led to nutrient accumulation where the catchment system is transport limited. Therefore it is of particular interest to investigate how the variability of nutrient export changes both with catchment scale (from low to high-order catchment streams) and with the presence of legacy sources, such that the context of infrequent monitoring on high-order streams can be better understood. This is not only a question of characterising nutrient export regimes per se, but also developing a more thorough understanding of how the concepts of scale and legacy may modify the statistical characteristics of observed responses across scales in both space and time. In this paper, we use synthetic data series and develop a model approach to consider how space and timescales combine with impacts of legacy sources to influence observed variability in catchment export. We find that: increasing space and timescales tend to reduce the observed variance in nutrient exports, due to an increase in travel times and greater mixing, and therefore averaging, of sources; increasing the influence of legacy sources inflates the variance, with the level of inflation dictated by the residence time of the respective sources.

  10. Links between river water acidity, land use and hydrology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Saarinen, T.; Celebi, A.; Kloeve, B. [Oulu Univ. (Finland). Water Resources and Environmental Eng. Lab.], Email: tuomas.saarinen@oulu.fi

    2013-11-01

    In western Finland, acid leaching to watercourses is mainly due to drainage of acid sulphate (As) soils. This study examined how different land-use and land-cover types affect water acidity in the northwestern coastal region of Finland, which has abundant drained AS soils and peatlands. Sampling conducted in different hydrological conditions in studied river basins revealed two different catchment types: catchments dominated by drained forested peatlands and catchments used by agriculture. Low pH and high electric conductivity (EC) were typical in rivers affected by agriculture. In rivers dominated by forested peatlands and wetlands, EC was considerably lower. During spring and autumn high runoff events, water quality was poor and showed large spatial variation. Thus it is important to ensure that in river basin status assessment, sampling is carried out in different hydrological situations and in also water from some tributaries is sampled. (orig.)

  11. Aged riverine particulate organic carbon in four UK catchments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adams, Jessica L.; Tipping, Edward; Bryant, Charlotte L.; Helliwell, Rachel C.; Toberman, Hannah; Quinton, John

    2015-01-01

    The riverine transport of particulate organic matter (POM) is a significant flux in the carbon cycle, and affects macronutrients and contaminants. We used radiocarbon to characterise POM at 9 riverine sites of four UK catchments (Avon, Conwy, Dee, Ribble) over a one-year period. High-discharge samples were collected on three or four occasions at each site. Suspended particulate matter (SPM) was obtained by centrifugation, and the samples were analysed for carbon isotopes. Concentrations of SPM and SPM organic carbon (OC) contents were also determined, and were found to have a significant negative correlation. For the 7 rivers draining predominantly rural catchments, PO 14 C values, expressed as percent modern carbon absolute (pMC), varied little among samplings at each site, and there was no significant difference in the average values among the sites. The overall average PO 14 C value for the 7 sites of 91.2 pMC corresponded to an average age of 680 14 C years, but this value arises from the mixing of differently-aged components, and therefore significant amounts of organic matter older than the average value are present in the samples. Although topsoil erosion is probably the major source of the riverine POM, the average PO 14 C value is appreciably lower than topsoil values (which are typically 100 pMC). This is most likely explained by inputs of older subsoil OC from bank erosion, or the preferential loss of high- 14 C topsoil organic matter by mineralisation during riverine transport. The significantly lower average PO 14 C of samples from the River Calder (76.6 pMC), can be ascribed to components containing little or no radiocarbon, derived either from industrial sources or historical coal mining, and this effect is also seen in the River Ribble, downstream of its confluence with the Calder. At the global scale, the results significantly expand available information for PO 14 C in rivers draining catchments with low erosion rates. - Highlights:

  12. The Influence of temporal sampling regime on the WFD classification of catchments within the Eden Demonstration Test Catchment Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jonczyk, Jennine; Haygarth, Phil; Quinn, Paul; Reaney, Sim

    2014-05-01

    A high temporal resolution data set from the Eden Demonstration Test Catchment (DTC) project is used to investigate the processes causing pollution and the influence of temporal sampling regime on the WFD classification of three catchments. This data highlights WFD standards may not be fit for purpose. The Eden DTC project is part of a UK government-funded project designed to provide robust evidence regarding how diffuse pollution can be cost-effectively controlled to improve and maintain water quality in rural river catchments. The impact of multiple water quality parameters on ecosystems and sustainable food production are being studied at the catchment scale. Three focus catchments approximately 10 km2 each, have been selected to represent the different farming practices and geophysical characteristics across the Eden catchment, Northern England. A field experimental programme has been designed to monitor the dynamics of agricultural diffuse pollution at multiple scales using state of the art sensors providing continuous real time data. The data set, which includes Total Phosphorus and Total Reactive Phosphorus, Nitrate, Ammonium, pH, Conductivity, Turbidity and Chlorophyll a reveals the frequency and duration of nutrient concentration target exceedance which arises from the prevalence of storm events of increasing magnitude. This data set is sub-sampled at different time intervals to explore how different sampling regimes affects our understanding of nutrient dynamics and the ramification of the different regimes to WFD chemical status. This presentation seeks to identify an optimum temporal resolution of data for effective catchment management and to question the usefulness of the WFD status metric for determining health of a system. Criteria based on high frequency short duration events needs to be accounted for.

  13. Sources and export of particle-borne organic matter during a monsoon flood in a catchment of northern Laos

    OpenAIRE

    Gourdin , E.; Huon , S.; Evrard , O.; Ribolzi , O.; Bariac , T.; Sengtaheuanghoung , O.; Ayrault , S.

    2015-01-01

    Tropical rivers of Southeast Asia are characterized by high specific carbon yields and supplies to the ocean. The origin and dynamics of particulate organic matter were studied in the Houay Xon River catchment located in northern Laos during the first erosive flood of the rainy season in May 2012. The partly cultivated catchment is equipped with three successive gauging stations draining areas ranging between 0.2 and 11.6 km2 on the main stem of the permanent stream, ...

  14. A simple distributed sediment delivery approach for rural catchments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reid, Lucas; Scherer, Ulrike

    2014-05-01

    The transfer of sediments from source areas to surface waters is a complex process. In process based erosion models sediment input is thus quantified by representing all relevant sub processes such as detachment, transport and deposition of sediment particles along the flow path to the river. A successful application of these models requires, however, a large amount of spatially highly resolved data on physical catchment characteristics, which is only available for a few, well examined small catchments. For the lack of appropriate models, the empirical Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) is widely applied to quantify the sediment production in meso to large scale basins. As the USLE provides long-term mean soil loss rates, it is often combined with spatially lumped models to estimate the sediment delivery ratio (SDR). In these models, the SDR is related to data on morphological characteristics of the catchment such as average local relief, drainage density, proportion of depressions or soil texture. Some approaches include the relative distance between sediment source areas and the river channels. However, several studies showed that spatially lumped parameters describing the morphological characteristics are only of limited value to represent the factors of influence on sediment transport at the catchment scale. Sediment delivery is controlled by the location of the sediment source areas in the catchment and the morphology along the flow path to the surface water bodies. This complex interaction of spatially varied physiographic characteristics cannot be adequately represented by lumped morphological parameters. The objective of this study is to develop a simple but spatially distributed approach to quantify the sediment delivery ratio by considering the characteristics of the flow paths in a catchment. We selected a small catchment located in in an intensively cultivated loess region in Southwest Germany as study area for the development of the SDR approach. The

  15. River flow response to changes in vegetation cover in a South ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    It was hypothesised in this study that annual river yield (river flow as a fraction of rainfall) in the Molenaars catchment near Paarl, South Africa co-varies with an index of green vegetation cover derived from satellite data (the normalised difference vegetation index, NDVI). The catchment was partitioned into 'upland' and ...

  16. Modeling of Faecal Contamination in Water from Catchment to Shellfish Growing Area

    OpenAIRE

    Bougeard, Morgane; Le Saux, Jean-claude; Perenne, Nicolas; Le Guyader, Soizick; Pommepuy, Monique

    2009-01-01

    During rainstorms, watersheds can introduce large amounts of faecal pollution into the rivers and sea, leading to shellfish contamination. In this study, we assessed Escherichia coli fluxes from a catchment, and their impact on estuarine water quality, using two assembled models. For the catchment, the agro-hydrological model SWAT was implemented integrating land uses, soil, topography, rainfall and other climatic data on Daoulas watershed (France). Initially, the SWAT model was calibrated an...

  17. Flood routing in ungauged catchments using Muskingum methods ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Flood-routing techniques are utilised to estimate the stages, or rates of flow, in order to predict flood wave propagation along river reaches. Models can be developed for gauged catchments and their parameters related to physical characteristics such as slope, reach width, reach length so that the approach can be applied ...

  18. Nitrogen Source Apportionment for the Catchment, Estuary, and Adjacent Coastal Waters of the River Scheldt

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan E. Vermaat

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Using the systems approach framework (SAF, a coupled model suite was developed for simulating land-use decision making in response to nutrient abatement costs and water and nutrient fluxes in the hydrological network of the Scheldt River, and nutrient fluxes in the estuary and adjacent coastal sea. The purpose was to assess the efficiency of different long-term water quality improvement measures in current and future climate and societal settings, targeting nitrogen (N load reduction. The spatial-dynamic model suite consists of two dynamically linked modules: PCRaster is used for the drainage network and is combined with ExtendSim modules for farming decision making and estuarine N dispersal. Model predictions of annual mean flow and total N concentrations compared well with data available for river and estuary (r² ≥ 0.83. Source apportionment was carried out to societal sectors and administrative regions; both households and agriculture are the major sources of N, with the regions of Flanders and Wallonia contributing most. Load reductions by different measures implemented in the model were comparable (~75% remaining after 30 yr, but costs differed greatly. Increasing domestic sewage connectivity was more effective, at comparatively low cost (47% remaining. The two climate scenarios did not lead to major differences in load compared with the business-as-usual scenario (~88% remaining. Thus, this spatially explicit model of water flow and N fluxes in the Scheldt catchment can be used to compare different long-term policy options for N load reduction to river, estuary, and receiving sea in terms of their effectiveness, cost, and optimal location of implementation.

  19. Hydromorphological adjustments and re-adjustments of low energy rivers in a sub-urban catchment following historical engineering and recent urbanization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jugie, Marion; Gob, Frédéric; Slawson, Deborah; Le-Coeur, Charles

    2014-05-01

    The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD, October 2000) mandated that the Member States of the European Union achieve the general objective of protection of aquatic ecology by 2015. European rivers and streams have to attain "good ecological status" through the preservation and restoration of aquatic environments. Member will have to ensure environmental continuity through "the adequate distribution of fish species and transport of sediments". In France, more than 61,000 transverse structures - mill dams, weirs, diversion gates - have been identified on rivers as being obstacles to ecological and sedimentary continuity. Because of their historical occupation by societies, rivers flowing in the Paris area have long been anthropized and artificialized. River courses, channel shape, sediment transport and hydrological regime modifications have tremendously transformed the hydrosystems surrounding the city of Paris. The Merantaise's catchment is one of this low energy river watershed, near Paris, that have been modified by historical engineering, especially during medieval-modern times and by the building of the Versailles Castle (XVIIth century). The hydraulic infrastructures are still there and impact the hydromorphogical conditions of the river (incision, lateral erosion, …). In addition to these ancient pressures a rapid and massive urbanization of the suburban areas has applied a new type of constraint to the hydrosystems in recent decades. This undermines the balance that was established following ancient engineering and disturbs the current functioning of the valley. These new types of land occupation have significantly altered the ecological circumstances and transformed the hydrological responses of rivers. In this study, we therefore seek to understand these processes of successive adjustments (ancient and recent) of a small river from the urban margins of the Orge watershed (to the south of Paris). We use a multi-scalar spatial and temporal approach to

  20. Interaction of water components in the semi-arid Huasco and Limarí river basins, North Central Chile

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. Strauch

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available For sustainable water resource management in semi-arid regions, sound information is required about interactions between the different components of the water system: rain/snow precipitation, surface/subsurface run-off, groundwater recharge. Exemplarily, the Huasco and Limarí river basins as water stressed river catchments have been studied by isotope and hydrochemical methods for (i the origin of water, (ii water quality, (iii relations of surface and groundwater.

    Applying the complex multi-isotopic and hydrochemical methodology to the water components of the Huasco and Limarí basins, a differentiation of water components concerning subsurface flow and river water along the catchment area and by anthropogenic impacts are detected. Sulphate and nitrate concentrations indicate remarkable input from mining and agricultural activities along the river catchment.

    The 2H-18O relations of river water and groundwater of both catchments point to the behaviour of river waters originated in an arid to semi-arid environment.

    Consequently, the groundwater from several production wells in the lower parts of the catchments is related to the rivers where the wells located, however, it can be distinguished from the river water. Using the hydrological water balance and the isotope mixing model, the interaction between surface and subsurface flows and river flow is estimated.

  1. THE FORMATION OF THE OUTFLOW IN THE URBANISED CATCHMENT AREA ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE CATCHMENT OF STRZYŻA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Magda Sikora

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the study is to determine what influence made various forms of land use of catchment area on the size and variability of the outflow. Linking the flow rate with the forms of land use will determine which factors affect the runoff in the basin. The object of the research is Strzyża river basin situated within the administrative boundaries of the city of Gdańsk. It was found that streams flowing through urban areas, including the city of Gdańsk (river Strzyża, quickly react to any excess water. Heavy rain combined with the discharge of water through the storm sewer system results of increasing the flow and runoff in streams, among others, Strzyża river.

  2. CRA-W's committee of intervention: analyse of catchments polluted with pesticides.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noel, S; Bah, B B; Collinet, G; Buffet, D; Sorel, A; Hallet, V

    2008-01-01

    In the Walloon Region of Belgium, a committee of intervention has been created to investigate problems of pesticide contamination of various catchments use for drinking water production. This committee involves the Agricultural Research centre--Wallonia (CRA-W, project coordinator) and some University experts. It is funded by the Société Publique de Gestion des Eaux (SPGE). The diagnosis method, base on the AQUAPLAINE method (Arvatis-France), consists of 4 steps. The first step is the preparation of diagnosis (at the office) that takes into account the paper risk of active ingredients. and their uses, the identification of the agricultural parcels, the collection of cartographic and numeric data, the description of the hydrogeological and pedological contexts and the study of the meteorological data in relation with the period of pollution. The second step consists of making a plot diagnosis (on the field) to identify the way of transfer inside the plot and collecting data. At the third step, the people who can apply PPP treatment close to the catchment are met (farmers and city services). Information are collected on treatments applied and on the state of parcels. Based on the hypothesis of pollution cause, the committee proposes solution to solve the problem. One of the catchment that has been investigated by the committee is located at Biesmerée, (Namur province, in Belgium). A temporally contamination was caused by 4 pesticides : chlortoluron, isoproturon, trifluralin and diflufenican. After investigations, it seems that the pollution was probably due to the hydrogeological context. As the river is locally perched over the aquifer, the presence of Poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) could be due to the infiltration of surface water inside the catchment or/and to the presence of a sinkhole temporally activated during river flood period. Infiltration rate has to be assessed and river bank impermeabilization is recommended.

  3. Environmental impact assessment of sand mining from the small catchment rivers in the southwestern coast of India: a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sreebha, Sreedharan; Padmalal, Damodaran

    2011-01-01

    In the past few decades, the demand for construction grade sand is increasing in many parts of the world due to rapid economic development and subsequent growth of building activities. This, in many of the occasions, has resulted in indiscriminate mining of sand from in-stream and floodplain areas leading to severe damages to the river basin environment. The case is rather alarming in the small catchment rivers like those draining the southwestern coast of India due to limited sand resources in their alluvial reaches. Moreover, lack of adequate information on the environmental impact of river sand mining is a major lacuna challenging regulatory efforts in many developing countries. Therefore, a scientific assessment is a pre-requisite in formulating management strategies in the sand mining-hit areas. In this context, a study has been made as a case to address the environmental impact of sand mining from the in-stream and floodplain areas of three important rivers in the southwestern coast of India namely the Chalakudy, Periyar and Muvattupuzha rivers, whose lowlands host one of the fast developing urban-cum-industrial centre, the Kochi city. The study reveals that an amount of 11.527 million ty(-1) of sand (8.764 million ty(-1) of in-stream sand and 2.763 million ty(-1) of floodplain sand) is being mined from the midland and lowland reaches of these rivers for construction of buildings and other infrastructural facilities in Kochi city and its satellite townships. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) carried out as a part of this investigation shows that the activities associated with mining and processing of sands have not only affected the health of the river ecosystems but also degraded its overbank areas to a large extent. Considering the degree of degradation caused by sand mining from these rivers, no mining scenario may be opted in the deeper zones of the river channels. Also, a set of suggestions are made for the overall improvement of the rivers and its

  4. Environmental Impact Assessment of Sand Mining from the Small Catchment Rivers in the Southwestern Coast of India: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sreebha, Sreedharan; Padmalal, Damodaran

    2011-01-01

    In the past few decades, the demand for construction grade sand is increasing in many parts of the world due to rapid economic development and subsequent growth of building activities. This, in many of the occasions, has resulted in indiscriminate mining of sand from instream and floodplain areas leading to severe damages to the river basin environment. The case is rather alarming in the small catchment rivers like those draining the southwestern coast of India due to limited sand resources in their alluvial reaches. Moreover, lack of adequate information on the environmental impact of river sand mining is a major lacuna challenging regulatory efforts in many developing countries. Therefore, a scientific assessment is a pre-requisite in formulating management strategies in the sand mining-hit areas. In this context, a study has been made as a case to address the environmental impact of sand mining from the instream and floodplain areas of three important rivers in the southwestern coast of India namely the Chalakudy, Periyar and Muvattupuzha rivers, whose lowlands host one of the fast developing urban-cum-industrial centre, the Kochi city. The study reveals that an amount of 11.527 million ty-1 of sand (8.764 million ty-1 of instream sand and 2.763 million ty-1 of floodplain sand) is being mined from the midland and lowland reaches of these rivers for construction of buildings and other infrastructural facilities in Kochi city and its satellite townships. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) carried out as a part of this investigation shows that the activities associated with mining and processing of sands have not only affected the health of the river ecosystems but also degraded its overbank areas to a large extent. Considering the degree of degradation caused by sand mining from these rivers, no mining scenario may be opted in the deeper zones of the river channels. Also, a set of suggestions are made for the overall improvement of the rivers and its

  5. Spatial patterns of lacustrine fish assemblages in a catchment of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrews, Caroline S.; Miranda, Leandro E.; Goetz, Daniel B.; Kroger, Robert

    2014-01-01

    In the alluvial valley of the lower Mississippi River, floodplain lakes form isolated aquatic fragments that retain differing degrees of connectivity to neighbouring rivers. Within these floodplain lakes it was hypothesized that fish species composition, relative abundance, and biodiversity metrics would be shaped largely by aquatic connectivity within a catchment.

  6. Modeling of facade leaching in urban catchments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coutu, S.; Del Giudice, D.; Rossi, L.; Barry, D. A.

    2012-12-01

    Building facades are protected from microbial attack by incorporation of biocides within them. Flow over facades leaches these biocides and transports them to the urban environment. A parsimonious water quantity/quality model applicable for engineered urban watersheds was developed to compute biocide release from facades and their transport at the urban basin scale. The model couples two lumped submodels applicable at the basin scale, and a local model of biocide leaching at the facade scale. For the facade leaching, an existing model applicable at the individual wall scale was utilized. The two lumped models describe urban hydrodynamics and leachate transport. The integrated model allows prediction of biocide concentrations in urban rivers. It was applied to a 15 km2urban hydrosystem in western Switzerland, the Vuachère river basin, to study three facade biocides (terbutryn, carbendazim, diuron). The water quality simulated by the model matched well most of the pollutographs at the outlet of the Vuachère watershed. The model was then used to estimate possible ecotoxicological impacts of facade leachates. To this end, exceedance probabilities and cumulative pollutant loads from the catchment were estimated. Results showed that the considered biocides rarely exceeded the relevant predicted no-effect concentrations for the riverine system. Despite the heterogeneities and complexity of (engineered) urban catchments, the model application demonstrated that a computationally "light" model can be employed to simulate the hydrograph and pollutograph response within them. It thus allows catchment-scale assessment of the potential ecotoxicological impact of biocides on receiving waters.

  7. Palaeoflood evidence on the River Nore, South East Ireland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fleming, Ciara; Turner, Jonathan; Bourke, Mary

    2017-04-01

    Past geomorphic changes can be detected in sediment sinks, through the investigation of natural sediment archives. Since the advent of palaeoflood hydrology in the 1980s, numerous authors have demonstrated that such sediment deposits record valuable evidence of past flooding events. Many of these studies have focussed on fluvial systems in arid environments, with bedrock channels proving to be particularly successful field sites. In some districts, the collected datasets are now routinely employed to augment analyses of flood frequency and magnitude, which have traditionally relied on extrapolation of short hydrometric datasets. This study targets river reaches in a temperate humid environment, with a predominantly alluvial channel. The River Nore is one of the largest catchments draining South East Ireland. It is situated in a valley with an inherited glacial legacy and is principally a lowland river catchment. Specific morphological zones have been targeted which are optimal for flood deposit preservation, including palaeochannels, tributary junctions and floodplain overbank settings.There are a variety of anthropogenic pressures evident in this landscape. Among them are channelisation of select tributaries, a legacy of coal mining in the upland Carboniferous limestones, and the installation of man-made obstacles or modifications along the length of the river channel such as sluices and weirs. Regarding land-use, the majority of the catchment is dominated by agriculture, mainly pasture with some tillage. This study investigates palaeoflood evidence in the River Nore catchment and examines the development of the river floodplain using a variety of complementary field and desk-based methods. The sub-surface and micro-topography of river reaches are investigated using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology. Flood deposits have been characterised by examination of bank exposures and sediment cores. Installation of sediment traps

  8. Use of Isotopes in Assessing the Response of Groundwater to Cross-Catchments Water Diversion in the Tarim Basin

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pang, Z.; Huang, T.; Kong, Y. [Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China)

    2013-07-15

    Since 2000, more than 2 billion m{sup 3} of water has been diverted from the Peacock River to the neighbouring Lower Tarim River in NW China via a 900 km canal for ecosystem rescue by cross-catchment water diversion. Isotope techniques have been used in the riparian groundwater- river interactions along the 350 km long river channel through sampling of monitoring wells and river stream as well as soil profiles. Stable isotopes ({delta}{sup 2}H, {delta} {sup 18}O) show that groundwater is enriched in heavy isotopes, attributed to evaporation during recharge. Tritium data show that the extent of modern recharge is limited to 600-1500 m from the riverbank in the middle reaches and 200-600 m in the lower reaches. The salinity of groundwater is affected by river recharge, residence time and evapotranspiration. The zone of appropriate water table for arid plants is confined to a narrow scope. The assessment calls for a more favourable water allocation and management scheme catchment wide. (author)

  9. A SURVEY OF THE WHITE-CLAWED CRAYFISH,AUSTROPOTAMOBIUS PALLIPES (LEREBOULLET, AND OF WATERQUALITY IN TWO CATCHMENTS OF EASTERN IRELAND.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    DEMERS A.

    2002-07-01

    Full Text Available The white-clawed crayfish, Austropotamobius pallipes (Lereboullet, is the only crayfish species found in Ireland. Because of the prohibition on importation of exotic species of crayfish onto the island and of its relatively clean rivers up to now, Ireland has kept an abundant population of crayfish. A survey was conducted in the catchments of the Liffey and Boyne rivers, in eastern Ireland to assess water quality and to sample crayfish populations. The aim of the study was to evaluate the water quality requirements of the white-clawed crayfish in Ireland. Baited traps and nets were used to sample crayfish while water quality was measured with biological indices calculated from samples of macroinvertebrates. Distribution of this crayfish species is patchy in the Liffey catchment and seems to be related to factors such as soil types and water quality. They were not found in the downstream part of the river Liffey possibly due to poor water quality. In the Boyne catchment, no crayfish were found in most of the catchment. They were only present in the Kells Blackwater subcatchment. This may be due to an earlier outbreak of the fungal plague caused by Aphanomyces astaci. The disease was discovered in lakes at the top of some of the tributaries of the Boyne in 1987 and it probably spread from there through the whole catchment.

  10. Identification of pollutant sources in a rapidly developing urban river catchment in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Jingshui; Yin, Hailong; Jomma, Seifeddine; Rode, Michael; Zhou, Qi

    2016-04-01

    Rapid economic development and urbanization worldwide cause serious ecological and environmental problems. A typical region that is in transition and requires systemic research for effective intervention is the rapidly developing city of Hefei in central P. R. China. In order to investigate the sources of pollutants over a one-year period in Nanfei River catchment that drains the city of Hefei, discharges were measured and water samples were taken and measured along the 14km river section at 10 sites for 4 times from 2013 to 2014. Overflow concentrations of combined sewer and separate storm drains were also measured by selecting 15 rain events in 4 typical drainage systems. Loads and budgets of water and different pollutant sources i.e., wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent, urban drainage overflow, unknown wastewater were calculated. The water balance demonstrated that >70% of the discharge originated from WWTP effluent. Lack of clean upstream inflow thereby is threatening ecological safety and water quality. Furthermore, mass fluxes calculations revealed that >40% of the COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) loads were from urban drainage overflow because of a large amount of discharge of untreated wastewater in pumping stations during rain events. WWTP effluent was the predominant source of the total nitrogen loads (>60%) and ammonia loads (>45%). However, the total phosphorous loads from three different sources are similar (˜1/3). Thus, our research provided a basis for appropriate and prior mitigation strategies (state-of-art of WWTP upgrade, sewer systems modification, storm water regulation and storage capacity improvement, etc.) for different precedence-controlled pollutants with the limited infrastructure investments in these rapidly developing urban regions.

  11. A Simple Scheme for Modeling Irrigation Water Requirements at the Regional Scale Applied to an Alpine River Catchment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pascalle C. Smith

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a simple approach for estimating the spatial and temporal variability of seasonal net irrigation water requirement (IWR at the catchment scale, based on gridded land use, soil and daily weather data at 500 × 500 m resolution. In this approach, IWR is expressed as a bounded, linear function of the atmospheric water budget, whereby the latter is defined as the difference between seasonal precipitation and reference evapotranspiration. To account for the effects of soil and crop properties on the soil water balance, the coefficients of the linear relation are expressed as a function of the soil water holding capacity and the so-called crop coefficient. The 12 parameters defining the relation were estimated with good coefficients of determination from a systematic analysis of simulations performed at daily time step with a FAO-type point-scale model for five climatically contrasted sites around the River Rhone and for combinations of six crop and ten soil types. The simple scheme was found to reproduce well results obtained with the daily model at six additional verification sites. We applied the simple scheme to the assessment of irrigation requirements in the whole Swiss Rhone catchment. The results suggest seasonal requirements of 32 × 106 m3 per year on average over 1981–2009, half of which at altitudes above 1500 m. They also disclose a positive trend in the intensity of extreme events over the study period, with an estimated total IWR of 55 × 106 m3 in 2009, and indicate a 45% increase in water demand of grasslands during the 2003 European heat wave in the driest area of the studied catchment. In view of its simplicity, the approach can be extended to other applications, including assessments of the impacts of climate and land-use change.

  12. Probability based hydrologic catchments of the Greenland Ice Sheet

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hudson, B. D.

    2015-12-01

    Greenland Ice Sheet melt water impacts ice sheet flow dynamics, fjord and coastal circulation, and sediment and biogeochemical fluxes. Melt water exiting the ice sheet also is a key term in its mass balance. Because of this, knowledge of the area of the ice sheet that contributes melt water to a given outlet (its hydrologic catchment) is important to many ice sheet studies and is especially critical to methods using river runoff to assess ice sheet mass balance. Yet uncertainty in delineating ice sheet hydrologic catchments is a problem that is rarely acknowledged. Ice sheet catchments are delineated as a function of both basal and surface topography. While surface topography is well known, basal topography is less certain because it is dependent on radar surveys. Here, I a present a Monte Carlo based approach to delineating ice sheet catchments that quantifies the impact of uncertain basal topography. In this scheme, over many iterations I randomly vary the ice sheet bed elevation within published error bounds (using Morlighem et al., 2014 bed and bed error datasets). For each iteration of ice sheet bed elevation, I calculate the hydraulic potentiometric surface and route water over its path of 'steepest' descent to delineate the catchment. I then use all realizations of the catchment to arrive at a probability map of all major melt water outlets in Greenland. I often find that catchment size is uncertain, with small, random perturbations in basal topography leading to large variations in catchments size. While some catchments are well defined, others can double or halve in size within published basal topography error bars. While some uncertainty will likely always remain, this work points to locations where studies of ice sheet hydrology would be the most successful, allows reinterpretation of past results, and points to where future radar surveys would be most advantageous.

  13. A new generic approach for estimating the concentrations of down-the-drain chemicals at catchment and national scale

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Keller, V.D.J. [Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Hydrological Risks and Resources, Maclean Building, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford OX10 8BB (United Kingdom)]. E-mail: vke@ceh.ac.uk; Rees, H.G. [Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Hydrological Risks and Resources, Maclean Building, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford OX10 8BB (United Kingdom); Fox, K.K. [University of Lancaster (United Kingdom); Whelan, M.J. [Unilever Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre, Colworth (United Kingdom)

    2007-07-15

    A new generic approach for estimating chemical concentrations in rivers at catchment and national scales is presented. Domestic chemical loads in waste water are estimated using gridded population data. River flows are estimated by combining predicted runoff with topographically derived flow direction. Regional scale exposure is characterised by two summary statistics: PEC{sub works}, the average concentration immediately downstream of emission points, and, PEC{sub area}, the catchment-average chemical concentration. The method was applied to boron at national (England and Wales) and catchment (Aire-Calder) scales. Predicted concentrations were within 50% of measured mean values in the Aire-Calder catchment and in agreement with results from the GREAT-ER model. The concentration grids generated provide a picture of the spatial distribution of expected chemical concentrations at various scales, and can be used to identify areas of potentially high risk. - A new grid-based approach to predict spatially-referenced freshwater concentrations of domestic chemicals.

  14. Characteristics of chemistry and stable isotopes in groundwater of the Chaobai River catchment, Beijing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, J. [Key Laboratory of Engineering Geomechanics, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029 (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Liu, J.; Wang, X. [Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology Team of Beijing, Beijing 100037 (China); Pang, Z. [Key Laboratory of Engineering Geomechanics, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029 (China)

    2013-07-01

    Environmental isotopes and chemical compositions are useful tools for the study of groundwater flow systems. Groundwater of the Chaobai River catchment, Beijing was sampled for chemical and stable isotopes analyses in 2005. Geochemical signatures evolve progressively from CaMg-HCO{sub 3} to NaK-HCO{sub 3}, and then to Na-HCO{sub 3} compositions as groundwater flows from the mountain to discharge areas. Groundwater can be divided into two groups on the basis of stable isotope compositions: ancient groundwater and modern groundwater. Modern groundwater (-9.90/00 to -6.60/00 for δ{sup 18}O) plots along a line with a slope of 4.0 on a δ{sup 2}H versus δ{sup 18}O diagram, reflecting evaporation during the process of recharge, whereas ancient groundwater samples (30 to 12 Ka.) are different in isotopic composition (-11.00/00 and -68.20/00 for δ{sup 18}O and δ{sup 2}H, respectively), reflecting the cold and arid climate in the last glacial period. The results have important implications for groundwater management in Beijing City. (authors)

  15. Quantification of Runoff as Influenced by Morphometric Characteristics in a Rural Complex Catchment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdulkareem, Jabir Haruna; Pradhan, Biswajeet; Sulaiman, Wan Nor Azmin; Jamil, Nor Rohaizah

    2018-03-01

    This study addresses the critical scientific question of assessing the relationship between morphometric features and the hydrological factors that increase the risk of flooding in Kelantan River basin, Malaysia. Two hypotheses were developed to achieve this aim, namely: the alternate hypothesis (runoff, is influenced by morphometric characteristics in the study watershed) and the null hypothesis (runoff is not influenced by morphometric characteristics). First, the watershed was delineated into four major catchments, namely: Galas, Pergau, Lebir, and Nenggiri. Next, quantitative morphometric characters such as linear aspects, areal aspects, and relief aspects were determined on each of these catchments. Furthermore, HEC-HMS and flood response analyses were employed to simulate the hydrological response of the catchments. From the results of morphometric analysis, profound spatial changes were observed between runoff features of Kelantan River and the morphometric characteristics. The length of overflow that was related to drainage density and constant channel maintenance was found to be 0.12 in Pergau, 0.04 in both Nenggiri and Lebir, and 0.03 in Galas. Drainage density as influenced by geology and vegetation density was found to be low in all the catchments (0.07-0.24). Results of hydrological response indicated that Lebir, Nenggiri, Galas, and Pergau recorded a flood response factor of 0.75, 0.63, 0.40, and 0.05, respectively. Therefore, Lebir and Nenggiri are more likely to be flooded during a rainstorm. There was no clear indication with regard to the catchment that emerged as the most prevailing in all the morphological features. Hence, the alternate hypothesis was affirmed. This study can be replicated in other catchments with different hydrologic setup.

  16. Using modified multiple phosphorus sensitivity indices for mitigation and management of phosphorus loads on a catchment level

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Oberholster, Paul J

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The relationships between river and lake phosphorus sensitivity, environmental drivers and catchment characteristics within the upper Olifants River and Lake Loskop were studied over a period of four years to come up with mitigation and management...

  17. Aged riverine particulate organic carbon in four UK catchments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Adams, Jessica L., E-mail: jesams@ceh.ac.uk [Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster, LA1 4AP (United Kingdom); Tipping, Edward, E-mail: et@ceh.ac.uk [Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster, LA1 4AP (United Kingdom); Bryant, Charlotte L., E-mail: charlotte.bryant@glasgow.ac.uk [NERC Radiocarbon Facility, East Kilbride G75 0QF, Scotland (United Kingdom); Helliwell, Rachel C., E-mail: rachel.helliwell@hutton.ac.uk [The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB15 8QH Scotland (United Kingdom); Toberman, Hannah, E-mail: hannahtoberman@hotmail.com [Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster, LA1 4AP (United Kingdom); School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GP (United Kingdom); Quinton, John, E-mail: j.quinton@lancaster.ac.uk [Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ (United Kingdom)

    2015-12-01

    The riverine transport of particulate organic matter (POM) is a significant flux in the carbon cycle, and affects macronutrients and contaminants. We used radiocarbon to characterise POM at 9 riverine sites of four UK catchments (Avon, Conwy, Dee, Ribble) over a one-year period. High-discharge samples were collected on three or four occasions at each site. Suspended particulate matter (SPM) was obtained by centrifugation, and the samples were analysed for carbon isotopes. Concentrations of SPM and SPM organic carbon (OC) contents were also determined, and were found to have a significant negative correlation. For the 7 rivers draining predominantly rural catchments, PO{sup 14}C values, expressed as percent modern carbon absolute (pMC), varied little among samplings at each site, and there was no significant difference in the average values among the sites. The overall average PO{sup 14}C value for the 7 sites of 91.2 pMC corresponded to an average age of 680 {sup 14}C years, but this value arises from the mixing of differently-aged components, and therefore significant amounts of organic matter older than the average value are present in the samples. Although topsoil erosion is probably the major source of the riverine POM, the average PO{sup 14}C value is appreciably lower than topsoil values (which are typically 100 pMC). This is most likely explained by inputs of older subsoil OC from bank erosion, or the preferential loss of high-{sup 14}C topsoil organic matter by mineralisation during riverine transport. The significantly lower average PO{sup 14}C of samples from the River Calder (76.6 pMC), can be ascribed to components containing little or no radiocarbon, derived either from industrial sources or historical coal mining, and this effect is also seen in the River Ribble, downstream of its confluence with the Calder. At the global scale, the results significantly expand available information for PO{sup 14}C in rivers draining catchments with low erosion rates

  18. Quantifying the sources and the transit times of sediment using fallout radionuclides (7Be, 137Cs, 210Pbxs) in contrasted cultivated catchments across the world

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evrard, O.; Le Gall, M.; Laceby, J. P.; Foucher, A.; Lefèvre, I.; Salvador-Blanes, S.; Morera, S.; Ribolzi, O.

    2017-12-01

    Soil erosion and fine sediment supply to rivers are exacerbated in intensively cultivated catchments. Information on the sediment sources and transit times in rivers is required to improve our understanding of these processes and to guide the implementation of effective conservation measures. Accordingly, natural (7Be, 210Pb) and artificial (137Cs) fallout radionuclide concentrations were measured in overland flow and suspended sediment collected during the erosive season in contrasted cultivated catchments. In Laos, samples were collected in a steep catchment (Houay Pano, 12 km²) covered with cropland and teak plantations during the first flood of the monsoon in 2014. Cropland surface sources dominated the supply of sediment at the upstream sampling location (55%), whereas subsurface sources (channel, landslides) contributed the majority of material at the outlet (60%). Furthermore, the material exported from the catchment mainly consisted of re-suspended sediment. In Central France, the study was conducted in a flat and drained cultivated catchment (Louroux, 25 km²) during a sequence of winter events in 2013-2014 and 2016. Only surface material enriched in 137Cs was found to transit through the river during floods. The results demonstrated the initial re-suspension of material accumulated in the river channel during the first winter flood before the direct supply of sediment recently eroded from the hillslopes during the next events. In Peru, sediment was collected during a series of summer flood events (2017) in a river draining páramos (Ronquillo, 42 km²) that were recently put in cultivation. Preliminary results show that subsurface re-suspended material dominates the exports from this catchment. These results confirmed the utility of coupling continuous river monitoring and fallout radionuclide measurements on sediment collected in both tropical and temperate rivers to better understand sediment dynamics in these endangered habitats. The main challenges

  19. River basin administration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Management of international rivers and their basins is the focus of the Centre for Comparative Studies on (International) River Basin Administration, recently established at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. Water pollution, sludge, and conflicting interests in the use of water in upstream and downstream parts of a river basin will be addressed by studying groundwater and consumption of water in the whole catchment area of a river.Important aspects of river management are administrative and policy aspects. The Centre will focus on policy, law, planning, and organization, including transboundary cooperation, posing standards, integrated environmental planning on regional scale and environmental impact assessments.

  20. Yield-reliability analysis and operating rules for run-of-river ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2015-04-03

    Apr 3, 2015 ... Location of Siloam Village in A80A quaternary catchment. CASE STUDY AREA. Siloam Village falls under the quaternary catchment A80A of the Nzhelele River Catchment which is located in the Limpopo. Province of South ..... This enables allocation of more water to domestic users during times of high ...

  1. River and river-related drainage area parameters for site investigation program

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Blomqvist, P.; Brunberg, A.K. [Uppsala Univ. (Sweden). Dept. of Limnology; Brydsten, L. [Umeaa Univ. (Sweden). Dept. of Ecology and Environmental Science

    2001-05-01

    In this paper, a number of parameters of importance to a determination of the function of running waters as transport channels for material from the continents to the sea are presented. We have assumed that retention mechanisms of material in the river and in the riparian zone will be covered by special investigations but tried to create a platform for such investigations by quantification of the extension of different main habitats. The choice of parameters has been made so that also the nature conservation value of the river can be preliminary established, and includes a general description of the river type and the inherent ecosystem. The material links directly to that presented in a previous report concerning site investigation programmes for lakes. The parameters have been divided into five groups: 1) The location of the object relative important gradients in the surrounding nature; 2) The river catchment area and its major constituents; 3) The river morphometry; 4) The river ecosystem; 5) Human-induced damages to the river ecosystem. The first two groups, principally based on the climate, hydrology, geology and vegetation of the catchment area, represent parameters that can be used to establish the rarity and representativity of the system, and will in the context of site investigation program be used as a basis for generalisation of the results. The third group, the river morphometry parameters, are standard parameters for the outline of sampling programmes and for calculations of the physical extension of key habitats in the system. The fourth group, the ecosystem of the river, includes physical, chemical and biological parameters required for determination of the influence from the terrestrial ecosystem of the catchment area, nutrient status, distribution of different habitats, and presence of fish in the system. In the context of site investigation program, the parameters in these two groups will be used for budget calculations of the flow of energy and

  2. River and river-related drainage area parameters for site investigation program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blomqvist, P.; Brunberg, A.K.; Brydsten, L.

    2001-05-01

    In this paper, a number of parameters of importance to a determination of the function of running waters as transport channels for material from the continents to the sea are presented. We have assumed that retention mechanisms of material in the river and in the riparian zone will be covered by special investigations but tried to create a platform for such investigations by quantification of the extension of different main habitats. The choice of parameters has been made so that also the nature conservation value of the river can be preliminary established, and includes a general description of the river type and the inherent ecosystem. The material links directly to that presented in a previous report concerning site investigation programmes for lakes. The parameters have been divided into five groups: 1) The location of the object relative important gradients in the surrounding nature; 2) The river catchment area and its major constituents; 3) The river morphometry; 4) The river ecosystem; 5) Human-induced damages to the river ecosystem. The first two groups, principally based on the climate, hydrology, geology and vegetation of the catchment area, represent parameters that can be used to establish the rarity and representativity of the system, and will in the context of site investigation program be used as a basis for generalisation of the results. The third group, the river morphometry parameters, are standard parameters for the outline of sampling programmes and for calculations of the physical extension of key habitats in the system. The fourth group, the ecosystem of the river, includes physical, chemical and biological parameters required for determination of the influence from the terrestrial ecosystem of the catchment area, nutrient status, distribution of different habitats, and presence of fish in the system. In the context of site investigation program, the parameters in these two groups will be used for budget calculations of the flow of energy and

  3. Human-induced landscape changes and geo-hydrological risk: the Rupinaro catchment, Liguria, Italy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giostrella, Paola; Faccini, Francesco; Maggi, Roberto; Cesare Mondini, Alessandro; Tarolli, Paolo; Guzzetti, Fausto

    2015-04-01

    Small and steep watersheds are typical of Liguria, northern Italy. In these small watersheds, geo-hydrological hazards, including flash floods and shallow landslides, caused by high intensity rainfall are frequent and abundant. In the coastal valleys of Liguria, narrow flood plains have hosted human settlements and communication lines since the protohistoric period. Since then, a variety of human activities have modified the natural landscape significantly, and chiefly through land-use changes first in the flood-plains, and next along the slopes. We have studied the 11-square km Rupinaro catchment, west of Chiavari, which has been inhabited since the 8th century BC. Progressive human actions have modified the main river and its tributaries, which have become narrower and canalized, and locally they were covered completely. Human actions have also contributed to the increase in the runoff coefficients, and to the progradation of the main river into the Ligurian Sea. Demographic growth, socio-economic development and urbanization are the main drivers for the land use changes occurred in the Rupinaro catchment. Through a combined analysis of archaeological and palynologycal data, and the multi-temporal analysis of historical maps, aerial photographs and satellite imagery of different vintages, we have reconstructed phases of modifications of the river and the tributaries. We determined the land use changes calculating the loss of soil, analyzing statistics of buildings and demography for the last 150 years, and interpreting historical maps and aerial and satellite imagery. We found that land reclamations, the construction of embankments, and the rectification of rivers are the main human actions performed to obtain building areas along the main river course. Expansion of urban settlements in flood prone areas, and even in the main riverbed, have reached a critical limit has shown by the destructive flood event that has affected the Rupinaro catchment, and chiefly the

  4. Hydrological Response of Semi-arid Degraded Catchments in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teka, Daniel; Van Wesemael, Bas; Vanacker, Veerle; Hallet, Vincent

    2013-04-01

    To address water scarcity in the arid and semi-arid part of developing countries, accurate estimation of surface runoff is an essential task. In semi-arid catchments runoff data are scarce and therefore runoff estimation using hydrological models becomes an alternative. This research was initiated in order to characterize runoff response of semi-arid catchments in Tigray, North Ethiopia to evaluate SCS-CN for various catchments. Ten sub-catchments were selected in different river basins and rainfall and runoff were measured with automatic hydro-monitoring equipments for 2-3 years. The Curve Number was estimated for each Hydrological Response Unit (HRU) in the sub-catchments and runoff was modeled using the SCS-CN method at λ = 0.05 and λ = 0.20. The result showed a significant difference between the two abstraction ratios (P =0.05, df = 1, n= 132) and reasonable good result was obtained for predicted runoff at λ = 0.05 (NSE = -0.69; PBIAS = 18.1%). When using the CN values from literature runoff was overestimated compared to the measured value (e= -11.53). This research showed the importance of using measured runoff data to characterize semi-arid catchments and accurately estimate the scarce water resource. Key words: Hydrological response, rainfall-runoff, degraded environments, semi-arid, Ethiopia, Tigray

  5. Suspended sediment apportionment in a South-Korean mountain catchment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Birkholz, Axel; Meusburger, Katrin; Park, Ji-Hyung; Alewell, Christine

    2016-04-01

    Due to the rapid agricultural expansion and intensification during the last decades in South-Korea, large areas of hill slope forests were transformed to paddies and vegetable fields. The intensive agriculture and the easily erodible soils in our catchment are a major reason for the increased erosion causing suspended sediments to infiltrate into the close drinking water reservoir. The drinking water reservoir Lake Soyang provides water supply for over ten million people in Seoul. Landscape managers need to know the exact origin of these sediments before they can create landscape amelioration schemes. We applied a compound-specific stable isotope (CSSI) approach (Alewell et al., 2015) to apportion the sources of the suspended sediments between forest and agricultural soil contribution to the suspended sediments in a different catchment and applied the same approach to identify and quantify the different sources of the suspended sediments in the river(s) contributing to Lake Soyang. We sampled eight soil sites within the catchment considering the different landuse types forest, rice paddies, maize and vegetables. Suspended sediments were sampled at three outlets of the different sub-catchments. Soils and suspended sediments are analysed for bulk carbon and nitrogen isotopes, compound-specific carbon isotopes of plant-wax derived long-chain fatty acids and long-chain n-alkanes. Fatty acid and alkane isotopes are then used in mixing calculations and the mixing model software IsoSource to find out the contribution of the different source soils to the suspended sediments. We present first data of the source soils and the suspended sediments. C. Alewell, A. Birkholz, K. Meusburger, Y. Schindler-Wildhaber, L. Mabit, 2015. Sediment source attribution from multiple land use systems with CSIA. Biogeosciences Discuss. 12: 14245-14269.

  6. Management to Insulate Ecosystem Services from the Effects of Catchment Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gell, Peter

    2018-02-01

    Natural ecosystems provide amenity to human populations in the form of ecosystem services. These services are grouped into four broad categories: provisioning - food and water production; regulating - control of climate and disease; supporting - crop pollination; and cultural - spiritual and recreational benefits. Aquatic systems provide considerable service through the provision of potable water, fisheries and aquaculture production, nutrient mitigation and the psychological benefits that accrue from the aesthetic amenity provided from lakes, rivers and other wetlands. Further, littoral and riparian ecosystems, and aquifers, protect human communities from sea level encroachment, and tidal and river flooding. Catchment and water development provides critical resources for human consumption. Where these provisioning services are prioritized over others, the level and quality of production may be impacted. Further, the benefits from these provisioning services comes with the opportunity cost of diminishing regulating, supporting and cultural services. This imbalance flags concerns for humanity as it exceeds recognised safe operating spaces. These concepts are explored by reference to long term records of change in some of the world's largest river catchments and lessons are drawn that may enable other communities to consider the balance of ecosystems services in natural resource management.

  7. Sediment Size Distribution at Three Rivers with Different Types of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ADOWIE PERE

    sediment size distribution based on land use is very crucial in river maintenance. ... a basis for river catchment management study and can be used by river management .... small. In this case, the difference between upstream and downstream ...

  8. Main tributary influence on the River Vardar water quantity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Unevska, Blaga; Stojov, Vasko; Milevski, Josif

    2004-01-01

    Hydrology in all catchments is defined like complex of geophysics and hydro-geologic parameters. Regular defining on the hydrological parameters is essential for planning, improving and developing management on every country. The main aim of this topic is to demonstrate disparity disposal on water resources in Republic of Macedonia depending on the different catchments areas. Here will be talk about different percentage of tributaries, which have influence on river Vardar. River Vardar is main recipient on water in Macedonia.(Author)

  9. Direct runoff assessment using modified SME method in catchments in the Upper Vistula River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wałęga, A.; Rutkowska, A.; Grzebinoga, M.

    2017-04-01

    Correct determination of direct runoff is crucial for proper and safe dimensioning of hydroengineering structures. It is commonly assessed using SCS-CN method developed in the United States. However, due to deficiencies of this method, many improvements and modifications have been proposed. In this paper, a modified Sahu-Mishra-Eldo (SME) method was introduced and tested for three catchments located in the upper Vistula basin. Modification of SME method involved a determination of maximum potential retention S based on CN parameter derived from SCS-CN method. The modified SME method yielded direct runoff values very similar to those observed in the investigated catchments. Moreover, it generated significantly smaller errors in the direct runoff estimation as compared with SCS-CN and SME methods in the analyzed catchments. This approach may be used for estimating the runoff in uncontrolled catchments.

  10. Catchment Storage and Transport on Timescales from Minutes to Millennia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kirchner, J. W.

    2017-12-01

    Landscapes are characterized by preferential flow and pervasive heterogeneity on all scales. They therefore store and transmit water and solutes over a wide spectrum of time scales, with important implications for contaminant transport, weathering rates, and runoff chemistry. Theoretical analyses predict, and syntheses of age tracer data confirm, that waters in aquifers are older - often by orders of magnitude - than in the rivers that flow from them, and that this disconnect between water ages arises from aquifer heterogeneity. Recent theoretical studies also suggest that catchment transit time distributions are nonstationary, reflecting temporal variability in precipitation forcing, structural heterogeneity in catchments themselves, and the nonlinearity of the mechanisms controlling storage and transport in the subsurface. The challenge of empirically estimating these nonstationary transit time distributions in real-world catchments, however, has only begun to be explored. In recent years, long-term isotope time series have been collected in many research catchments, and new technologies have emerged that allow quasi-continuous measurements of isotopes in precipitation and streamflow. These new data streams create new opportunities to study how rainfall becomes streamflow following the onset of precipitation. Here I present novel methods for quantifying the fraction of current rainfall in streamflow across ensembles of precipitation events. Benchmark tests with nonstationary catchment models demonstrate that this approach quantitatively measures the short tail of the transit time distribution for a wide range of catchment response characteristics. In combination with reactive tracer time series, this approach can potentially be extended to measure short-term chemical reaction rates at the catchment scale. Applications using high-frequency tracer time series from several experimental catchments demonstrate the utility of the new approach outlined here.

  11. Vulnerability of European freshwater catchments to climate change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Markovic, Danijela; Carrizo, Savrina F; Kärcher, Oskar; Walz, Ariane; David, Jonathan N W

    2017-09-01

    Climate change is expected to exacerbate the current threats to freshwater ecosystems, yet multifaceted studies on the potential impacts of climate change on freshwater biodiversity at scales that inform management planning are lacking. The aim of this study was to fill this void through the development of a novel framework for assessing climate change vulnerability tailored to freshwater ecosystems. The three dimensions of climate change vulnerability are as follows: (i) exposure to climate change, (ii) sensitivity to altered environmental conditions and (iii) resilience potential. Our vulnerability framework includes 1685 freshwater species of plants, fishes, molluscs, odonates, amphibians, crayfish and turtles alongside key features within and between catchments, such as topography and connectivity. Several methodologies were used to combine these dimensions across a variety of future climate change models and scenarios. The resulting indices were overlaid to assess the vulnerability of European freshwater ecosystems at the catchment scale (18 783 catchments). The Balkan Lakes Ohrid and Prespa and Mediterranean islands emerge as most vulnerable to climate change. For the 2030s, we showed a consensus among the applied methods whereby up to 573 lake and river catchments are highly vulnerable to climate change. The anthropogenic disruption of hydrological habitat connectivity by dams is the major factor reducing climate change resilience. A gap analysis demonstrated that the current European protected area network covers climate change. Priority should be placed on enhancing stakeholder cooperation at the major basin scale towards preventing further degradation of freshwater ecosystems and maintaining connectivity among catchments. The catchments identified as most vulnerable to climate change provide preliminary targets for development of climate change conservation management and mitigation strategies. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  12. COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF RUNOFF AND ITS COMPONENTS IN TWO CATCHMENTS OF UPPER INDUS BASIN BY USING A SEMI DISTRIBUTED GLACIO-HYDROLOGICAL MODEL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. H. Ali

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The hydrology of Upper Indus basin is not recognized well due to the intricacies in the climate and geography, and the scarcity of data above 5000 m a.s.l where most of the precipitation falls in the form of snow. The main objective of this study is to measure the contributions of different components of runoff in Upper Indus basin. To achieve this goal, the Modified positive degree day model (MPDDM was used to simulate the runoff and investigate its components in two catchments of Upper Indus basin, Hunza and Gilgit River basins. These two catchments were selected because of their different glacier coverage, contrasting area distribution at high altitudes and significant impact on the Upper Indus River flow. The components of runoff like snow-ice melt and rainfall-base flow were identified by the model. The simulation results show that the MPDDM shows a good agreement between observed and modeled runoff of these two catchments and the effects of snow and ice are mainly reliant on the catchment characteristics and the glaciated area. For Gilgit River basin, the largest contributor to runoff is rain-base flow, whereas large contribution of snow-ice melt observed in Hunza River basin due to its large fraction of glaciated area. This research will not only contribute to the better understanding of the impacts of climate change on the hydrological response in the Upper Indus, but will also provide guidance for the development of hydropower potential and water resources assessment in these catchments.

  13. Climate influences on Vaal River flow

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2016-04-02

    Apr 2, 2016 ... enriched NW-cloud bands over the Vaal River catchment, during the flood case study of January 2010. Comparison of. (Pacific) Southern Oscillation and east Atlantic influence on Vaal River discharge reveals the former drives evaporative losses while the latter provides an advance warning of flow ...

  14. Map-based prediction of organic carbon in headwater streams improved by downstream observations from the river outlet

    Science.gov (United States)

    Temnerud, J.; von Brömssen, C.; Fölster, J.; Buffam, I.; Andersson, J.-O.; Nyberg, L.; Bishop, K.

    2016-01-01

    In spite of the great abundance and ecological importance of headwater streams, managers are usually limited by a lack of information about water chemistry in these headwaters. In this study we test whether river outlet chemistry can be used as an additional source of information to improve the prediction of the chemistry of upstream headwaters (size interquartile range (IQR)) of headwater stream TOC for a given catchment, based on a large number of candidate variables including sub-catchment characteristics from GIS, and measured river chemistry at the catchment outlet. The best candidate variables from the PLS models were then used in hierarchical linear mixed models (MM) to model TOC in individual headwater streams. Three predictor variables were consistently selected for the MM calibration sets: (1) proportion of forested wetlands in the sub-catchment (positively correlated with headwater stream TOC), (2) proportion of lake surface cover in the sub-catchment (negatively correlated with headwater stream TOC), and (3) river outlet TOC (positively correlated with headwater stream TOC). Including river outlet TOC improved predictions, with 5-15 % lower prediction errors than when using map information alone. Thus, data on water chemistry measured at river outlets offer information which can complement GIS-based modelling of headwater stream chemistry.

  15. Combining satellite radar altimetry, SAR surface soil moisture and GRACE total storage changes for hydrological model calibration in a large poorly gauged catchment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Milzow, Christian; Krogh, Pernille Engelbredt; Bauer-Gottwein, Peter

    2011-01-01

    The availability of data is a major challenge for hydrological modelling in large parts of the world. Remote sensing data can be exploited to improve models of ungauged or poorly gauged catchments. In this study we combine three datasets for calibration of a rainfall-runoff model of the poorly...... gauged Okavango catchment in Southern Africa: (i) surface soil moisture (SSM) estimates derived from radar measurements onboard the Envisat satellite; (ii) radar altimetry measurements by Envisat providing river stages in the tributaries of the Okavango catchment, down to a minimum river width of about...... one hundred meters; and (iii) temporal changes of the Earth's gravity field recorded by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) caused by total water storage changes in the catchment. The SSM data are shown to be helpful in identifying periods with over-respectively underestimation...

  16. Catchment-scale conservation units identified for the threatened Yarra pygmy perch (Nannoperca obscura) in highly modified river systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brauer, Chris J; Unmack, Peter J; Hammer, Michael P; Adams, Mark; Beheregaray, Luciano B

    2013-01-01

    Habitat fragmentation caused by human activities alters metapopulation dynamics and decreases biological connectivity through reduced migration and gene flow, leading to lowered levels of population genetic diversity and to local extinctions. The threatened Yarra pygmy perch, Nannoperca obscura, is a poor disperser found in small, isolated populations in wetlands and streams of southeastern Australia. Modifications to natural flow regimes in anthropogenically-impacted river systems have recently reduced the amount of habitat for this species and likely further limited its opportunity to disperse. We employed highly resolving microsatellite DNA markers to assess genetic variation, population structure and the spatial scale that dispersal takes place across the distribution of this freshwater fish and used this information to identify conservation units for management. The levels of genetic variation found for N. obscura are amongst the lowest reported for a fish species (mean heterozygosity of 0.318 and mean allelic richness of 1.92). We identified very strong population genetic structure, nil to little evidence of recent migration among demes and a minimum of 11 units for conservation management, hierarchically nested within four major genetic lineages. A combination of spatial analytical methods revealed hierarchical genetic structure corresponding with catchment boundaries and also demonstrated significant isolation by riverine distance. Our findings have implications for the national recovery plan of this species by demonstrating that N. obscura populations should be managed at a catchment level and highlighting the need to restore habitat and avoid further alteration of the natural hydrology.

  17. Analysis of streamflow variability in Alpine catchments at multiple spatial and temporal scales

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pérez Ciria, T.; Chiogna, G.

    2017-12-01

    Alpine watersheds play a pivotal role in Europe for water provisioning and for hydropower production. In these catchments, temporal fluctuations of river discharge occur at multiple temporal scales due to natural as well as anthropogenic driving forces. In the last decades, modifications of the flow regime have been observed and their origin lies in the complex interplay between construction of dams for hydro power production, changes in water management policies and climatic changes. The alteration of the natural flow has negative impacts on the freshwater biodiversity and threatens the ecosystem integrity of the Alpine region. Therefore, understanding the temporal and spatial variability of river discharge has recently become a particular concern for environmental protection and represents a crucial contribution to achieve sustainable water resources management in the Alps. In this work, time series analysis is conducted for selected gauging stations in the Inn and the Adige catchments, which cover a large part of the central and eastern region of the Alps. We analyze the available time series using the continuous wavelet transform and change-point analyses for determining how and where changes have taken place. Although both catchments belong to different climatic zones of the Greater Alpine Region, streamflow properties share some similar characteristics. The comparison of the collected streamflow time series in the two catchments permits detecting gradients in the hydrological system dynamics that depend on station elevation, longitudinal location in the Alps and catchment area. This work evidences that human activities (e.g., water management practices and flood protection measures, changes in legislation and market regulation) have major impacts on streamflow and should be rigorously considered in hydrological models.

  18. Trends in the chemistry of atmospheric deposition and surface waters in the Lake Maggiore catchment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Rogora

    2001-01-01

    Full Text Available The Lake Maggiore catchment is the area of Italy most affected by acid deposition. Trend analysis was performed on long-term (15-30 years series of chemical analyses of atmospheric deposition, four small rivers draining forested catchments and four high mountain lakes. An improvement in the quality of atmospheric deposition was detected, due to decreasing sulphate concentration and increasing pH. Similar trends were also found in high mountain lakes and in small rivers. Atmospheric deposition, however, is still providing a large and steady flux of nitrogen compounds (nitrate and ammonium which is causing increasing nitrogen saturation in forest ecosystems and increasing nitrate levels in rivers. Besides atmospheric deposition, an important factor controlling water acidification and recovery is the weathering of rocks and soils which may be influenced by climate warming. A further factor is the episodic deposition of Saharan calcareous dust which contributes significantly to base cation deposition. Keywords: trend, atmospheric deposition, nitrogen, stream water chemistry.

  19. Dynamic network expansion, contraction, and connectivity in the river corridor of mountain stream network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ward, A. S.; Schmadel, N.; Wondzell, S. M.

    2017-12-01

    River networks are broadly recognized to expand and contract in response to hydrologic forcing. Additionally, the individual controls on river corridor dynamics of hydrologic forcing and geologic setting are well recognized. However, we currently lack tools to integrate our understanding of process dynamics in the river corridor and make predictions at the scale of river networks. In this study, we develop a perceptual model of the river corridor in mountain river networks, translate this into a reduced-complexity mechanistic model, and implement the model in a well-studied headwater catchment. We found that the river network was most sensitive to hydrologic dynamics under the lowest discharges (Qgauge managers of water resources who need to estimate connectivity and flow initiation location along the river corridor over broad, unstudied catchments.

  20. Impact of Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Rainfall Inputs on Integrated Catchment Dissolved Oxygen Simulations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonio M. Moreno-Rodenas

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Integrated Catchment Modelling aims to simulate jointly urban drainage systems, wastewater treatment plant and rivers. The effect of rainfall input uncertainties in the modelling of individual urban drainage systems has been discussed in several studies already. However, this influence changes when simultaneously simulating several urban drainage subsystems and their impact on receiving water quality. This study investigates the effect of the characteristics of rainfall inputs on a large-scale integrated catchment simulator for dissolved oxygen predictions in the River Dommel (The Netherlands. Rainfall products were generated with varying time-aggregation (10, 30 and 60 min deriving from different sources of data with increasing spatial information: (1 Homogeneous rainfall from a single rain gauge; (2 block kriging from 13 rain gauges; (3 averaged C-Band radar estimation and (4 kriging with external drift combining radar and rain gauge data with change of spatial support. The influence of the different rainfall inputs was observed at combined sewer overflows (CSO and dissolved oxygen (DO dynamics in the river. Comparison of the simulations with river monitoring data showed a low sensitivity to temporal aggregation of rainfall inputs and a relevant impact of the spatial scale with a link to the storm characteristics to CSO and DO concentration in the receiving water.

  1. The politics of establishing catchment management agencies in South Africa: the case of the Breede-Overberg Catchment Management Agency

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard Meissner

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available We reflect on the politics of establishing catchment management agencies in South Africa with a specific focus on the Breede-Overberg Catchment Management Agency (BOCMA, which was recently replaced by the Breede-Gouritz Catchment Management Agency (BGCMA. We do so by applying the framework of adaptive comanagement and its institutional prescriptions: collaboration, experimentation, and a bioregional approach. We start by introducing the history of this catchment management agency (CMA and then describe the establishment of CMAs in South Africa in general and that of BOCMA in particular. We follow the framework for rule types and types of river basin organizations set out by the editors of this special feature with reference to adaptive comanagement where applicable. We then discuss the politics and strategies involved in the introduction of the CMA concept to the National Water Act and the latest developments around these institutions in South Africa. This is followed by reflections on what can be surmised about BOCMA's democratic functioning and performance to date. We conclude by reflecting on the future of operations of the new BGCMA and CMAs in South Africa in general. While our research shows that BOCMA's establishment process has featured several elements of adaptive comanagement and its institutional prescriptions, it remains to be seen to what extent it is possible to continue implementing this concept when further developing and operationalizing the BGCMA and the country's other CMAs.

  2. Impact of spatiotemporal characteristics of rainfall inputs on integrated catchment dissolved oxygen simulations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Moreno Rodenas, A.M.; Cecinati, Francesca; Langeveld, J.G.; Clemens, F.H.L.R.

    2017-01-01

    Integrated Catchment Modelling aims to simulate jointly urban drainage systems, wastewater treatment plant and rivers. The effect of rainfall input uncertainties in the modelling of individual urban drainage systems has been discussed in several studies already. However, this influence changes

  3. Identification of nitrate sources and discharge-depending nitrate dynamics in a mesoscale catchment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mueller, Christin; Strachauer, Ulrike; Brauns, Mario; Musolff, Andreas; Kunz, Julia Vanessa; Brase, Lisa; Tarasova, Larisa; Merz, Ralf; Knöller, Kay

    2017-04-01

    During the last decades, nitrate concentrations in surface and groundwater have increased due to land use change and accompanying application of fertilizer in agriculture as well as increased atmospheric deposition. To mitigate nutrient impacts on downstream aquatic ecosystems, it is important to quantify potential nitrate sources, instream nitrate processing and its controls in a river system. The objective of this project is to characterize and quantify (regional) scale dynamics and trends in water and nitrogen fluxes of the entire Holtemme river catchment in central Germany making use of isotopic fingerprinting methods. Here we compare two key date sampling campaigns in 2014 and 2015, with spatially highly resolved measurements of discharge at 23 sampling locations including 11 major tributaries and 12 locations at the main river. Additionally, we have data from continuous runoff measurements at 10 locations operated by the local water authorities. Two waste water treatment plants contribute nitrogen to the Holtemme stream. This contribution impacts nitrate loads and nitrate isotopic signatures depending on the prevailing hydrological conditions. Nitrogen isotopic signatures in the catchment are mainly controlled by different sources (nitrified soil nitrogen in the headwater and manure/ effluents from WWTPs in the lowlands) and increase with raising nitrate concentrations along the main river. Nitrate loads at the outlet of the catchment are extremely different between both sampling campaigns (2014: NO3- = 97 t a-1, 2015: NO3- = 5 t a-1) which is associated with various runoff (2014: 0.8 m3 s-1, 2015: 0.2 m3 s-1). In 2015, the inflow from WWTP's raises the NO3- loads and enriches δ18O-NO3 values. Generally, oxygen isotope signatures from nitrate are more variable and are controlled by biogeochemical processes in concert with the oxygen isotopic composition of the ambient water. Elevated δ18O-NO3 in 2015 are most likely due to higher temperatures and lower

  4. Reaction and relaxation in a coarse-grained fluvial system following catchment-wide disturbance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tunnicliffe, Jon; Brierley, Gary; Fuller, Ian C.; Leenman, Anya; Marden, Mike; Peacock, Dave

    2018-04-01

    The Waiapu River catchment (drainage area of 1734-km2) is one of the most prolific conveyors of sediment in the world, annually delivering roughly 35 Mt of fine material to the ocean from eroding gullies, hillslopes, and reworked sediment on valley floors. Tectonic and geologic influences, in combination with a dynamic climate influenced by tropical cyclones and clearance of vegetation from steep hillslopes, predisposes this region to high rates of erosion. The bedload sediment regime of the river is strongly influenced by several exceptionally large gullies and gully complexes that produce a coarse-grained, poorly sorted sediment mixture. Rapid abrasion and breakdown leads to high rates of suspended sediment yield. A wave of bedload material, manifesting as elevated bed levels and significant widening of active alluvial fills, has been triggered by large inputs of hillslope material from a few key tributary catchments following Cyclone Bola in 1988. We review the evidence for the relaxation process of the sedimentary system in the subsequent 29 years, appraising some of the legacy effects that may endure, as associated with reworking of the considerable alluvial stores within the Waiapu system. We use Structure-from-Motion (SfM) techniques and archival aerial photos to quantify changes in sediment storage at the base of two major gully systems in recent decades. A record of over 850 cross section surveys at 62 sites on 10 rivers throughout the catchment (1958-2017) indicates recent transition from a trend of continuous accumulation to downcutting and remobilisation of valley-bottom deposits. The channel cross sections provide a minimum estimate of sediment flux from source areas to the lower reaches of the river, giving a rudimentary but spatially extensive picture of the wave of material cascading through the drainage network. The largest impacts occur in the upper steepland rivers, closest to the landslide-derived sediment supply. Transport rates here, as

  5. Contrasting effects of wildfire and clearfelling on the hydrology of a small catchment

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Scott, DF

    1997-05-01

    Full Text Available in total ¯ow recorded after ®res in the Wilson River catchment in Oregon (Anderson, 1976), the Burns Watershed in Washington (Helvey et al., 1976) and the Etajima Island catchments in the Hiroshima Prefecture of Japan (Kusaka et al., 1983). The second... repellency in the soil (DeBano and Krammes, 1966; Dyrness, 1976; John, 1978; Scott and Van Wyk, 1990). Fire-induced water repellency in soils has been observed mostly in chaparral areas in southern California (Krammes and DeBano, 1965; DeBano and Krammes...

  6. Water balance of a small catchment with permeable soils in Ile-Ife area, southwester Nigeria

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ogunkoya, O. O.

    2000-01-01

    Three - year and annual catchment water balances were drawn for a small l catchment (44 ha.) in southwestern Nigeria. The equation: P - Q - E T - Δs = O was not resolved. Rather, the terms on the left did not sum to zero. The residual, which are between 4% and 5% of total rainfall, were consistently negative. A probable source of error is the use of Thornthwaite's potential evaporation in estimating catchment evapotranspiration. Potential evapotranspiration is higher than actual evapotranspiration in the study area due to the limited evaporation opportunity during the approximately five - mouth dry season. Given that the study catchment had runoff patterns that are simi liar to those of larger rivers in the region the computed catchment water balance indicated that 37% of annual rainfall may be taken as the runoff coefficient for the region. This suggests that the engineer's coefficient (0.35 - 0.45) used in assessment of surface water resources in southwestern Nigeria, is reasonable

  7. Management to Insulate Ecosystem Services from the Effects of Catchment Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gell Peter

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Natural ecosystems provide amenity to human populations in the form of ecosystem services. These services are grouped into four broad categories: provisioning – food and water production; regulating – control of climate and disease; supporting – crop pollination; and cultural – spiritual and recreational benefits. Aquatic systems provide considerable service through the provision of potable water, fisheries and aquaculture production, nutrient mitigation and the psychological benefits that accrue from the aesthetic amenity provided from lakes, rivers and other wetlands. Further, littoral and riparian ecosystems, and aquifers, protect human communities from sea level encroachment, and tidal and river flooding. Catchment and water development provides critical resources for human consumption. Where these provisioning services are prioritized over others, the level and quality of production may be impacted. Further, the benefits from these provisioning services comes with the opportunity cost of diminishing regulating, supporting and cultural services. This imbalance flags concerns for humanity as it exceeds recognised safe operating spaces. These concepts are explored by reference to long term records of change in some of the world’s largest river catchments and lessons are drawn that may enable other communities to consider the balance of ecosystems services in natural resource management.

  8. Status of riverine soils of a Mediterranean river catchment (the Turia river, Spain) regarding potential contamination of heavy metals and pesticides

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andreu, Vicente; Gimeno-García, Eugenia; Pascual, Juan Antonio; Picó, Yolanda

    2016-04-01

    Rivers are sink structures receiving diffuse contamination mainly from agricultural practices. Hydrological dynamics of these watercourses favour, by one hand, the transport of contaminants (dissolved, complexed or adsorbed to suspended particles) and, by the other, their accumulation in sediments. These circumstances affect at different scales the quality of soils, waters, and the entire riverine ecosystems. In this work, 7 heavy metals and 50 pesticides were monitored in riverine soils of the Turia River catchment. From the source to the mounth, along the entiere river, 22 sampling points were selected for sampling according different lithologies, land uses, population size and the proximity to waste waters treatment plants (WWTPs). Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Pb, Ni and Zn were analysed to determine its total and extractable contents in soils. Total content of metals was established by microwave acid digestion and the extractable fraction in soils and sediments by treatment with EDTA. Atomic Absorption Spectrometry, using graphite furnace when necessary, was used for the determination of the selected metals. Pesticide residues were extracted from the soil samples using the QuEchERS method and determined by Liquid Chromatograph-tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Recoveries ranged from 40 to 105 %. The limits of quantification ranged from 0.1 to 5.0 ng g-1. The higest levels of total and extractable Cd, Co, Cr and Ni were determined near the Benageber reservoir, located in the middle course of the river, where an important forest fires occurred a year ago. High levels of metals, mainly Cr and Zn, appeared headwaters in the Alfambra tributary. This deserves special mention because it was selected as a little impacted area that could serve as non-contaminated reference for the river. From the 50 pesticides condsidered, 26 were detected, with the highest levels for acetochlor (290.00 ng g-1) and a degradation product of terbutyazine - terbuthylazine deethyl - (234.75 ng g-1

  9. Ecohydrological modeling of a tropical tidal catchment exposed to anthropogenic pressure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lorenz, Malte; Zeunert, Stephanie; Meon, Günter

    2016-04-01

    The study area is the highly polluted estuary system of the Thi Vai river and its catchment, located in South Vietnam. It is part of Vietnam's core regions for the development of industrial and agricultural production. The middle and lower parts of the river form an estuary, which is strongly affected by the tide. As a result of untreated industrial waste water discharges, the Thi Vai river was considered as ecological dead from 1990 to 2008. Although the water quality of the Thi Vai has been improved due to waste water treatment and control, it must be still considered as polluted. These first successes could be rapidly negated by the ongoing development of industry, population and agriculture. Today the water quality management is solely focused on the industrial zones adjacent to the estuary. The contribution of the catchment to the water quality pollution is not considered yet. To quantify the pollution of the Thi Vai estuary and its catchment, a monitoring system for water quantity and quality was installed. The water quality of the Thi Vai estuary and its main tributaries is affected by elevated concentrations of NH4, NO2 and TSS and partly reduced DO concentrations. Within the German-Vietnamese BMBF research project EWATEC-COAST a model based management system was developed as an instrument for a sustainable improvement of the water quality of the Thi Vai estuary and the Thi Vai catchment. Among others, the system consists of the hydrodynamic water quality model DELFT 3D and the ecohydrological catchment model PANTA RHEI WQ. The ecohydrological model PANTA RHEI WQ was developed within the research project. The developed ecohydrological model allows a sub-daily time step and includes in-stream water quality procedures, accounting for the interaction of aquatic biomass, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, detritus and sediment. Therefore, the implemented water quality model overcomes deficits found in common ecohydrological models. Despite of the scarce data

  10. The Demonstration Test Catchment Approach to Land and Water Management in the river Eden Watershed, UK. (Invited)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jonczyk, J.; Quinn, P. F.; Haygarth, P.; Reaney, S.; Wilkinson, M.; Burke, S.; McGonigle, D.; Harris, B.

    2010-12-01

    The Demonstration Test Catchment (DTC) initiative is a five year project to address pollution issues in catchments. The initiative will study the wider environmental problems suffered by catchments which are under intense farming pressures and potential climate change impacts. The UK Department for Food, Agriculture and Rural Affairs (Defra) in partnership with the Environment Agency for England and Wales (EA) have funded this initiative to answer key policy concerns in catchments. The first key step has been the establishment of a ‘research platform’ at three catchments in the UK (The Eden, Wensum and Hampshire Avon) whereby funding of 9.3 million dollars has gone into funding new equipment and pollution sampling regimes have been established. Within each catchment between three and four, 8-10km2 sub-catchments have been established. The experimental design and thinking for DTCs will be explained fully in this paper. The next phase of the project will install an extensive suite of land management and pollution mitigation interventions. In parallel to this monitoring work, a full knowledge exchange package will seek to engage with farmers, the rural community and understand the governance regime at the broader catchment scale. There is also a need for a modelling component to upscale the findings to the whole of the UK. Whilst this is an ambitious goal, there is a very basic commitment of working with rural communities to come up with real solutions that will help underpin effective policy making for the future. The research platform covers a multi-scale approach to the monitoring strategy that will allow local grouping of mitigation measures to be studied local in terms of impact and propagated to the catchment scale. Even with high level of funding, the DTC can only fully instrument a catchment of 8-10km2. Beyond this scale, the EA and the standard catchment monitoring will continue as normal. The focus here is to prove that mitigation can be achieved within

  11. Characterisation of urban catchment suspended particulate matter (Auckland region, New Zealand); a comparison with non-urban SPM

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bibby, Rebecca L.; Webster-Brown, Jenny G.

    2005-01-01

    Suspended particulate matter (SPM) is an important transport agent for metal contaminants in streams, particularly during high flow periods such as storm events. For highly contaminated urban catchments in the greater Auckland (New Zealand) area, trace metal partitioning between the dissolved phase and SPM was determined, and SPM characterised in terms of its Si, Al, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb, TOC, TON and PO 4 concentrations, as well as particle size, abundance, type and surface area. This data was compared to similar data from representative non-urban catchments in the Auckland region, the Kaipara River and Waikato River catchments, to identify any significant differences in the SPM and its potential trace metal adsorption capacity. Trace metal partitioning was assessed by way of a distribution coefficient: K D =[Me SPM ]/[Me DISS ]. Auckland urban SPM comprises quartz, feldspars and clay minerals, with Fe-oxides and minor Mn-oxides. No particles of anthropogenic origin, other than glass shards, were observed. No change in urban SPM particle size or SSA was observed with seasonal change in temperature, but the nature of the SPM was observed to change with flow regime. The abundance of finer particles, SSA and Al content of the SPM increased under moderate flow conditions; however, Si/Al ratios remained constant, confirming the importance of aluminosilicate detrital minerals in surface run-off. The SPM Fe content was observed to decrease with increased flow and was attributed to dilution of SPM Fe-oxide of groundwater origin. The Kaipara River SPM was found to be mineralogically, chemically and biologically similar to the urban SPM. However, major differences between urban catchment SPM and SPM from the much larger (non-urban) Waikato River were observed, and attributed to a higher abundance of diatoms. The Fe content of the Waikato River SPM was consistently lower (<5%), and the Si/Al ratio and Mn content was higher. Such differences observed between urban and non

  12. Impact of farm dams on river flows; A case study in the Limpopo River basin, Southern Africa

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meijer, E.; Querner, E.P.; Boesveld, H.

    2013-01-01

    The study analysed the impact of a farm dam on the river flow in the Limpopo River basin. Two methods are used to calculate the water inflow: one uses the runoff component from the catchment water balance; the other uses the drainage output of the SIMFLOW model. The impact on the flow in a

  13. Regional-scale lateral carbon transport and CO2 evasion in temperate stream catchments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Magin, Katrin; Somlai-Haase, Celia; Schäfer, Ralf B.; Lorke, Andreas

    2017-11-01

    Inland waters play an important role in regional to global-scale carbon cycling by transporting, processing and emitting substantial amounts of carbon, which originate mainly from their catchments. In this study, we analyzed the relationship between terrestrial net primary production (NPP) and the rate at which carbon is exported from the catchments in a temperate stream network. The analysis included more than 200 catchment areas in southwest Germany, ranging in size from 0.8 to 889 km2 for which CO2 evasion from stream surfaces and downstream transport with stream discharge were estimated from water quality monitoring data, while NPP in the catchments was obtained from a global data set based on remote sensing. We found that on average 13.9 g C m-2 yr-1 (corresponding to 2.7 % of terrestrial NPP) are exported from the catchments by streams and rivers, in which both CO2 evasion and downstream transport contributed about equally to this flux. The average carbon fluxes in the catchments of the study area resembled global and large-scale zonal mean values in many respects, including NPP, stream evasion and the carbon export per catchment area in the fluvial network. A review of existing studies on aquatic-terrestrial coupling in the carbon cycle suggests that the carbon export per catchment area varies in a relatively narrow range, despite a broad range of different spatial scales and hydrological characteristics of the study regions.

  14. Source identification of fine-grained suspended sediment in the Kharaa River basin, northern Mongolia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Theuring, Philipp [Department of Aquatic Ecosystem Analysis and Management — ASAM, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research — UFZ, Brückstrasse 3a, D-39114 Magdeburg (Germany); Collins, Adrian L. [Sustainable Soils and Grassland Systems Department, Rothamsted Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, Devon EX20 2SB (United Kingdom); Rode, Michael [Department of Aquatic Ecosystem Analysis and Management — ASAM, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research — UFZ, Brückstrasse 3a, D-39114 Magdeburg (Germany)

    2015-09-01

    Fine sediment inputs into river systems can be a major source of nutrients and heavy metals and have a strong impact on water quality and ecosystem functions of rivers and lakes, including those in semiarid regions. However, little is known to date about the spatial distribution of sediment sources in most large scale river basins in Central Asia. Accordingly, a sediment source fingerprinting technique was used to assess the spatial sources of fine-grained (< 10 μm) sediment in the 15 000 km{sup 2} Kharaa River basin in northern Mongolia. Variation in geochemical composition (e.g. in Ti, Sn, Mo, Mn, As, Sr, B, U, Ca and Sb) was used for sediment source discrimination with geochemical composite fingerprints based on Genetic Algorithm (GA)-driven Discriminant Function Analysis, the Kruskal–Wallis H-test and Principal Component Analysis. All composite fingerprints yielded a satisfactory GOF (> 0.97) and were subsequently used for numerical mass balance modelling with uncertainty analysis. The contributions of the individual sub-catchment spatial sediment sources varied from 6.4% (the headwater sub-catchment of Sugnugur Gol) to 36.2% (the Kharaa II sub-catchment in the middle reaches of the study basin), generally showing higher contributions from the sub-catchments in the middle, rather than the upstream, portions of the study area. The importance of river bank erosion is shown to increase from upstream to midstream tributaries. The source tracing procedure provides results in reasonable accordance with previous findings in the study region and demonstrates the applicability and associated uncertainties of the approach for fine-grained sediment source investigation in large scale semi-arid catchments. - Highlights: • Applied statistical approach for selecting composite fingerprints in Mongolia. • Geochemical fingerprinting for the definition of source areas in semiarid catchment. • Test of applicability of sediment sourcing in large scale semi-arid catchments

  15. Estimation of transported pollutant load in Ardila catchment using the SWAT model

    OpenAIRE

    DURÃO, A.; LEITÃO, P.; BRITO, D.; FERNANDES, R.M.; NEVES, R.; MORAIS, M.

    2011-01-01

    Excess of organic matter and nutrients in the water body promotes algae blooms, which can accelerate the eutrophication process, situation often observed in the Ardila river. This river was identified as very polluted and classified as critical for Alqueva-Pedrogão System. The aim of this study was to estimate the transported nutrients load in a transboundary catchment using the SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model and to determine the contribution off nutrients load in the entire catc...

  16. Typology of potential high contribution areas in the sediment budget in the Upper Guil Catchment (Queyras, French Alps)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lissak, Candide; Fort, Monique; Fassetta, Gilles Arnaud; Viel, Vincent; Carlier, Benoit

    2015-04-01

    In mountainous areas, especially in large river catchments with torrential tributaries, the production and sediment transport significantly increase flood impacts in the valley bottoms. For a better understanding of Alpine river catchments considered as complex systems, we focused our research on the Guil River catchment (Queyras, Southern French Alps - 317km²). This catchment is prone to catastrophic summer floods (June 1957 (> R.I. 100 yr), June 2000 (R.I. 30 yr)...) characterized by considerable sediment transport from tributaries to downvalley, very much facilitated by strong hillslope-channel connectivity (≈12,000 m3 volume of sediment aggraded during the June 2000 flood event). During the last flood events, several infrastructures and buildings were seriously damaged. Most of them were located at confluences and, at specific reaches such as canyon reaches constrained by infrastructures. For risk mitigation some protection equipments were built after the 1957 event, but most of them are now poorly maintained and might be less effective in case of flood event. In the frame of SAMCO (ANR 12 SENV-0004) project designed for mountain hazard mitigation in a context of Climate Change, one objective is to understand the hydro-geomorphological functioning of Alpine catchments for a sustainable management of sediment yield, transfer and deposition. Part of our study is aimed at a better assessment of sediment transfers, especially on adjacent sediment supply (i.e. from hillslope to channel, and from tributaries to the trunk river) for a better management of sediment fluxes in the frame of the local "River Scheme". For this reason, we decided to establish a sediment budget of the Guil River catchment, with a quantitative assessment and a spatial analysis of erosion, transport, and deposition processes. The initial phase of our study consists in identifying contributive, erosion and deposition areas with a twofold approach: (i) assessment of longitudinal sedimentary

  17. Spatial and temporal dynamics of nitrate fluxes in a mesoscale catchment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muller, C.; Musolff, A.; Strachauer, U.; Brauns, M.; Tarasova, L.; Merz, R.; Knoeller, K.

    2017-12-01

    Spatially and temporally variable and often superimposing processes like mobilization and turnover of N-species strongly affect nitrate fluxes at catchment outlets. It remains thus challenging to determine dominant nitrate sources to derive an effective river management. Here, we combine data sets from two spatially highly resolved key-date monitoring campaigns of nitrate fluxes along a mesoscale catchment in Germany with four years of monitoring data from two representative sites within the catchment. The study area is characterized by a strong land use gradient from pristine headwaters to lowland sub-catchments with intense agricultural land use and wastewater sources. Flow conditions were assessed by a hydrograph separation showing the clear dominance of base flow during both investigations. However, the absolute amounts of discharge differed significantly from each other (outlet: 1.42 m³ s-1 versus 0.43 m³ s-1). Nitrate concentration and flux in the headwater was found to be low. In contrast, nitrate loads further downstream originate from anthropogenic sources such as effluents from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) and agricultural land use. The agricultural contribution did not vary in terms of nitrate concentration and isotopic signature between the years but in terms of flux. The contrasting amounts of discharge between the years led to a strongly increased relative wastewater contribution with decreasing discharge. This was mainly manifested in elevated δ18O-NO3- values downstream from the wastewater discharge. The four-year monitoring at two sides clearly indicates the chemostatic character of the agricultural N-source and its distinct, yet stable isotopic fingerprint. Denitrification was found to play no dominant role only for controlling nitrate loads in the river. The spatially highly resolved monitoring approach helped to accurately define hot spots of nitrate inputs into the stream while the long-term information allowed a classification of the

  18. Concentration and distribution patterns of naturally occurring radionuclides in sediments and flood plain soils of the catchment area of the river Elbe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barth, A.; Jurk, M.; Weiß, D.

    1998-01-01

    The impact of uranium mining and milling as well as that of traditional mining activities on river sediments and flood plain soils in the catchment area of the river Elbe was investigated over the years 1994 to 1995. Contamination resulting from mining activities has been identified by comparing the median values for the measured radionuclides, and by establishing the ratio between Ra-226 and Ra-228. The transport and deposition of contaminated materials as a result of high water events, and river discharge of waste water from mining and milling facilities, can be considered to be the main paths of sediment and soil contamination. Sediments and flood plain soils located in the vicinity of former uranium mining and milling sites are primarily influenced by discharges of waste water. Long distance transport and deposition at dams, barrages and on flood plains has mainly been caused by high water events. In many cases the radionuclide concentrations were higher in the subsurface layer than in the top layer of flood plain soil. Due to termination of uranium mining and milling activities, no significant contamination of newer or fresh sediments was found. Radiation exposure arising in relation to angling or walking on flood plains is low

  19. Climate Change Impact Assessment of Dike Safety and Flood Risk in the Vidaa River System

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, H.; Sunyer Pinya, Maria Antonia; Larsen, J.

    2013-01-01

    The impact of climate change on the flood risk and dike safety in the Vidaa River system, a cross-border catchment located in the southern part of Jutland, Denmark and northern Germany, is analysed. The river discharges to the Wadden Sea through a tidal sluice, and extreme water level conditions...... in the river system occur in periods of high sea water levels where the sluice is closed and increased catchment run-off take place. Climate model data from the ENSEMBLES data archive are used to assess the changes in climate variables and the resulting effect on catchment run-off. Extreme catchment run......-off is expected to increase about 8 % in 2050 and 14 % in 2100. The changes in sea water level is assessed considering climate projections of mean sea level rise, isostatic changes, and changes in storm surge statistics. At the Vidaa sluice a mean sea level rise of 0.15–0.39 m in 2050 and 0.41–1.11 m in 2010...

  20. Catchment scale multi-objective flood management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rose, Steve; Worrall, Peter; Rosolova, Zdenka; Hammond, Gene

    2010-05-01

    Rural land management is known to affect both the generation and propagation of flooding at the local scale, but there is still a general lack of good evidence that this impact is still significant at the larger catchment scale given the complexity of physical interactions and climatic variability taking place at this level. The National Trust, in partnership with the Environment Agency, are managing an innovative project on the Holnicote Estate in south west England to demonstrate the benefits of using good rural land management practices to reduce flood risk at the both the catchment and sub-catchment scales. The Holnicote Estate is owned by the National Trust and comprises about 5,000 hectares of land, from the uplands of Exmoor to the sea, incorporating most of the catchments of the river Horner and Aller Water. There are nearly 100 houses across three villages that are at risk from flooding which could potentially benefit from changes in land management practices in the surrounding catchment providing a more sustainable flood attenuation function. In addition to the contribution being made to flood risk management there are a range of other ecosystems services that will be enhanced through these targeted land management changes. Alterations in land management will create new opportunities for wildlife and habitats and help to improve the local surface water quality. Such improvements will not only create additional wildlife resources locally but also serve the landscape response to climate change effects by creating and enhancing wildlife networks within the region. Land management changes will also restore and sustain landscape heritage resources and provide opportunities for amenity, recreation and tourism. The project delivery team is working with the National Trust from source to sea across the entire Holnicote Estate, to identify and subsequently implement suitable land management techniques to manage local flood risk within the catchments. These

  1. Catchment Morphing (CM): A Novel Approach for Runoff Modeling in Ungauged Catchments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jun; Han, Dawei

    2017-12-01

    Runoff prediction in ungauged catchments has been one of the major challenges in the past decades. However, due to the tremendous heterogeneity of the catchments, obstacles exist in deducing model parameters for ungauged catchments from gauged ones. We propose a novel approach to predict ungauged runoff with Catchment Morphing (CM) using a fully distributed model. CM is defined as by changing the catchment characteristics (area and slope here) from the baseline model built with a gauged catchment to model the ungauged ones. As a proof of concept, a case study on seven catchments in the UK has been used to demonstrate the proposed scheme. Comparing the predicted with measured runoff, the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) varies from 0.03 to 0.69 in six catchments. Moreover, NSEs are significantly improved (up to 0.81) when considering the discrepancy of percentage runoff between the target and baseline catchments. A distinct advantage has been experienced by comparing the CM with a traditional method for ungauged catchments. The advantages are: (a) less demand of the similarity between the baseline catchment and the ungauged catchment, (b) less demand of available data, and (c) potentially widely applicable in varied catchments. This study demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed scheme as a potentially powerful alternative to the conventional methods in runoff predictions of ungauged catchments. Clearly, more work beyond this pilot study is needed to explore and develop this new approach further to maturity by the hydrological community.

  2. Knickpoint retreat and transient bedrock channel morphology triggered by base-level fall in small bedrock river catchments: The case of the Isle of Jura, Scotland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castillo, Miguel; Bishop, Paul; Jansen, John D.

    2013-01-01

    A sudden drop in river base-level can trigger a knickpoint that propagates throughout the fluvial network causing a transient state in the landscape. Knickpoint retreat has been confirmed in large fluvial settings (drainage areas > 100 km2) and field data suggest that the same applies to the case of small bedrock river catchments (drainage areas UK), where rivers incise into dipping quartzite. The mapping of raised beach deposits and strath terraces, and the analysis of stream long profiles, were used to identify knickpoints that had been triggered by base-level fall. Our results indicate that the distance of knickpoint retreat scales to the drainage area in a power law function irrespective of structural setting. On the other hand, local channel slope and basin size influence the vertical distribution of knickpoints. As well, at low drainage areas (~ 4 km2) rivers are unable to absorb the full amount of base-level fall and channel reach morphology downstream of the knickpoint tends towards convexity. The results obtained here confirm that knickpoint retreat is mostly controlled by stream discharge, as has been observed for other transient landscapes. Local controls, reflecting basin size and channel slope, have an effect on the vertical distribution of knickpoints; such controls are also related to the ability of rivers to absorb the base-level fall.

  3. Hydro-economic modelling in mining catchments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ossa Moreno, J. S.; McIntyre, N.; Rivera, D.; Smart, J. C. R.

    2017-12-01

    Hydro-economic models are gaining momentum because of their capacity to model both the physical processes related to water supply, and socio-economic factors determining water demand. This is particularly valuable in the midst of the large uncertainty upon future climate conditions and social trends. Agriculture, urban uses and environmental flows have received a lot of attention from researchers, as these tend to be the main consumers of water in most catchments. Mine water demand, although very important in several small and medium-sized catchments worldwide, has received less attention and only few models have attempted to reproduce its dynamics with other users. This paper describes an on-going project that addresses this gap, by developing a hydro-economic model in the upper Aconcagua River in Chile. This is a mountain catchment with large scale mining and hydro-power users at high altitudes, and irrigation areas in a downstream valley. Relevant obstacles to the model included the lack of input climate data, which is a common feature in several mining areas, the complex hydrological processes in the area and the difficulty of quantifying the value of water used by mines. A semi-distributed model developed within the Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP), was calibrated to reproduce water supply, and this was complemented with an analysis of the value of water for mining based on two methods; water markets and an analysis of its production processes. Agriculture and other users were included through methods commonly used in similar models. The outputs help understanding the value of water in the catchment, and its sensitivity to changes in climate variables, market prices, environmental regulations and changes in the production of minerals, crops and energy. The results of the project highlight the importance of merging hydrology and socio-economic calculations in mining regions, in order to better understand trade-offs and cost of opportunity of using

  4. Cyclic Sediment Trading Between Channel and River Bed Sediments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haddadchi, A.

    2015-12-01

    Much of the previous work on sediment tracing has focused on determining either the initial sources of the sediment (soils derive from a particular rock type) or the erosion processes generating the sediment. However, alluvial stores can be both a source and sink for sediment transported by streams. Here geochemical and fallout radionuclide tracing of river-bed and alluvial sediments are used to determine the role of secondary sources, sediment stores, as potential sources of sediment leaving Emu Creek catchment, southeastern Queensland, Australia. Activity concentrations of 137Cs on the river sediments are consistent with channel erosion being the dominant source at all sites sampled along the river. To characterise the deposition and remobilisation cycles in the catchment, a novel geochemical tracing approach was used. Successive pockets of alluvium were treated as discrete sink terms within geochemical mixing models and their source contributions compared with those of river bed sediments collected adjacent to each alluvial pocket. Three different size fractions were examined; silts and clays (banks indicates a high degree of 'trading' between the fluvial space and the alluvial space. Hence, management works aimed at primarily reducing the supply of sediments to the outlet of Emu Creek should focus on rehabilitation of channel banks in the lower catchment.

  5. Modeling sediment yield in small catchments at event scale: Model comparison, development and evaluation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Z.; Leung, L. R.; Li, H. Y.; Tesfa, T. K.

    2017-12-01

    Sediment yield (SY) has significant impacts on river biogeochemistry and aquatic ecosystems but it is rarely represented in Earth System Models (ESMs). Existing SY models focus on estimating SY from large river basins or individual catchments so it is not clear how well they simulate SY in ESMs at larger spatial scales and globally. In this study, we compare the strengths and weaknesses of eight well-known SY models in simulating annual mean SY at about 400 small catchments ranging in size from 0.22 to 200 km2 in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico. In addition, we also investigate the performance of these models in simulating event-scale SY at six catchments in the US using high-quality hydrological inputs. The model comparison shows that none of the models can reproduce the SY at large spatial scales but the Morgan model performs the better than others despite its simplicity. In all model simulations, large underestimates occur in catchments with very high SY. A possible pathway to reduce the discrepancies is to incorporate sediment detachment by landsliding, which is currently not included in the models being evaluated. We propose a new SY model that is based on the Morgan model but including a landsliding soil detachment scheme that is being developed. Along with the results of the model comparison and evaluation, preliminary findings from the revised Morgan model will be presented.

  6. Occurrence and distribution of tetrabromobisphenol A and its derivative in river sediments from Vaal River Catchment, South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tlou B. Chokwe

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Brominated flame retardants (BFRs compounds have been widely added in a number of products to reduce their flammability. In the present study, the concentrations and distribution of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA and its derivatives, i.e. tribromophenol dibromopropyl ether (TBPDBPE, tetrabromobisphenol A bis-dibromopropyl ether (TBBPA BDBPE, tetrabromobisphenol A bis-allyl ether (TBBPA BAE were investigated in sediment samples collected from the Vaal River catchment, South Africa. The results showed that all these pollutants were detected in sediments with TBBPA BAE being the most abundant contaminant. The TBBPA BAE concentrations ranged from 3.5 to 44.4 ng/g (mean 16 ng/g while the concentration ranged from not detected (nd to 2.4 ng/g (mean 0.6 ng/g, nd - 21.0 ng/g (mean 6 ng/g and nd - 2.0 ng/g (mean 0.2 ng/g for TBPDBPE, TBBPA and TBBPA BDBPE; respectively. Higher concentrations of these pollutants were found in sampling sites receiving effluents of wastewater treatment works (WWTWs treating some industrial wastewater suggesting effluents might play an important role in the contamination of BFRs in the environment. Negative correlation between TBBPA and TBBPA BAE was observed implying different sources or environmental fates between these pollutants. Overall, the results showed a need for further studies to be undertaken in investigating the presence, fate and sources of alternative halogenated flame retardants in the environment.

  7. Metal-fluxes characterization at a catchment scale: Study of mixing processes and end-member analysis in the Meca River watershed (SW Spain)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cánovas, C. R.; Macías, F.; Olías, M.; López, R. Pérez; Nieto, J. M.

    2017-07-01

    Fluxes of acidity and contaminants from acid mine drainage (AMD) sources to the receiving surface water bodies were studied in a mining-impacted watershed (Meca River, SW Spain) using a novel methodology based on the joint application of EMMA and MIX codes. The application of EMMA and elemental ratios allowed delimiting the end-members responsible for water quality variations at a catchment scale. The further application of MIX quantified the significant impact of AMD on the river quality; less than 10% of AMD relative contribution is enough to maintain acidic conditions during most of the year. The mixing model also provided information about the element mobility, distinguishing those elements with a quasi-conservative behavior (e.g., Cu, Zn, Al, Co or Ni) from those affected by mineral precipitation/dissolution (e.g., K, Si, Na, Sr, Ca, Fe, Pb, or As). Floods are the main driver of dissolved and, mainly particulate, contaminants in the catchment. Thus, the first rainfall events in November only accounted for 19% of the annual Meca flow but yielded between 26 and 43% of the net acidity and dissolved metal loads (mainly, Fe, As and Pb). Concerning particulate transport, around 332 tons of particulate Fe, 49 tons of Al, 0.79 tons of As and 0.37 tons of Pb were recorded during these first floods. The particulate As concentration can be up to 34 times higher than the dissolved one during floods and between 2 and 4 times higher for Fe, Pb and Cr. This integrated modeling approach could be a promising and useful tool to face future restoration plans in derelict mines worldwide. This approach would allow prioritizing remedial measures, achieving an environmental and cost-effective restoration of degraded areas.

  8. River water quality in the northern sugarcane-producing regions of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Sugarcane is the major irrigated crop with regards to area cultivated in the Crocodile, Komati-Lomati and Pongola River catchments. Increasing demand for and use of water resources in these catchments has led to concerns about deterioration in water quality. In this study, chemical water quality data obtained from the ...

  9. Geochemical composition of river loads in the Tropical Andes: first insights from the Ecuadorian Andes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tenorio Poma, Gustavo; Govers, Gerard; Vanacker, Veerle; Bouillon, Steven; Álvarez, Lenín; Zhiminaicela, Santiago

    2015-04-01

    Processes governing the transport of total suspended material (TSM), total dissolved solids (TDS) and particulate organic carbon (POC) are currently not well known for Tropical Andean river systems. We analyzed the geochemical behavior and the budgets of the particulate and dissolved loads for several sub-catchments in the Paute River basin in the southern Ecuadorian Andes, and examined how anthropogenic activities influenced the dynamics of riverine suspended and dissolved loads. We gathered a large dataset by regularly sampling 8 rivers for their TSM, POC, and TDS. Furthermore, we determined the major elements in the dissolved load and stable isotope composition (δ13C) of both the POC, and the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). The rivers that were sampled flow through a wide range of land uses including: 3 nature conservation areas (100 - 300 Km²), an intensive grassland and arable zone (142 Km²); downstream of two cities (1611 and 443 Km²), and 2 degraded basins (286 and 2492 Km²). We described the geochemical characteristics of the river loads both qualitatively and quantitatively. Important differences in TSM, POC and TDS yields were found between rivers: the concentration of these loads increases according with human activities within the basins. For all rivers, TSM, TDS and POC concentrations were dependent on discharge. Overall, a clear relation between TSM and POC (r²=0.62) was observed in all tributaries. The C:N ratios and δ13CPOC suggest that the POC in most rivers is mainly derived from soil organic matter eroded from soils dominated by C3 vegetation (δ13CPOC < -22‰). Low Ca:Si ratios (<1)and high δ13CDIC (-9 to -4) in the Yanuncay, Tomebamba1 and Machángara, rivers suggest that weathering of silica rocks is dominant in these catchments, and that the DIC is mainly derived from the soil or atmospheric CO2. In contrast, the Ca:Si ratio was high for the Burgay and Jadán rivers (1-13), and the low δ13CDIC values (-9 to -15) suggest that

  10. Attributes for NHDplus Catchments (Version 1.1) for the Conterminous United States: Population Density, 2000

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wieczorek, Michael; LaMottem, Andrew E.

    2010-01-01

    This data set represents the average population density, in number of people per square kilometer multiplied by 10 for the year 2000, compiled for every catchment of NHDPlus for the conterminous United States. The source data set is the 2000 Population Density by Block Group for the Conterminous United States (Hitt, 2003). The NHDPlus Version 1.1 is an integrated suite of application-ready geospatial datasets that incorporates many of the best features of the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) and the National Elevation Dataset (NED). The NHDPlus includes a stream network (based on the 1:100,00-scale NHD), improved networking, naming, and value-added attributes (VAAs). NHDPlus also includes elevation-derived catchments (drainage areas) produced using a drainage enforcement technique first widely used in New England, and thus referred to as "the New England Method." This technique involves "burning in" the 1:100,000-scale NHD and when available building "walls" using the National Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD). The resulting modified digital elevation model (HydroDEM) is used to produce hydrologic derivatives that agree with the NHD and WBD. Over the past two years, an interdisciplinary team from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), and contractors, found that this method produces the best quality NHD catchments using an automated process (USEPA, 2007). The NHDPlus dataset is organized by 18 Production Units that cover the conterminous United States. The NHDPlus version 1.1 data are grouped by the U.S. Geologic Survey's Major River Basins (MRBs, Crawford and others, 2006). MRB1, covering the New England and Mid-Atlantic River basins, contains NHDPlus Production Units 1 and 2. MRB2, covering the South Atlantic-Gulf and Tennessee River basins, contains NHDPlus Production Units 3 and 6. MRB3, covering the Great Lakes, Ohio, Upper Mississippi, and Souris-Red-Rainy River basins, contains NHDPlus Production Units 4, 5

  11. A novel approach for runoff modelling in ungauged catchments by Catchment Morphing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, J.; Han, D.

    2017-12-01

    Runoff prediction in ungauged catchments has been one of the major challenges in the past decades. However, due to the tremendous heterogeneity of hydrological catchments, obstacles exist in deducing model parameters for ungauged catchments from gauged ones. We propose a novel approach to predict ungauged runoff with Catchment Morphing (CM) using a fully distributed model. CM is defined as by changing the catchment characteristics (area and slope here) from the baseline model built with a gauged catchment to model the ungauged ones. The advantages of CM are: (a) less demand of the similarity between the baseline catchment and the ungauged catchment, (b) less demand of available data, and (c) potentially applicable in varied catchments. A case study on seven catchments in the UK has been used to demonstrate the proposed scheme. To comprehensively examine the CM approach, distributed rainfall inputs are utilised in the model, and fractal landscapes are used to morph the land surface from the baseline model to the target model. The preliminary results demonstrate the feasibility of the approach, which is promising in runoff simulation for ungauged catchments. Clearly, more work beyond this pilot study is needed to explore and develop this new approach further to maturity by the hydrological community.

  12. Integrating isotopic tracer techniques with Bayesian modelling for improved assessment and management of sedimentation problems in the Gilgel-Gibe catchment, Ethiopia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dume, Bayu; Amsalu, Nebiyu; Bode, Samuel; Mtei, Kelvin; Munishi, Linus; Navas, Ana; Semmens, Brice; Smith, Hugh; Stock, Brian; Blake, Will; Boeckx, Pascal

    2017-04-01

    Soil erosion and associated downstream siltation of dams and lakes is becoming serious threat to catchment ecosystem services supporting water, food and energy security in Ethiopia. Sediments originate on catchment hillslopes but mobilisation processes vary depending on land use and terrain. The Gilgel Gibe hydroelectric dam is one of a series of development projects launched by the Federal Government of Ethiopia. The catchment is characterised by erodible, deforested agricultural land which is also overgrazed. Siltation and nutrient enrichment are significant issues given 'hotspot' sheet erosion estimates of 2210 ton per square km. The annual contribution of sediment from the Gilgel Gibe River to the dam was estimated at 277 thousand tons per year leading to accumulations of 3.75 x 107 cubic metres per year of silt behind the dam. The primary driver for mobilisation and translocation to downstream is believed to be erosion on agricultural lands and collapse of steep banks, through landsliding into river channels in the highland headwaters. The relative importance of specific sources of siltation are unknown and sediment source apportionment has been identified as a first essential step before soil conservation measures can be implemented. Knowledge of sediment source and transfer dynamics is critical to inform management policy decisions to maintain and enhance future food, water and energy security To test the applicability of a new combination of Bayesian unmixing modelling with sediment fingerprinting in this terrain (IMIXSED approach) a demonstration sub-catchment was selected through field assessment in the upper Gilgel-Gibe water-supply catchments (Unta River) and sampling strategies designed. Accordingly, sources, i.e. soil samples from landslides (n=40), eroding channel bank (n = 5), cultivated land (n = 30), grasslands (n = 30), wooded areas (n = 10), homestead plots (n = 10) were collected alongside 10 spatially-integrated sediment deposits from the

  13. Catchment-Wide Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Exchange as Influenced by Land Use Diversity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Herbst, Mathias; Friborg, Thomas; Ringgaard, Rasmus

    2011-01-01

    The turbulent fl uxes of carbon dioxide between the land surface and the atmosphere were measured with the eddy covariance technique above three contrasO ng land use types in the Skjern River catchment in western Denmark, namely an agricultural area, a forest plantation, and a wet grassland...... of the site by one-third. At the agricultural site this sink strength was reduced by 9% through the N2O emissions. Scaled up to the catchment, the observed net uptake of CO2 by the land surface was reduced by roughly one-tenth, in terms of CO2 equivalents, due to the emission of CH4 and N2O....

  14. Seasonal contribution of terrestrial organic matter and biological oxygen demand to the Baltic Sea from three contrasting river catchments

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Reader, H. E.; Stedmon, C. A.; Kritzberg, E. S.

    2014-01-01

    organic carbon (DOC) concentrations were positively correlated with discharge from forested catchments over the year. While the overall concentrations of DOC were several times higher in the southern two catchments, higher discharge in the northern catchment resulted in the annual loadings of DOC being...

  15. The role of groundwater in streamflow in a headwater catchment with sub-humid climate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yaping; Tian, Fuqiang; Hu, Hongchang; Tie, Qiang

    2015-04-01

    Recent studies have suggested that bedrock groundwater can exert considerable influence on streamflow in headwater catchments under humid climate. However, study of the role of bedrock groundwater is still challenged due to limited direct observation data. In this study, by utilizing observed hydrometric and hydrochemical data, we aimed at characterize the bedrock groundwater's response to rainfall at hillslope and catchment scales in a small headwater catchment with sub-humid climate. We selected Xitaizi catchment with area of 6.7 km in the earth-rock mountain region, which located in the north of Beijing, China, as study area. The catchment bedrock is mainly consist of fractured granite. Four weather stations were installed to observe the weather condition and soil volumetric water content (VWC) at depth of 10-60 cm with 10-minute interval. Five wells with depth of 10 m were drilled in two slopes to monitor the bedrock water table by pneumatic water gauge. At slope 1, the soil VWC at depth of 10-80 cm were also observed by soil moisture sensors, and surface/subsurface hillslope runoff at three different layers (0-20cm, 20-80cm, 80-300cm) was observed by three recording buckets. Field works were conducted from July 2013 to November 2014. During the period, precipitation, river, spring and groundwater were sampled nearly monthly. Water temperature, electrical conductivity (EC) and pH were measured in site with portable instruments. In addition, the precipitation, river and groundwater were also sampled intensively during two storm events. All the samples were subjected to stable isotope analysis, the samples taken monthly during the period from July 2013 to July 2014 were subjected to hydrochemistry analysis. Our results show that: (1) the bedrock groundwater is the dominant component of streamflow in the headwater catchment with sub-humid climate; (2) stream is recharged by groundwater sourcing from different mountains with different hydrochemistry characteristics

  16. Estimating retention potential of headwater catchment using Tritium time series

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hofmann, Harald; Cartwright, Ian; Morgenstern, Uwe

    2018-06-01

    Headwater catchments provide substantial streamflow to rivers even during long periods of drought. Documenting the mean transit times (MTT) of stream water in headwater catchments and therefore the retention capacities of these catchments is crucial for water management. This study uses time series of 3H activities in combination with major ion concentrations, stable isotope ratios and radon activities (222Rn) in the Lyrebird Creek catchment in Victoria, Australia to provide a unique insight into the mean transit time distributions and flow systems of this small temperate headwater catchment. At all streamflows, the stream has 3H activities (water in the stream is derived from stores with long transit times. If the water in the catchment can be represented by a single store with a continuum of ages, mean transit times of the stream water range from ∼6 up to 40 years, which indicates the large retention potential for this catchment. Alternatively, variations of 3H activities, stable isotopes and major ions can be explained by mixing between of young recent recharge and older water stored in the catchment. While surface runoff is negligible, the variation in stable isotope ratios, major ion concentrations and radon activities during most of the year is minimal (±12%) and only occurs during major storm events. This suggests that different subsurface water stores are activated during the storm events and that these cease to provide water to the stream within a few days or weeks after storm events. The stores comprise micro and macropore flow in the soils and saprolite as well as the boundary between the saprolite and the fractured bed rock. Hydrograph separations from three major storm events using Tritium, electrical conductivity and selected major ions as well a δ18O suggest a minimum of 50% baseflow at most flow conditions. We demonstrate that headwater catchments can have a significant storage capacity and that the relationship between long-water stores and

  17. Reach‐scale river metabolism across contrasting sub‐catchment geologies: Effect of light and hydrology

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rovelli, Lorenzo; Attard, Karl; Binley, Andrew

    2017-01-01

    and reaches followed a general linear relationship with increasing stream light availability. Sub‐catchment specific NEM proved to be linearly related to the local hydrological connectivity, quantified as the ratio between base flow and stream discharge, and expressed on a timescale of 9 d on average....... This timescale apparently represents the average period of hydrological imprint for carbon turnover within the reaches. Combining a general light response and sub‐catchment specific base flow ratio provided a robust functional relationship for predicting NEM at the reach scale. The novel approach proposed...

  18. Estimating the input of wastewater-born micropollutants in a rural karst catchment (Gallusquelle, Germany)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zirlewagen, Johannes; Hillebrand, Olav; Nödler, Karsten; Schiperski, Ferry; Scheytt, Traugott; Licha, Tobias

    2013-04-01

    The main focus of the AGRO research project is on the use of various micropollutants as indicators (e.g. for wastewater) in the catchment of the karst spring Gallusquelle, Swabian Alb. For modeling the micropollutants' fate in the subsurface and their occurrence in spring water, reliable estimates of the spatio-temporal input, i.e. input functions, are crucial. Therefore potential sources for wastewater-born substances are identified. These are the combined sewer system with a stormwater retention basin (untreated wastewater) and the river Fehla (treated wastewater). The micropollutants' concentrations and loads in the potentially infiltrating waters are estimated on the one hand by local water and substance consumption data and on the other hand by water sample analysis and stream gauging. The spring's discharge varies from 0.2-2.0 m³/s with an average of 0.5 m³/s. Treated spring water serves as drinking water for 45 000 people. The catchment area measures 45 km² and is rural in character with 55% forest, 27% grassland, 15% agriculture and 3% residential/industrial. Industrial activity is restricted to a few minor textile and metal works. There are around 4 000 inhabitants and except for a few farms, all households are connected to the public sewer system. The only surface water within the catchment is the stream Fehla, which forms a part of the catchment boundary. It was formerly identified as a sinking stream with an ephemeral part in the lower course. Connections to the Gallusquelle spring were proven by several tracer tests conducted in the 1960's, when the river started to become perennial over the whole course due to heavy colmatation. During a one week campaign, samples of wastewater and river water were taken three times per day. Additionally, hourly samples were taken during a 24 h period. Water samples were analysed for major ions and 58 micropollutants, including pharmaceuticals, stimulants (as caffeine), the artificial sweeteners acesulfame and

  19. Fine-grained suspended sediment source identification for the Kharaa River basin, northern Mongolia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rode, Michael; Theuring, Philipp; Collins, Adrian L.

    2015-04-01

    Fine sediment inputs into river systems can be a major source of nutrients and heavy metals and have a strong impact on the water quality and ecosystem functions of rivers and lakes, including those in semiarid regions. However, little is known to date about the spatial distribution of sediment sources in most large scale river basins in Central Asia. Accordingly, a sediment source fingerprinting technique was used to assess the spatial sources of fine-grained (source discrimination with geochemical composite fingerprints based on a new Genetic Algorithm (GA)-driven Discriminant Function Analysis, the Kruskal-Wallis H-test and Principal Component Analysis. The composite fingerprints were subsequently used for numerical mass balance modelling with uncertainty analysis. The contributions of the individual sub-catchment spatial sediment sources varied from 6.4% (the headwater sub-catchment of Sugnugur Gol) to 36.2% (the Kharaa II sub-catchment in the middle reaches of the study basin) with the pattern generally showing higher contributions from the sub-catchments in the middle, rather than the upstream, portions of the study area. The importance of riverbank erosion was shown to increase from upstream to midstream tributaries. The source tracing procedure provides results in reasonable accordance with previous findings in the study region and demonstrates the general applicability and associated uncertainties of an approach for fine-grained sediment source investigation in large scale semi-arid catchments. The combined application of source fingerprinting and catchment modelling approaches can be used to assess whether tracing estimates are credible and in combination such approaches provide a basis for making sediment source apportionment more compelling to catchment stakeholders and managers.

  20. Land Use Impacts on Water Quality of Rivers draining from Mulanje ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Land Use Impacts on Water Quality of Rivers draining from Mulanje Mountain: A Case of Ruo River in the Southern Malawi. ... The research recommends an integrated water resources management approach where all users and relevant stakeholders should take an active role in the conservation of Ruo River catchment in ...

  1. Effect of spatiotemporal variation of rainfall on dissolved oxygen depletion in integrated catchment studies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Moreno Rodenas, A.M.; Cecinati, F.; ten Veldhuis, J.A.E.; Langeveld, J.G.; Clemens, F.H.L.R.

    2016-01-01

    This study addresses the effect of spatial and temporal resolution of rainfall fields on the performance of a simplified integrated catchment model for predicting dissolved oxygen concentrations in a river. For that purpose we propose a procedure to generate rainfall products with increasing spatial

  2. Review article: Hydrological modeling in glacierized catchments of central Asia - status and challenges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yaning; Li, Weihong; Fang, Gonghuan; Li, Zhi

    2017-02-01

    Meltwater from glacierized catchments is one of the most important water supplies in central Asia. Therefore, the effects of climate change on glaciers and snow cover will have increasingly significant consequences for runoff. Hydrological modeling has become an indispensable research approach to water resources management in large glacierized river basins, but there is a lack of focus in the modeling of glacial discharge. This paper reviews the status of hydrological modeling in glacierized catchments of central Asia, discussing the limitations of the available models and extrapolating these to future challenges and directions. After reviewing recent efforts, we conclude that the main sources of uncertainty in assessing the regional hydrological impacts of climate change are the unreliable and incomplete data sets and the lack of understanding of the hydrological regimes of glacierized catchments of central Asia. Runoff trends indicate a complex response to changes in climate. For future variation of water resources, it is essential to quantify the responses of hydrologic processes to both climate change and shrinking glaciers in glacierized catchments, and scientific focus should be on reducing uncertainties linked to these processes.

  3. Hazard assessment for small torrent catchments - lessons learned

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eisl, Julia; Huebl, Johannes

    2013-04-01

    The documentation of extreme events as a part of the integral risk management cycle is an important basis for the analysis and assessment of natural hazards. In July 2011 a flood event occurred in the Wölzer-valley in the province of Styria, Austria. For this event at the "Wölzerbach" a detailed event documentation was carried out, gathering data about rainfall, runoff and sediment transport as well as information on damaged objects, infrastructure or crops using various sources. The flood was triggered by heavy rainfalls in two tributaries of the Wölzer-river. Though a rain as well as a discharge gaging station exists for the Wölzer-river, the torrents affected by the high intensity rainfalls are ungaged. For these ungaged torrent catchments the common methods for hazard assessment were evaluated. The back-calculation of the rainfall event was done using a new approach for precipitation analysis. In torrent catchments especially small-scale and high-intensity rainfall events are mainly responsible for extreme events. Austria's weather surveillance radar is operated by the air traffic service "AustroControl". The usually available dataset is interpreted and shows divergences especially when it comes to high intensity rainfalls. For this study the raw data of the radar were requested and analysed. Further on the event was back-calculated with different rainfall-runoff models, hydraulic models and sediment transport models to obtain calibration parameters for future use in hazard assessment for this region. Since there are often problems with woody debris different scenarios were simulated. The calibrated and plausible results from the runoff models were used for the comparison with empirical approaches used in the practical sector. For the planning of mitigation measures of the Schöttl-torrent, which is one of the affected tributaries of the Wölzer-river, a physical scale model was used in addition to the insights of the event analysis to design a check dam

  4. Fish Assemblage Patterns as a Tool to Aid Conservation in the Olifants River Catchment (East), South Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    South Africa has committed to address freshwater conservation at the catchment scale, using a combination of landscape-level and species-level features as surrogates of freshwater biodiversity. Here we examined fishes in the Olifants catchment, where multiple anthropogenic pressu...

  5. Attributes for NHDPlus Catchments (Version 1.1) for the Conterminous United States: Physiographic Provinces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wieczorek, Michael; LaMotte, Andrew E.

    2010-01-01

    This dataset represents the area of each physiographic province (Fenneman and Johnson, 1946) in square meters, compiled for every catchment of NHDPlus for the conterminous United States. The source data are from Fenneman and Johnson's Physiographic Provinces of the United States, which is based on 8 major divisions, 25 provinces, and 86 sections representing distinctive areas having common topography, rock type and structure, and geologic and geomorphic history (Fenneman and Johnson, 1946). The NHDPlus Version 1.1 is an integrated suite of application-ready geospatial datasets that incorporates many of the best features of the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) and the National Elevation Dataset (NED). The NHDPlus includes a stream network (based on the 1:100,00-scale NHD), improved networking, naming, and value-added attributes (VAAs). NHDPlus also includes elevation-derived catchments (drainage areas) produced using a drainage enforcement technique first widely used in New England, and thus referred to as "the New England Method." This technique involves "burning in" the 1:100,000-scale NHD and when available building "walls" using the National Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD). The resulting modified digital elevation model (HydroDEM) is used to produce hydrologic derivatives that agree with the NHD and WBD. Over the past two years, an interdisciplinary team from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), and contractors, found that this method produces the best quality NHD catchments using an automated process (USEPA, 2007). The NHDPlus dataset is organized by 18 Production Units that cover the conterminous United States. The NHDPlus version 1.1 data are grouped by the U.S. Geologic Survey's Major River Basins (MRBs, Crawford and others, 2006). MRB1, covering the New England and Mid-Atlantic River basins, contains NHDPlus Production Units 1 and 2. MRB2, covering the South Atlantic-Gulf and Tennessee River basins

  6. Lowland forest butterflies of the Sankosh River catchment, Bhutan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A.P. Singh

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper provides information on butterflies of the lowland forests of Bhutan for the first time. As a part of the biodiversity impact assessment for the proposed Sankosh hydroelectric power project, a survey was carried out along the Sankosh River catchment to study the butterfly diversity. The aim of the study was to identify species of conservation priority, their seasonality and to know the butterfly diversity potential of the area. Surveys were carried out during five different seasons (winter, spring, pre-monsoon, monsoon, post-monsoon lasting 18 days from January 2009 to March 2010. Pollard walk method was used to assess the diversity on four-line transects within 10-12 km radius of the proposed dam site. Two hundred and thirteen species, including 22 papilionids, were thus sampled. Eleven species amongst these are listed in Schedules I and II of the Indian Wildlife (Protection Act, 1972, of which 10 taxa (Pareronia avatar avatar, Nacaduba pactolus continentalis, Porostas aluta coelestis, Elymnias vasudeva vasudeva, Mycalesis mestra retus, Melanitis zitenius zitenius, Charaxes marmax, Athyma ranga ranga, Neptis manasa manasa and Neptis soma soma are of conservation priority as they are ‘rare’ in occurrence across their distribution range in the region. The maximum number of species (128 were recorded during the spring season (March and lowest (66 during July (monsoon. The seasonal pattern of variation in diversity was very typical of the pattern found in other areas of the lower foothills and adjoining plains of the Himalaya. Relative abundances of butterflies during spring varied significantly (p<0.05 as compared to winter, pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. However, species composition changed with every season as Sorensen’s similarity index varied between 0.3076 to 0.5656. All these findings suggest that the lowland forests of Bhutan hold a rich and unique diversity of butterflies during every season of the year thus having

  7. Contaminants of emerging concern in the Hartbeespoort Dam catchment and the uMngeni River estuary 2016 pollution incident, South Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rimayi, Cornelius; Odusanya, David; Weiss, Jana M; de Boer, Jacob; Chimuka, Luke

    2018-06-15

    A quantitative assessment of pollutants of emerging concern in the Hartbeespoort Dam catchment area was conducted using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to establish the occurrence, source and distribution of 15 environmental pollutants, including 10 pharmaceuticals, 1 pesticide and 4 steroid hormones. Seasonal sampling was conducted in the Hartbeespoort Lake using sub-surface grab sampling to determine the lake's ecological status and obtain data for establishment of progressive operational monitoring. The Jukskei River, which lies upstream of the Hartbeespoort Dam, was sampled in the winter season. Five year old carp (Cyprinus carpio) and catfish (Clarias gariepinus) were also sampled from the Hartbeespoort Dam to study bioaccumulation in biota as well as to estimate risk associated with fish consumption. In the Jukskei River, the main source of 11 emerging pollutants (EPs) was identified as raw sewage overflow, with the highest ∑11 EP concentration of 593ngL -1 being recorded at the Midrand point and the lowest ∑11 EP concentration of 164ngL -1 at the N14 site located 1km downstream of a large wastewater treatment plant. The Jukskei River was found to be the largest contributor of the emerging contaminants detected in the Hartbeespoort Dam. In the Hartbeespoort Dam EP concentrations were generally in the order efavirenz>nevirapine>carbamazepine>methocarbamol>bromacil>venlafaxine. Water and sediment were sampled from the uMngeni River estuary within 24h after large volumes of an assortment of pharmaceutical waste had been discovered to be washed into the river estuary after flash rainfall on 18 May 2016. Analytical results revealed high levels of some emerging pollutants in sediment samples, up to 81ngg -1 for nevirapine and 4ngg -1 for etilefrine HCL. This study shows that efavirenz, nevirapine, carbamazepine, methocarbamol, bromacil and venlafaxine are contaminants that require operational monitoring in South African urban waters

  8. ARIES CATCHMENT UPPER AND MIDDLE COURSE SMALL STREAMS SEASONAL RUNOFF REGIME CHARACTERISTICS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    CS. HORVATH

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available The study is based on the processing and interpreting data from 16 gauging stations, of which 10 control catchments smaller than 150 km2 and so reflects more faithfully the local characteristics of the runoff. To highlight the runoff regime features during the year we selected three periods (1950-1967, 1950-2009 and 1970-2009. The geographical features of the central eastern part of the Apuseni Mountains, especially the climatic and geomorphic characteristics, are faithfully reflected in the rivers runoff regime. So, on all rivers the dominant is the spring runoff and the lowest percentage of the total annual average water volume is measured in the winter. Distribution and frequency of the richest (March, April and May and the poorest (January, February, August and September average runoff months vary according to the catchments altitude. The multiannual seasonal and monthly variation of the runoff was highlighted by the coefficients of variation. The study reveals that the rhythmic structure of the runoff regime reflects the local supply, the geological conditions and the reliefs morphological and morphometric characteristics.

  9. Constructing Palaeo-DEMs in landscape evolution: example of the Geren catchment, Turkey

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Gorp, Wouter; Schoorl, Jeroen M.; Veldkamp, Tom; Maddy, Darrel; Demir, Tuncer; Aytac, Serdar

    2017-04-01

    How to reconstruct the past landscape and how does this influence your modelling results? This is an important paradigma in the soilscape and landscape evolution modelling community. Here an example of Turkey will be presented where a 300 ka LEM simulation requested to the thoroughly think about the initial landscape as an important input. What information can be used to know the morphology of a landscape 300 ka ago? The Geren catchment, a tributary of the upstream Gediz river near Kula, Turkey, has been influenced by base level changes during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. Different lavaflows have blocked the Gediz and Geren river several times over in the timespan of the last 300 ka -200 Ka and in the recent Holocene. The heavily dissected Geren catchment shows a landscape evolution which is more complex than just a reaction on these base level changes. The steps and inputs of the palaeo DEM reconstruction will be presented and the modelling results will be presented. Keywords: Digital Elevation Model, Palaeo DEMs, Numerical modelling

  10. Quantification of the cumulative effects of river training works on the basin scale with 2D flood modelling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zischg, Andreas Paul; Felder, Guido; WWeingartner, Rolf

    2015-04-01

    The catchment of the river Aare upstream of Bern, Switzerland, with an area of approx. 3000 km2 is a complex network of sub-catchments with different runoff characteristics; it also includes two larger lakes. Most of the rivers were regulated in the 18th century. An important regulation, however, was realised as early as in the 17th century. For this catchment, the worst case flood event was identified and its consequences were analysed. Beside the hydro-meteorological characteristics, an important basis to model the worst case flood is to understand the non-linear effects of flood retention in the valley bottom and in the lakes. The aim of this study was to compare these effects based on both the current river network and the historic one prior to the main river training works. This allows to quantify the human impacts. Methodologically, we set up a coupled 2D flood model representing the floodplains of the river Aare as well as of the tributaries Lombach, Lütschine, Zulg, Rotache, Chise and Guerbe. The flood simulation was made in 2D with the software BASEMENT-ETH (Vetsch et al. 2014). The model was calibrated by means of reproducing the large floods in August 2005 and the bankfull discharge for all river reaches. The model computes the discharge at the outlet of the Aare catchment at Bern by routing all discharges from the sub-catchments through the river reaches and their floodplains. With this, the modulation of the input hydrographs by widespread floodings in the floodplains can be quantified. The same configuration was applied on the basis of reconstructed digital terrain models representing the landscape and the river network before the first significant river training works had been realised. This terrain model was reconstructed by georeferencing and digitalizing historic maps and cross-sections combined with the mapping of the geomorphologic evidences of former river structures in non-modified areas. The latter mapping procedure was facilitated by the

  11. Sediment transport dynamics in steep, tropical volcanic catchments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Birkel, Christian; Solano Rivera, Vanessa; Granados Bolaños, Sebastian; Brenes Cambronero, Liz; Sánchez Murillo, Ricardo; Geris, Josie

    2017-04-01

    How volcanic landforms in tropical mountainous regions are eroded, and how eroded materials move through these mostly steep landscapes from the headwaters to affect sediment fluxes are critical to water resources management in their downstream rivers. Volcanic landscapes are of particular importance because of the short timescales (transform. Owing to volcanism and seismic activity, landslides and other mass movements frequently occur. These processes are amplified by high intensity precipitation inputs resulting in significant, but natural runoff, erosion and sediment fluxes. Sediment transport is also directly linked to carbon and solute export. However, knowledge on the sediment sources and transport dynamics in the humid tropics remains limited and their fluxes largely unquantified. In order to increase our understanding of the dominant erosion and sediment transport dynamics in humid tropical volcanic landscapes, we conducted an extensive monitoring effort in a pristine and protected (biological reserve Alberto Manuel Brenes, ReBAMB) tropical forest catchment (3.2 km2), located in the Central Volcanic Cordillera of Costa Rica (Figure 1A). Typical for tropical volcanic and montane regions, deeply incised V-form headwaters (Figure 1B) deliver the majority of water (>70%) and sediments to downstream rivers. At the catchment outlet (Figure 1C) of the San Lorencito stream, we established high temporal resolution (5min) water quantity and sediment monitoring (turbidity). We also surveyed the river network on various occasions to characterize fluvial geomorphology including material properties. We could show that the rainfall-runoff-sediment relationships and their characteristic hysteresis patterns are directly linked to variations in the climatic input (storm intensity and duration) and the size, form and mineralogy of the transported material. Such a relationship allowed us to gain the following insights: (i) periodic landslides contribute significant volumes of

  12. Effects of River Discharge and Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) on Water Quality Dynamics in Migina Catchment, Rwanda

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uwimana, Abias; van Dam, Anne; Gettel, Gretchen; Bigirimana, Bonfils; Irvine, Kenneth

    2017-09-01

    Agricultural intensification may accelerate the loss of wetlands, increasing the concentrations of nutrients and sediments in downstream water bodies. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of land use and land cover and river discharge on water quality in the Migina catchment, southern Rwanda. Rainfall, discharge and water quality (total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total suspended solids, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, pH, and temperature) were measured in different periods from May 2009 to June 2013. In 2011, measurements were done at the outlets of 3 sub-catchments (Munyazi, Mukura and Akagera). Between May 2012 and May 2013 the measurements were done in 16 reaches of Munyazi dominated by rice, vegetables, grass/forest or ponds/reservoirs. Water quality was also measured during two rainfall events. Results showed seasonal trends in water quality associated with high water flows and farming activities. Across all sites, the total suspended solids related positively to discharge, increasing 2-8 times during high flow periods. Conductivity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH decreased with increasing discharge, while total nitrogen and total phosphorus did not show a clear pattern. The total suspended solids concentrations were consistently higher downstream of reaches dominated by rice and vegetable farming. For total nitrogen and total phosphorus results were mixed, but suggesting higher concentration of total nitrogen and total phosphorus during the dry and early rainy (and farming) season, and then wash out during the rainy season, with subsequent dilution at the end of the rains. Rice and vegetable farming generate the transport of sediment as opposed to ponds/reservoir and grass/forest.

  13. Comparison of Water Flows in Four European Lagoon Catchments under a Set of Future Climate Scenarios

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    Cornelia Hesse

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Climate change is supposed to remarkably affect the water resources of coastal lagoons as they are highly vulnerable to changes occurring at their catchment and/or ocean or sea boundaries. Probable impacts of projected climate changes on catchment hydrology and freshwater input were assessed using the eco-hydrological model SWIM (Soil and Water Integrated Model for the drainage areas of four European lagoons: Ria de Aveiro (Portugal, Mar Menor (Spain, Tyligulskyi Liman (Ukraine and Vistula Lagoon (Poland/Russia under a set of 15 climate scenarios covering the time period until the year 2100. Climate change signals for all regions show continuously increasing trends in temperature, but various trends in precipitation. Precipitation is projected to decrease in two catchments on the Iberian Peninsula and increase in the Baltic region catchment, and does not show a clear trend in the catchment located near the Black Sea. The average projected changes in freshwater inputs reflect these changes in climate conditions, but often show variability between the scenarios, in future periods, and within the catchments. According to the individual degrees of water management influences in the four drainage basins, the climate sensitivity of river inflows is differently pronounced in each.

  14. Application of GIS-based SCS-CN method in West Bank catchments, Palestine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sameer Shadeed

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Among the most basic challenges of hydrology are the prediction and quantification of catchment surface runoff. The runoff curve number (CN is a key factor in determining runoff in the SCS (Soil Conservation Service based hydrologic modeling method. The traditional SCS-CN method for calculating the composite curve number is very tedious and consumes a major portion of the hydrologic modeling time. Therefore, geographic information systems (GIS are now being used in combination with the SCS-CN method. This paper assesses the modeling of flow in West Bank catchments using the GIS-based SCS-CN method. The West Bank, Palestine, is characterized as an arid to semi-arid region with annual rainfall depths ranging between 100 mm in the vicinity of the Jordan River to 700 mm in the mountains extending across the central parts of the region. The estimated composite curve number for the entire West Bank is about 50 assuming dry conditions. This paper clearly demonstrates that the integration of GIS with the SCS-CN method provides a powerful tool for estimating runoff volumes in West Bank catchments, representing arid to semi-arid catchments of Palestine.

  15. Characterising phosphorus transfers in rural catchments using a continuous bank-side analyser

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available A six-month series of high-resolution synchronous stream discharge and total phosphorus (TP concentration data is presented from a 5 km2 agricultural catchment in the Lough Neagh basin, Northern Ireland. The data are hourly averages of 10-minute measurements using a new bankside, automatic, continuous monitoring technology. Three TP transfer "event-types" occur in this catchment: (1 chronic, storm independent transfers; (2 acute, storm dependent transfers; (3 acute, storm independent transfers. Event-type 2 transferred over 90% of the total 279 kg TP load in 39% of the total period; it corresponded to diffuse transfers from agricultural soils. Event-types 1 and 3, however, maintained the river in a highly eutrophic state between storm events and were characteristic of point source pollution, despite there being no major industrial or municipal point sources. Managing P transfers at the catchment scale requires a robust monitoring technology to differentiate between dynamic, multiple sources and associated event types and so enable a reliable assessment of the performance of mitigation measures, monitored at catchment outlets. The synchronous and continuous TP and discharge data series generated in this study demonstrate how this is possible.

  16. Pollution indicators in groundwater of two agricultural catchments in Lower Silesia (Poland)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kasperczyk, Lidia; Modelska, Magdalena; Staśko, Stanisław

    2016-12-01

    The article discusses the content and source of mineral nitrogen compounds in groundwater, based on the data collected in two river catchments in two series (spring and autumn 2014). The study area comprises two catchments located in Lower Silesia, Poland - Cicha Woda and Sąsiecznica. Both catchments are characterised agricultural character of development. In the both researched areas, the points of State Environmental Monitoring (SEM) are located but only the Cicha Woda area is classified as nitrate vulnerable zone (NVZ). To analyse and compare the contamination of Quaternary and Neogene aquifers, the concentration of nitrates, nitrites, ammonium and potassium ions was measured primarily. Results showed the exceedance of nitrogen mineral forms of shallow groundwater Quaternary aquifer in both basins. The concentration of nitrates range from 0.08 to 142.12 mgNO3 -/dm3 (Cicha Woda) and from 2.6 to 137.65 mg NO3 -/dm3 (Sąsiecznica). The major source of pollution is probably the intensive agriculture activity. It causes a degradation of the shallow groundwater because of nitrate, nitrite, potassium, phosphates and ammonium contents. There was no observed contamination of anthropogenic origin in the deeper Neogene aquifer of Cicha Woda catchment.

  17. A new perspective on soil erosion: exploring a thermodynamic approach in a small area of the River Inn catchment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reid, Lucas; Scherer, Ulrike; Zehe, Erwin

    2016-04-01

    Soil erosion modeling has always struggled with compensating for the difference in time and spatial scale between model, data and the actual processes involved. This is especially the case with non-event based long-term models based on the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE), yet USLE based soil erosion models are among the most common and widely used for they have rather low data requirements and can be applied to large areas. But the majority of mass from soil erosion is eroded within short periods of times during heavy rain events, often within minutes or hours. Advancements of the USLE (eg. the Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation, MUSLE) allow for a daily time step, but still apply the same empirical methods derived from the USLE. And to improve the actual quantification of sediment input into rivers soil erosion models are often combined with a Sediment Delivery Ratio (SDR) to get results within the range of measurements. This is still a viable approach for many applications, yet it leaves much to be desired in terms of understanding and reproducing the processes behind soil erosion and sediment input into rivers. That's why, instead of refining and retuning the existing methods, we explore a more comprehensive, physically consistent description on soil erosion. The idea is to describe soil erosion as a dissipative process (Kleidon et al., 2013) and test it in a small sub-basin of the River Inn catchment area in the pre-Alpine foothills. We then compare the results to sediment load measurements from the sub-basin and discuss the advantages and issues with the application of such an approach.

  18. Determination of Curve Number for snowmelt-runoff floods in a small catchment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Hejduk

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available One of the widely used methods for predicting flood runoff depth from ungauged catchments is the curve number (CN method, developed by Soil Conservation Service (SCS of US Department of Agriculture. The CN parameter can be computed directly from recorded rainfall depths and direct runoff volumes in case of existing data. In presented investigations, the CN parameter has been computed for snowmelt-runoff events based on snowmelt and rainfall measurements. All required data has been gathered for a small agricultural catchment (A = 23.4 km2 of Zagożdżonka river, located in Central Poland. The CN number received from 28 snowmelt-runoff events has been compared with CN computed from rainfall-runoff events for the same catchment. The CN parameter, estimated empirically varies from 64.0 to 94.8. The relation between CN and snowmelt depth was investigated in a similar procedure to relation between CN and rainfall depth.

  19. River system recovery following the Novat-Rosu tailings dam failure, Maramures County, Romania

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bird, Graham; Brewer, Paul A.; Macklin, Mark G.; Balteanu, Dan; Serban, Mihaela; Driga, Basarab; Zaharia, Sorin

    2008-01-01

    The River Viseu catchment in Maramures County, northwestern Romania, has a long history of base and precious metal mining. Between 1994 and 2003 waste from mining activity at Baia Borsa was stored in the Novat-Rosu tailings pond in the upper Viseu catchment. However, in March 2000, the tailings dam failed releasing approximately 100,000 m 3 of contaminated water and 20,000 t of mineral-rich solid waste, which was routed downstream through the Rivers Novat, Vaser and Viseu into the River Tisa. Following the accident metal (Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn) concentrations in river water and river channel sediment were assessed in samples collected annually (July 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003) from 29 sites in the Viseu catchment, downstream of the tailings pond. Additionally, the speciation of sediment-associated metals was established using a 4-stage sequential extraction procedure (SEP) and Pb isotope analysis ( 206/204 Pb and 207/204 Pb) was carried out to establish the provenance of contaminated sediments. Metal concentrations in river water were found to comply with EU directive 'target' values within four months of the failure. However, the impact of the spill upon river channel sediments was found to be much longer-lasting, with evidence of the delayed downstream remobilization of tailings stored within the narrow Novat valley following the dam failure, as well as continued inputs of contaminated sediment to the River Viseu from the River Tisla, another mining-affected tributary. Comparison with data from other recent tailings dam failures, indicates that river system recovery rates depend upon local geomorphological conditions, hydrological regimes, and the nature and scale of post-spill clean-up operations

  20. A spatially distributed isotope sampling network in a snow-dominated catchment for the quantification of snow meltwater

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rücker, Andrea; Boss, Stefan; Von Freyberg, Jana; Zappa, Massimiliano; Kirchner, James

    2017-04-01

    In mountainous catchments with seasonal snowpacks, river discharge in downstream valleys is largely sustained by snowmelt in spring and summer. Future climate warming will likely reduce snow volumes and lead to earlier and faster snowmelt in such catchments. This, in turn, may increase the risk of summer low flows and hydrological droughts. Improved runoff predictions are thus required in order to adapt water management to future climatic conditions and to assure the availability of fresh water throughout the year. However, a detailed understanding of the hydrological processes is crucial to obtain robust predictions of river streamflow. This in turn requires fingerprinting source areas of streamflow, tracing water flow pathways, and measuring timescales of catchment storage, using tracers such as stable water isotopes (18O, 2H). For this reason, we have established an isotope sampling network in the Alptal, a snowmelt-dominated catchment (46.4 km2) in Central-Switzerland, as part of the SREP-Drought project (Snow Resources and the Early Prediction of hydrological DROUGHT in mountainous streams). Precipitation and snow cores are analyzed for their isotopic signature at daily or weekly intervals. Three-week bulk samples of precipitation are also collected on a transect along the Alptal valley bottom, and along an elevational transect perpendicular to the Alptal valley axis. Streamwater samples are taken at the catchment outlet as well as in two small nested sub-catchments (automatic snow lysimeter system was developed, which also facilitates real-time monitoring of snowmelt events, system status and environmental conditions (air and soil temperature). Three lysimeter systems were installed within the catchment, in one forested site and two open field sites at different elevations, and have been operational since November 2016. We will present the isotope time series from our regular sampling network, as well as initial results from our snowmelt lysimeter sites. Our

  1. The chemical behaviour and ecological transfer in human food chain of some radionuclides in aqueous ecosystems and their risk on population health. Part of a coordinated programme on radiological and environmental protection studies in the Danube River catchment area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Furnica, G.

    1982-12-01

    The radioecological concentration of H-3, K-40, Sr-90, Cs-137, and Ra-226 in the Danube River catchment area in Romania as well as the migration of these radionuclides in the food chain was determined. It was found that the concentration of each of these radionuclides in the Danube water was very low and that the radioactivity in the food chain was lower than the maximum permissible level. Very low incidence of cancer was detected among the inhabitants along the river

  2. Sources and export of particle-borne organic matter during a monsoon flood in a catchment of northern Laos

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gourdin, E.; Huon, S.; Evrard, O.; Ribolzi, O.; Bariac, T.; Sengtaheuanghoung, O.; Ayrault, S.

    2015-02-01

    The yields of the tropical rivers of Southeast Asia supply large quantities of carbon to the ocean. The origin and dynamics of particulate organic matter were studied in the Houay Xon River catchment located in northern Laos during the first erosive flood of the rainy season in May 2012. This cultivated catchment is equipped with three successive gauging stations draining areas ranging between 0.2 and 11.6 km2 on the main stem of the permanent stream, and two additional stations draining 0.6 ha hillslopes. In addition, the sequential monitoring of rainwater, overland flow and suspended organic matter compositions was conducted at the 1 m2 plot scale during a storm. The composition of particulate organic matter (total organic carbon and total nitrogen concentrations, δ13C and δ15N) was determined for suspended sediment, soil surface (top 2 cm) and soil subsurface (gullies and riverbanks) samples collected in the catchment (n = 57, 65 and 11, respectively). Hydrograph separation of event water was achieved using water electric conductivity and δ18O measurements for rainfall, overland flow and river water base flow (n = 9, 30 and 57, respectively). The composition of particulate organic matter indicates that upstream suspended sediments mainly originated from cultivated soils labelled by their C3 vegetation cover (upland rice, fallow vegetation and teak plantations). In contrast, channel banks characterized by C4 vegetation (Napier grass) supplied significant quantities of sediment to the river during the flood rising stage at the upstream station as well as in downstream river sections. The highest runoff coefficient (11.7%), sediment specific yield (433 kg ha-1), total organic carbon specific yield (8.3 kg C ha-1) and overland flow contribution (78-100%) were found downstream of reforested areas planted with teaks. Swamps located along the main stream acted as sediment filters and controlled the composition of suspended organic matter. Total organic carbon

  3. Environmental care in agricultural catchments: Toward the communicative catchment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Peter

    1991-11-01

    Substantial land degradation of agricultural catchments in Australia has resulted from the importation of European farming methods and the large-scale clearing of land. Rural communities are now being encouraged by government to take responsibility for environmental care. The importance of community involvement is supported by the view that environmental problems are a function of interactions between people and their environment. It is suggested that the commonly held view that community groups cannot care for their resources is due to inappropriate social institutions rather that any inherent disability in people. The communicative catchment is developed as a vision for environmental care into the future. This concept emerges from a critique of resource management through the catchment metaphors of the reduced, mechanical, and the complex, evolving catchment, which reflect the development of systemic and people-centered approaches to environmental care. The communicative catchment is one where both community and resource managers participate collaboratively in environmental care. A methodology based on action research and systemic thinking (systemic action research) is proposed as a way of moving towards the communicative catchment of the future. Action research is a way of taking action in organizations and communities that is participative and informed by theory, while systemic thinking takes into account the interconnections and relationships between social and natural worlds. The proposed vision, methodology, and practical operating principles stem from involvement in an action research project looking at extension strategies for the implementation of total catchment management in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales.

  4. The role of a dambo in the hydrology of a catchment and the river network downstream

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. J. von der Heyden

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available Dambos are shallow, seasonally inundated wetlands and are a widespread landform in Central and Southern Africa. Owing to their importance in local agriculture and as a water resource, the hydrology of dambos is of considerable interest: varied, and sometimes contradictory, hydrological characteristics have been described in the literature. The issues in contention focus on the role of the dambo in (i the catchment evapotranspiration (ET budget, (ii flood flow retardation and attenuation, and (iii sustaining dry season flow to the river down-stream. In addition, both rainfall and groundwater have been identified as the dominant source of water to the dambo and various hydrogeological models have been proposed to describe the hydrological functions of the landform. In this paper, hydrological and geochemical data collected over a full hydrological year are used to investigate and describe the hydrological functions of a dambo in north-western Zambia. The Penman estimate of wetland ET was less than the ET from the miombo-wooded interfluve and the wetland has been shown to have little effect on flood flow retardation or attenuation. Discharge of water stored within the wetland contributed little to the dry season flow from the dambo, which was sustained primarily by groundwater discharge. Flow in a perched aquifer within the catchment soils contributed a large portion of baseflow during the rains and early dry season. This source ceased by the mid dry season, implying that the sustained middle to late dry season streamflow from the wetland is through discharge of a deeper aquifer within the underlying regolith or bedrock. This hypothesis is tested through an analysis of groundwater and wetland geochemistry. Various physical parameters, PHREEQC model results and end member mixing analysis (EMMA suggest strongly that the deep Upper Roan dolomite aquifer is the source of sustained discharge from the wetland. Keywords: dambo, hydrology, hydrogeology

  5. Using 239Pu as a tracer for fine sediment sources in the Daly River, Northern Australia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lal R.

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The Daly River drains a large (52500 km2 and mainly undisturbed catchment in the Australian wet–dry tropics. Clearing and cropping since 2002 have raised concerns about possible increased sediment input into the river and motivated this study of its fine sediment sources. Using 239Pu as a tracer it is shown that the fine sediments originate mainly from erosion by gullying and channel change. Although the results also indicate that the surface soil contribution to the river channel sediments from sheet erosion has increased to 5-22% for the Daly River and 7-28% for the Douglas River (a tributary of the Daly River in 2009 vs. 3-6% for the Daly River and 4-9% for the Douglas River in 2005. This excess top soil likely originates from thecleared land adjacent to the Daly River since 2005. However, channel widening largely as a result of hydrologic change is still the dominant sediment source in this catchment.

  6. The internal strength of rivers: autogenic processes in control of the sediment load (Tana River, Kenya)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geeraert, Naomi; Ochieng Omengo, Fred; Tamooh, Fredrick; Paron, Paolo; Bouillon, Steven; Govers, Gerard

    2014-05-01

    The construction of sediment rating curves for monitoring stations is a widely used technique to budget sediment fluxes. Changes in the relationship between discharge and sediment concentrations over time are often attributed to human-induced changes in catchment characteristics, such as land use change, dam construction or soil conservation measures and many models have been developed to quantitatively link catchment characteristics and river sediment load. Conversely, changes in river sediment fluxes are often interpreted as indications of major changes in the catchment. By doing so, autogenic processes, taking place within the river channel, are overlooked despite the increasing awareness of their importance. We assessed the role of autogenic processes on the sediment load of Tana River (Kenya). The Tana river was impacted by major dam construction between 1968 and 1988, effectively blocking at least 80% of the sediment transfer from the highlands to the lower river reaches. However, a comparison of pre-dam sediment fluxes at Garissa (located 250 km downstream of the dams) with recent measurements shows that sediment fluxes have not changed significantly. This suggests that most of the sediment in the post-dam period has to originate from inside the alluvial plain of the river, as tributaries downstream of the dams are scarce and intermittent. Several observations are consistent with this hypothesis. We observed that, during the wet season, sediment concentrations rapidly increased below the dams and are not controlled by inputs from tributaries. Also, sediment concentrations were high at the beginning of the wet season, which can be attributed to channel adjustment to the higher discharges. The river sediment does not contain significant amounts of 137Cs or 210Pbxs, suggesting that sediments are not derived from topsoil erosion. Furthermore, we observed a counter clockwise hysteresis during individual events which can be explained by the fact that sediment

  7. Attributes for NHDPlus catchments (Version 1.1) for the conterminous United States: STATSGO soil characteristics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wieczorek, Michael; LaMotte, Andrew E.

    2010-01-01

    This data set represents estimated soil variables compiled for every catchment of NHDPlus for the conterminous United States. The variables included are cation exchange capacity, percent calcium carbonate, slope, water-table depth, soil thickness, hydrologic soil group, soil erodibility (k-factor), permeability, average water capacity, bulk density, percent organic material, percent clay, percent sand, and percent silt. The source data set is the State Soil ( STATSGO ) Geographic Database (Wolock, 1997). The NHDPlus Version 1.1 is an integrated suite of application-ready geospatial datasets that incorporates many of the best features of the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) and the National Elevation Dataset (NED). The NHDPlus includes a stream network (based on the 1:100,00-scale NHD), improved networking, naming, and value-added attributes (VAAs). NHDPlus also includes elevation-derived catchments (drainage areas) produced using a drainage enforcement technique first widely used in New England, and thus referred to as "the New England Method." This technique involves "burning in" the 1:100,000-scale NHD and when available building "walls" using the National Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD). The resulting modified digital elevation model (HydroDEM) is used to produce hydrologic derivatives that agree with the NHD and WBD. Over the past two years, an interdisciplinary team from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), and contractors, found that this method produces the best quality NHD catchments using an automated process (USEPA, 2007). The NHDPlus dataset is organized by 18 Production Units that cover the conterminous United States. The NHDPlus version 1.1 data are grouped by the U.S. Geologic Survey's Major River Basins (MRBs, Crawford and others, 2006). MRB1, covering the New England and Mid-Atlantic River basins, contains NHDPlus Production Units 1 and 2. MRB2, covering the South Atlantic-Gulf and Tennessee

  8. Ecological characteristics of the main river catchments in Vrachanska Planina Mountains

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    SVETOSLAV CHESHMEDJIEV

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Assessment of the ecological status of river ecosystems of the major watersheds in the Vrachanska Planina Mts. (Leva River, Cherna River and some tributaries is made. The assessment is carried out by determining the composition and structure of phytobenthos, benthic macroinvertebrate communities and fish. The following indexes are calculated: diatom pollution index IPS, macrozoobenthic Biotic Index and Fish Based Index (BFI, adopted for assessing the ecological status as required by WFD (Directive 60/2000. Additionally, various physical and hydrochemical analyzes are performed. Based on our results the majority of the mountainous zones of the studied rivers is "good" or "high" ecological status. Deteriorated ecological conditions is observed downstream some villages: for Leva River below the village of Zgorigrad and for Cherna River nearby the village of Dolno Ozirovo. This is probably owing to contamination with organic matter from the human settlements in the area. An accident pollution (with a predominantly protein character was found in the Cherna River near the Lupovaka area.

  9. Collaborative Catchment-Scale Water Quality Management using Integrated Wireless Sensor Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zia, Huma; Harris, Nick; Merrett, Geoff

    2013-04-01

    collaborative information sharing can have a direct influence on agricultural practice. We apply a nutrient management scheme to a model of an example catchment with several individual networks. The networks are able to correlate catchment events to events within their zone of influence, allowing them to adapt their monitoring and control strategy in light of wider changes across the catchment. Results indicate that this can lead to significant reductions in nutrient losses (up to 50%) and better reutilization of nutrients amongst farms, having a positive impact on catchment scale water quality and fertilizer costs. 1. EC, E.C., Directive 2000/60/EC establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy, 2000. 2. Rivers, M., K. Smettem, and P. Davies. Estimating future scenarios for farm-watershed nutrient fluxes using dynamic simulation modelling-Can on-farm BMPs really do the job at the watershed scale? in Proc.29th Int.Conf System Dynamics Society, 2011. 2010. Washington 3. Liu, C., et al., On-farm evaluation of winter wheat yield response to residual soil nitrate-N in North China Plain. Agronomy Journal, 2008. 100(6): p. 1527-1534. 4. Kotamäki, N., et al., Wireless in-situ sensor network for agriculture and water monitoring on a river basin scale in Southern Finland: Evaluation from a data user's perspective. Sensors, 2009. 9(4): p. 2862-2883.

  10. A geomorphological characterisation of river systems in South Africa: A case study of the Sabie River

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eze, Peter N.; Knight, Jasper

    2018-06-01

    Fluvial geomorphology affects river character, behaviour, evolution, trajectory of change and recovery potential, and as such affects biophysical interactions within a catchment. Water bodies in South Africa, in common with many other water-stressed parts of the world, are generally under threat due to increasing natural and anthropogenic influences including aridity, siltation and pollution, as well as climate and environmental change. This study reports on a case study to characterise the geomorphology of different river systems in South Africa, with the aim of better understanding their properties, controls, and implications for biophysical interactions including water quality, biodiversity (aquatic and riparian), and human activity within the catchment. The approach adopted is based on the River Styles® framework (RSF), a geomorphology-based approach developed for rivers in New Zealand and Australia, but applied here for the first time to South Africa. Based on analysis of remote sensing imagery, SRTM-2 digital topographic data and field observations on sites through the entire river system, six geomorphic elements were identified along the Sabie River, northeast South Africa (gorge, bedrock-forced meander, low-moderate sinuosity planform controlled sand bed, meandering sand bed, low sinuosity fine grained sand bed, and floodouts), using the RSF classification scheme and based on the RSF procedural tree of Brierley and Fryirs (2005). Previous geomorphological studies along the Sabie River have shown that different reaches respond differently to episodic floods; we use these data to link river geomorphological character (as defined by the RSF) to the hydrodynamic conditions and processes giving rise to such character. This RSF approach can be used to develop a new management approach for river systems that considers their functional biophysical behaviour within individual reaches, rather than considering them as homogeneous and uniform systems.

  11. Channel response to increased and decreased bedload supply from land use change: contrasts between two catchments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kondolf, G. M.; Piégay, H.; Landon, N.

    2002-06-01

    The catchments of Pine Creek, Idaho, USA (200 km 2), and the Drôme River in the Drôme Department, France (1640 km 2), illustrate contrasting changes in land use, bedload sediment production, and channel response. Hard-rock mining began in the catchment of Pine Creek near the end of the 19th century and, together with road construction, timber harvest, and historically heavy grazing of uplands, resulted in increased tributary bedload yield. Increased bedload migrating to the channel, combined with removal of large cedar trees on the floodplain, resulted in channel instability, which propagated downstream over a period of decades. On many reaches of Pine Creek, active channel width has increased by over 50% since 1933. Over roughly the same time period, the Drôme River catchment was extensively reforested (after at least one century of denudation and heavy grazing) and numerous check dams were constructed on torrents to reduce erosion. As a result, the Drôme River has experienced a reduction in bedload sediment supply since the late 19th century. In addition, gravel has been extracted from some reaches. Consequently, the channel has degraded and gravel bars have been colonized with woody riparian vegetation. Channel widths in wide, braided reaches decreased from 1947 to 1970 by 60%. On Pine Creek, channel instability has resulted in bank erosion (exposing contaminated mine tailings) and increased flood hazard. On the Drôme River, degradation has undermined bridges and embankments, and lowered the water table in areas dependent on groundwater for irrigation, resulting in loss of 6 million m 3 of groundwater storage since 1960. Though they differ in drainage area by nearly an order of magnitude, Pine Creek and the Drôme River provide an excellent contrast in that they represent two sides of an epicycle of alluvial sedimentation set off in each case by land disturbance. In both cases, the most recent channel changes, though in opposite directions, were viewed as

  12. Source-to-sink sediment transfers, environmental engineering and hazard mitigation in the steep Var River catchment, French Riviera, southeastern France

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anthony, Edward J.; Julian, Maurice

    1999-12-01

    Steep coastal margins are potentially subject to mass wasting processes involving notable landslide activity and sediment evacuation downstream by steep-gradient streams. Sediment transfer from short source-to-sink segments, coupled with mountain hydrological regimes, regulate patterns of river channel aggradation and coastal sediment supply in such geomorphic settings. On the steep French Riviera margin, sediment transfers from existing landslides or from various minor mass wasting processes to stream channels may result following bursts of heavy, concentrated rainfall. High-magnitude flooding and massive sediment transport downstream are generally related to unpredictable extreme rainfalls. Both mass movements and channel sediment storage pose serious hazards to downvalley settlements and infrastructure. A consideration of channel sediment storage patterns in the Var River catchment, the most important catchment in this area, highlights two important shortcomings relative to environmental engineering and hazard mitigation practices. In the first place, the appreciation of geomorphic processes is rather poor. This is illustrated by the undersized nature of engineering works constructed to mitigate hazards in the upstream bedload-dominated channels, and by the unforeseen effects that ten rock dams, constructed in the early 1970s, have had on downstream and coastal sediment storage and on sediment dispersal patterns and, consequently, valley flooding. Secondly, planners and environmental engineers have lacked foresight in valley and coastal management issues on this steep setting, notably as regards the reclaimed areas of the lower Var channel and delta liable to flooding. Urbanization and transport and environmental engineering works have progressively affected patterns of storage and transport of fine-grained sediments in the lower Var channel and delta. Meanwhile the problems raised by these changes have not been adequately addressed in terms of scientific

  13. Distribution of 127Cs and 90Sr in southern part of Pyajyanne lake and in its catchment area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saksen, R.; Rantavaara, A.; Yaakkola, T.

    1998-01-01

    Slight increase in 90 Sr content from river discharges was observed in the near-the-surface layers og the Asikkalanselk bay of the Pyajanne lake in the years directly following the Chernobyl accident; later it remained almost runchanged, whereas 137 Cs concentration is decreasing. 90 Sr was identified in the bottoms at greater depth than 137 Cs. Radionuclides transport by small rivers from water catchment zones to Asikkalanselsk was studied in 1995-1997. It is established that greater part of 137 Cs is leached into the surface waters from swamped areas. The swamped soils are also characterized by higher degree of 90 Sr washing out. The role of 137 Cs and 90 Sr surface discharges from catchment as compared to radionuclide exchange with other parts of the lake, containing greater water volumes

  14. Integrated catchment modelling within a strategic planning and decision making process: Werra case study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dietrich, Jörg; Funke, Markus

    Integrated water resources management (IWRM) redefines conventional water management approaches through a closer cross-linkage between environment and society. The role of public participation and socio-economic considerations becomes more important within the planning and decision making process. In this paper we address aspects of the integration of catchment models into such a process taking the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) as an example. Within a case study situated in the Werra river basin (Central Germany), a systems analytic decision process model was developed. This model uses the semantics of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) activity model. As an example application, the catchment model SWAT and the water quality model RWQM1 were applied to simulate the effect of phosphorus emissions from non-point and point sources on water quality. The decision process model was able to guide the participants of the case study through the interdisciplinary planning and negotiation of actions. Further improvements of the integration framework include tools for quantitative uncertainty analyses, which are crucial for real life application of models within an IWRM decision making toolbox. For the case study, the multi-criteria assessment of actions indicates that the polluter pays principle can be met at larger scales (sub-catchment or river basin) without significantly compromising cost efficiency for the local situation.

  15. PAI-OFF: A new proposal for online flood forecasting in flash flood prone catchments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmitz, G. H.; Cullmann, J.

    2008-10-01

    SummaryThe Process Modelling and Artificial Intelligence for Online Flood Forecasting (PAI-OFF) methodology combines the reliability of physically based, hydrologic/hydraulic modelling with the operational advantages of artificial intelligence. These operational advantages are extremely low computation times and straightforward operation. The basic principle of the methodology is to portray process models by means of ANN. We propose to train ANN flood forecasting models with synthetic data that reflects the possible range of storm events. To this end, establishing PAI-OFF requires first setting up a physically based hydrologic model of the considered catchment and - optionally, if backwater effects have a significant impact on the flow regime - a hydrodynamic flood routing model of the river reach in question. Both models are subsequently used for simulating all meaningful and flood relevant storm scenarios which are obtained from a catchment specific meteorological data analysis. This provides a database of corresponding input/output vectors which is then completed by generally available hydrological and meteorological data for characterizing the catchment state prior to each storm event. This database subsequently serves for training both a polynomial neural network (PoNN) - portraying the rainfall-runoff process - and a multilayer neural network (MLFN), which mirrors the hydrodynamic flood wave propagation in the river. These two ANN models replace the hydrological and hydrodynamic model in the operational mode. After presenting the theory, we apply PAI-OFF - essentially consisting of the coupled "hydrologic" PoNN and "hydrodynamic" MLFN - to the Freiberger Mulde catchment in the Erzgebirge (Ore-mountains) in East Germany (3000 km 2). Both the demonstrated computational efficiency and the prediction reliability underline the potential of the new PAI-OFF methodology for online flood forecasting.

  16. Impact of land use changes on hydrology of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The case of Lake Jipe catchment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ngugi, Keziah; Ogindo, Harun; Ertsen, Maurits

    2015-04-01

    Mt. Kilimanjaro is an important water tower in Kenya and Tanzania. Land degradation and land use changes have contributed to dwindling surface water resources around Mt. Kilimanjaro. This study focuses on Lake Jipe catchment of about 451Km2 (Ndetei 2011) which is mainly drained by River Lumi, a tributary of river Pangani. River Lumi starts from Mt. Kilimanjaro and flows North east wards to cross the border from Tanzania to Kenya eventually flowing into Lake Jipe which is a trans-boundary lake. The main purpose of this study was to investigate historical land use changes and relate this to reduction in surface water resources. The study will propose measures that could restore the catchment thereby enhancing surface water resources feeding Lake Jipe. A survey was conducted to document community perspectives of historical land use changes. This information was corroborated using Landsat remote sensed images spanning the period 1985-2013 to determine changes in the land cover due to human activities on Lake Jipe Catchment. River Lumi flow data was obtained from Water Resources Management Authority and analyzed for flow trends. The dwindling extent of the Lake was obtained from the community's perspective survey and by Landsat images. Community survey and remote sensing indicated clearing of the forest on the mountain and conversion of the same to crop production fields; damming of river Lumi in Tanzania, conversion of bush land to crop production fields further downstream of river Lumi and irrigation. There is heavy infestation of the invasive species Prosopis juliflora which had aggressively colonized grazing land and blocked irrigation canals. Other land use changes include land fragmentation due to subdivision. Insecure land tenure was blamed for failure by farmers to develop soil and water conservation infrastructure. Available River gauging data showed a general decline in river flow. Heavy flooding occurred during rainy seasons. Towards Lake Jipe after the river

  17. Connecting tropical river DOM and POM to the landscape with lignin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hernes, Peter J.; Dyda, Rachael Y.; McDowell, William H.

    2017-12-01

    Tropical rivers account for two thirds of global fluxes of terrigenous organic matter to the oceans, yet because of their remote locations relative to most industrialized countries, they are poorly studied compared to temperate and even Arctic rivers. Further, most tropical river research has focused on large rivers like the Amazon or Congo, yet more than half of organic matter fluxes from tropical rivers comes from much smaller rivers. This study focuses on two such rivers in the Luquillo Experimental Forest of Puerto Rico, namely the Rio Mameyes and Rio Icacos, and uses time-series measurements of lignin biomarkers to put them in context with much bigger tropical rivers in the literature. Although lignin concentrations and carbon-normalized yields offer some distinction between mountainous vs. floodplain tropical river reaches, compositional differences appear to offer greater potential, including S:V vs. C:V plots that may capture the poorly-studied influence of palm trees, and (Ad:Al)s vs. (Ad:Al)v plots that may reflect differences in underlying mineralogy and degradation in soils. Even though dissolved and particulate lignin ultimately come from the same vegetation sources, comparison of dissolved and particulate lignin parameters within the two Puerto Rican rivers indicate that the pathways by which they end up in the same parcel of river water are largely decoupled. Across several particulate lignin studies in tropical rivers, mineral composition and concentration appears to exert a strong control on particulate lignin compositions and concentrations. Finally, the time-series nature of this study allows for new ways of analyzing dissolved lignin endmember compositions and degradation within the catchment. Plots of dissolved lignin parameters vs. lignin concentration reveal both the composition of "fresh" DOM that is likely mobilized from organic-rich soil surface layers along with the extent and trajectory of degradation of that signature that is possible

  18. Multi-linear model of transformation of runoff in river-basins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Szolgay, J.; Kubes, R.

    2005-01-01

    The component part of atmospheric precipitations-runoff model of Hron River is a individual model of transformation of flows in river network, too, which transforms runoff from separate partial catchment basin into terminal profile. This component of precipitations-runoff model can also be used as individual hydrologic transformation model of runoff waves in river-basin. Identification and calibration of this model is realised independently on precipitations-runoff model of Hron River, which is described in this chapter in detail.

  19. Holocene versus modern catchment erosion rates at 300 MW Baspa II hydroelectric power plant (India, NW Himalaya)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Draganits, Erich; Gier, Susanne; Hofmann, Christa-Ch.; Janda, Christoph; Bookhagen, Bodo; Grasemann, Bernhard

    2014-08-01

    300 MW Baspa II is India's largest private hydroelectric facility, located at the Baspa River which is an important left-hand tributary to the Sutlej River in the NW Himalaya (India). In this valley the Sangla palaeo-lake has been dammed around 8200 yr BP behind a rock-avalanche dam and Baspa II is located exactly on top of this palaeo-lake. This special location represents a very rare possibility to evaluate the short-term, river load and hydrological parameters measured during the planning and operational stages of Baspa II with the long-term parameters gained from the palaeo-lake sediments from the catchment. Sedimentological and geomorphological investigations of the lacustrine sediments have been used to reconstruct environmental changes during >2500 years of its existence. The Mid-Holocene erosion rates of the Baspa catchment estimated from the volume and duration of deposition of the exposed lake sediments are at 0.7-1.0 mm yr-1, almost identical with the modern erosion rates calculated from river gauge data from Baspa II. Several charcoal layers and charcoal pieces from the uppermost palaeo-lake levels around 5000 cal yr BP might be related to woodland clearance and they possibly represent one of the oldest evidences for human presence in the Baspa Valley during Neolithic time.

  20. The necessity of field research in prescription of Environmental Flows - A case of the hydropower dominated Middle Zambezi Catchment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mwelwa, Elenestina; Crosato, Alessandra; Wright, Nigel; Beevers, Lindsay

    2013-04-01

    The research work in the Middle Zambezi sub-catchment has the key objective to investigate the state of the river and its flood plain in terms of flow variation, river and flood plain morphological variation for both the pre and post hydropower schemes. From the rich biodiversity that this area supports, both Zambia and Zimbabwe has established National Parks with Mana Pools National Park, Sapi and Chewore safari areas being designated as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. The habitat sustenance depend on the river channels and the associated morphological features with the flood and recession interaction whose modification can lead to negative environmental consequences. The research findings on the state of the sub-catchment flows and morphology will be outlined. Highlights will be given on the following findings: dominance of hydropower regulation in the water balance of the river reach, historical map analysis and related rates of river channel morphology changes associated to dam operating events and, bed load sediment characterisation and distribution. With the use of SOBEK-Rural (1D/2D) model, analysis of future state of the sub-catchment will be outlined, taking into account the following scenarios: no dam state of the river reach; continue with current water regulation and operations; modification in water regulation to take into account favorable changes and; climate related variation of droughts. The research deductions and implications for maintaining the current dam operation practices will be outline as relates to the sustainability of the hydro-morphology and ecosystem of the catchment which support a rich wildlife habitat. The research observed critical water needs form the basis for environmental flows prescription and recommendation. Whereas the restoration of regular flooding has been identified to be important, the most critical need however is the timing of flood gate regulation which has been observed as a trigger to loss of islands and bars

  1. Dominant mechanisms for the delivery of fine sediment and phosphorus to fluvial networks draining grassland dominated headwater catchments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perks, M T; Owen, G J; Benskin, C McW H; Jonczyk, J; Deasy, C; Burke, S; Reaney, S M; Haygarth, P M

    2015-08-01

    Recent advances in monitoring technology have enabled high frequency, in-situ measurements of total phosphorus and total reactive phosphorus to be undertaken with high precision, whilst turbidity can provide an excellent surrogate for suspended sediment. Despite these measurements being fundamental to understanding the mechanisms and flow paths that deliver these constituents to river networks, there is a paucity of such data for headwater agricultural catchments. The aim of this paper is to deduce the dominant mechanisms for the delivery of fine sediment and phosphorus to an upland river network in the UK through characterisation of the temporal variability of hydrological fluxes, and associated soluble and particulate concentrations for the period spanning March 2012-February 2013. An assessment of the factors producing constituent hysteresis is undertaken following factor analysis (FA) on a suite of measured environmental variables representing the fluvial and wider catchment conditions prior to, and during catchment-wide hydrological events. Analysis indicates that suspended sediment is delivered to the fluvial system predominantly via rapidly responding pathways driven by event hydrology. However, evidence of complex, figure-of-eight hysteresis is observed following periods of hydrological quiescence, highlighting the importance of preparatory processes. Sediment delivery via a slow moving, probably sub-surface pathway does occur, albeit infrequently and during low magnitude events at the catchment outlet. Phosphorus is revealed to have a distinct hysteretic response to that of suspended sediment, with sub-surface pathways dominating. However, high magnitude events were observed to exhibit threshold-like behaviour, whereby activation and connection of usually disconnected depositional zones to the fluvial networks results in the movement of vast phosphorus fluxes. Multiple pathways are observed for particulate and soluble constituents, highlighting the

  2. Remote sensing entropy to assess the sustainability of rainfall in tropical catchment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahmud, M. R.; Reba, M. N. M.; Wei, J. S.; Razak, N. H. Abdul

    2018-02-01

    This study demonstrated the utility of entropy computation using the satellite precipitation remote sensing data to assess the sustainability of rainfall in tropical catchments. There were two major issues need to be anticipated in monitoring the tropical catchments; first is the frequent monitoring of the rainfall and second is the appropriate indicator that sensitive to rainfall pattern changes or disorder. For the first issue, the use of satellite remote sensing precipitation data is suggested. Meanwhile for the second issue, the utilization of entropy concept in interpreting the disorder of temporal rainfall can be used to assess the sustain ability had been successfully adopted in some studies. Therefore, we hypothesized that the use of satellite precipitation as main data to compute entropy can be a novel tool in anticipating the above-mentioned conflict earlier. The remote sensing entropy results and in-situ river level showed good agreement indicating its reliability. 72% of the catchment has moderate to good rainfall supply during normal or non-drought condition. However, our result showed that the catchments were highly sensitive to drought especially in the west coast and southern part of the Peninsular Malaysia. High resiliency was identified in the east coast. We summarized that the proposed entropy-quantity scheme was a useful tool for cost-effective, quick, and operational sustainability assessment This study demonstrated the utility of entropy computation using the satellite precipitation remote sensing data to assess the sustainability of rainfall in tropical catchments.

  3. Combining caesium-137 measurements and suspended sediment load data to investigate the sediment response of a small catchment in southern Italy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Porto

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available A long-term measurement programme was operated in southern Italy during the 1960s and 1970s, to provide information on the suspended sediment yields from the main river basins. Information obtained for the rivers of Calabria suggests that suspended sediment yields in this area are relatively low. However, there is evidence that the intensity of land degradation within the upstream catchments is substantially higher than suggested by the values of specific sediment yield and there is a need to explore the relationship between on-site soil loss and downstream sediment yield more closely. Monitoring time-integrated erosion rates over large areas has traditionally required extensive long-term measurement programmes employing experimental plots. The fallout radionuclide caesium-137 (137Cs offers an alternative means of documenting medium-term rates of soil loss. This paper describes the use of 137Cs measurements and the available sediment load data to explore the links between soil erosion, sediment redistribution and storage, and sediment output for a medium-scale (41.3 km2 catchment in Calabria. Data available from a sediment load monitoring programme undertaken at the catchment outlet during 1962–1977 have been used to estimate the longer-term catchment sediment yield. This estimate has been combined with information provided by the 137Cs measurements, to establish a medium-term sediment budget for the catchment. The results provided by the 137Cs measurements indicate that the catchment is subject to much higher rates of soil loss and land degradation than suggested by its specific sediment yield. These findings are consistent with the results obtained for other catchments in Calabria for which both 137Cs derived erosion rates and measured sediment yields are available.

  4. Inter-comparison of hydro-climatic regimes across northern catchments: Synchronicity, resistance and resilience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carey, S.K.; Tetzlaff, D.; Seibert, J.; Soulsby, C.; Buttle, J.; Laudon, H.; McDonnell, J.; McGuire, K.; Caissie, D.; Shanley, J.; Kennedy, M.; Devito, K.; Pomeroy, J.W.

    2010-01-01

    The higher mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere are particularly sensitive to climate change as small differences in temperature determine frozen ground status, precipitation phase, and the magnitude and timing of snow accumulation and melt. An international inter-catchment comparison program, North-Watch, seeks to improve our understanding of the sensitivity of northern catchments to climate change by examining their hydrological and biogeochemical responses. The catchments are located in Sweden (Krycklan), Scotland (Mharcaidh, Girnock and Strontian), the United States (Sleepers River, Hubbard Brook and HJ Andrews) and Canada (Catamaran, Dorset and Wolf Creek). This briefing presents the initial stage of the North-Watch program, which focuses on how these catchments collect, store and release water and identify 'types' of hydro-climatic catchment response. At most sites, a 10-year data of daily precipitation, discharge and temperature were compiled and evaporation and storage were calculated. Inter-annual and seasonal patterns of hydrological processes were assessed via normalized fluxes and standard flow metrics. At the annual-scale, relations between temperature, precipitation and discharge were compared, highlighting the role of seasonality, wetness and snow/frozen ground. The seasonal pattern and synchronicity of fluxes at the monthly scale provided insight into system memory and the role of storage. We identified types of catchments that rapidly translate precipitation into runoff and others that more readily store water for delayed release. Synchronicity and variance of rainfall-runoff patterns were characterized by the coefficient of variation (cv) of monthly fluxes and correlation coefficients. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed clustering among like catchments in terms of functioning, largely controlled by two components that (i) reflect temperature and precipitation gradients and the correlation of monthly precipitation and discharge and (ii

  5. Longitudinal sediment-connectivity in a dammed river system using fine sediment analyses - a case study in the Kaja river, Lower Austria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bertsch, R.; Poeppl, R. E.; Glade, T.

    2012-04-01

    In the recent past the concept of connectivity gained increased significance for the understanding of the linkage between different subsystems within river channels and catchments. Based on fine sediment (reservation in this fraction.

  6. Water quality modelling of an impacted semi-arid catchment using flow data from the WEAP model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slaughter, Andrew R.; Mantel, Sukhmani K.

    2018-04-01

    The continuous decline in water quality in many regions is forcing a shift from quantity-based water resources management to a greater emphasis on water quality management. Water quality models can act as invaluable tools as they facilitate a conceptual understanding of processes affecting water quality and can be used to investigate the water quality consequences of management scenarios. In South Africa, the Water Quality Systems Assessment Model (WQSAM) was developed as a management-focussed water quality model that is relatively simple to be able to utilise the small amount of available observed data. Importantly, WQSAM explicitly links to systems (yield) models routinely used in water resources management in South Africa by using their flow output to drive water quality simulations. Although WQSAM has been shown to be able to represent the variability of water quality in South African rivers, its focus on management from a South African perspective limits its use to within southern African regions for which specific systems model setups exist. Facilitating the use of WQSAM within catchments outside of southern Africa and within catchments for which these systems model setups to not exist would require WQSAM to be able to link to a simple-to-use and internationally-applied systems model. One such systems model is the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) model, which incorporates a rainfall-runoff component (natural hydrology), and reservoir storage, return flows and abstractions (systems modelling), but within which water quality modelling facilities are rudimentary. The aims of the current study were therefore to: (1) adapt the WQSAM model to be able to use as input the flow outputs of the WEAP model and; (2) provide an initial assessment of how successful this linkage was by application of the WEAP and WQSAM models to the Buffalo River for historical conditions; a small, semi-arid and impacted catchment in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The simulations of

  7. Inside the "Black Box" of River Restoration: Using Catchment History to Identify Disturbance and Response Mechanisms to Set Targets for Process-Based Restoration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarah Mika

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Many river restoration projects fail. Inadequate project planning underpins many of the reasons given for failure (such as setting overly ambitious goals; selecting inappropriate sites and techniques; losing stakeholder motivation; and neglecting to monitor, assess, and document projects. Another major problem is the lack of an agreed guiding image to direct the activities aimed at restoring the necessary biophysical and ecological processes within the logistic constraints of on-ground works. Despite a rich literature defining the components of restoration project planning, restoration ecology currently lacks an explicit and logical means of moving from the initial project vision through to on-ground strategies. Yet this process is fundamental because it directly links the ecological goals of the project to the on-ground strategies used to achieve them. We present a planning process that explicitly uses an interdisciplinary mechanistic model of disturbance drivers and system responses to build from the initial project vision to the implementation of on-ground works. A worked example on the Upper Hunter River in southeastern Australia shows how understanding catchment history can reveal disturbance and response mechanisms, thus facilitating process-based restoration.

  8. Downstream mixing of sediment and tracers in agricultural catchments: Evidence of changing sediment sources and fluvial processes?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ralph, Timothy; Wethered, Adam; Smith, Hugh; Heijnis, Henk

    2014-05-01

    Land clearance, soil tillage and grazing in agricultural catchments have liberated sediment and altered hydrological connectivity between hillslopes and channels, leading to increased sediment availability, mobilisation and delivery to rivers. The type and amount of sediment supplied to rivers is critical for fluvial geomorphology and aquatic ecosystem health. Contemporary sediment dynamics are routinely investigated using environmental radionuclides such as caesium-137 (Cs-137) and excess lead-210 (Pb-210ex), which can provide information regarding sediment source types and fluvial processes if sediment sources can be distinguished from one another and mixing models applied to representative samples. However, downstream transport, mixing and dilution of radionuclide-labelled sediment (especially from sources with low initial concentrations) can obliterate the tracer signal; sometimes before anything of geomorphological importance happens in the catchment. Can these findings be used as evidence of sediment source variations and fluvial processes when the limits of detection (of Cs-137 in particular) are being exceeded so rapidly downstream? Sediment sources and downstream sediment dynamics were investigated in Coolbaggie Creek, a major supplier of sediment to the Macquarie River in an agricultural catchment with temperate to semi-arid climate in Australia. Radionuclides were used to discriminate between the banks and gullies (Cs-137 1.45 +/- 0.47 Bq/kg; Pb-210ex 4.67 +/- 1.93 Bq/kg). Within the trunk stream, suspended sediment, organic matter and Cs-137 and Pb-210ex concentrations declined downstream. Results from a mixing model suggest that agricultural topsoils account for 95% of fine sediment entering the channel in the upper reach (200 m2) downstream, with channel expansion and gullies contributing fine sediment to the system. A lack of topsoil being supplied to the channel suggests minimal lateral connectivity between the catchment and the trunk stream in all

  9. The flash flood event in the catchment of the river Weisseritz (eastern Erzgebirge, Saxony) from 12.-14. August 2002 - meteorological and hydrological reasons, damage assesment and disaster managment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldberg, V.; Bernhofer, Ch.

    2003-04-01

    Between 12. and 14. August 2002 the region of eastern Erzgebirge (Saxony/Eastern Germany) was affected by the heaviest rainfall event recorded since beginning of the measuring period in 1883. The synoptic reason of this event was the advective precipitation due to the strong and very slowly shifting Vb-low "Ilse" combined with a noticeable topographic intensification by north-westerly winds. All stations in the catchment area of the river Weisseritz recorded new all-time records. E.g., at the meteorological station Zinnwald-Georgenfeld situated at the crest of eastern Erzgebirge a daily sum of 312 mm was measured for the 13. August. This value is close to the maximum physically possible rainfall. The intensive rainfall in the catchments of Rote Weisseritz and Wilde Weisseritz led to unexperienced heavy flash floods with large material transport and flow damages. The buffer effect of the existing dam systems was comparatively small because the reserved retaining capacity for flood protection was only about 20 percent of the total capacity. The reservoirs filled quickly due to the very high maximum inflow. So a long-time overflow of the dam system occurred with a maximum of about 300 cubic meters per second at the combined river Weisseritz through the cities of Freital and Dresden (This situation led, e.g., to the flooding of Central Railway Station in Dresden). This water flow is comparable with a medium flow rate of the river Elbe in Dresden, and it is about 300 times higher than the normal drain of the river Weisseritz in Freital! The material damages in the Weisseritz region account for several hundred millions EURO, and several causalties occurred. The damages of the University buildings in Tharandt (including one building of the Department of Meteorology) account for 15 millions EURO alone. The disaster management during the flood was not optimal. For many people, e.g. in Tharandt, there was neither an officially warning nor an organised rescue of movable goods

  10. Human impact on erosion patterns and sediment transport in the Yangtze River

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sun, Xilin; Li, Chang'an; Kuiper, K. F.; Zhang, Zengjie; Gao, Jianhua; Wijbrans, J. R.

    2016-01-01

    Sediment load in rivers is an indicator of erosional processes in the upstream river catchments. Understanding the origin and composition of the sediment load can help to assess the influence of natural processes and human activities on erosion. Tectonic uplift, precipitation and run-off, hill

  11. Afforestation, seasalt episodes and acidification - A paired catchment study in western Norway

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Larssen, Thorjorn; Holme, Jorun

    2006-01-01

    As acid deposition has declined during the past 15-20 years in western Norway, afforestation and episodic seasalt deposition have become factors of increasing importance in explaining the mobilization of toxic aluminum (Al n+ ) to rivers and lakes. We conducted a paired catchment at four sites in western Norway across a gradient in acid deposition to evaluate the importance of afforestation and seasalt episodes. Streamwater was sampled intensively before, during and after seasalt episodes over a three-year period. A seasalt episode in January 2003 caused considerable impact on the streamwater chemistry. pH dropped and concentrations of Al n+ increased due to cation exchange of Na + ions for H + and Al n+ in the soil. The response was larger in streams draining the catchments which receive high acid deposition and in those afforested with spruce as compared with adjacent catchments in native birch. The results indicate that acid pulses induced by episodic inputs of seasalts are exacerbated by land use change from native birch to planted spruce. - Seasalt episodes cause higher mobilization of toxic aluminum in sites afforested with spruce

  12. RUNOFF POTENTIAL OF MUREŞ RIVER UPPER BASIN TRIBUTARIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. SOROCOVSCHI

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Runoff Potential of Mureş River Upper Basin Tributaries. The upper basin of the Mureş River includes a significant area of the Eastern Carpathians central western part with different runoff formation conditions. In assessing the average annual runoff potential we used data from six gauging stations and made assessments on three distinct periods. Identifying the appropriate areas of the obtained correlations curves (between specific average runoff and catchments mean altitude allowed the assessment of potential runoff at catchment level and on geographical units. The potential average runoff is also assessed on altitude intervals of the mentioned areas. The runoff potential analysis on hydrographic basins, geographical units and altitude intervals highlights the variant spatial distribution of this general water resources indicator in the different studied areas.

  13. Effects of land use and land cover changes on water quality in the uMngeni river catchment, South Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Namugize, Jean Nepomuscene; Jewitt, Graham; Graham, Mark

    2018-06-01

    Land use and land cover change are major drivers of water quality deterioration in watercourses and impoundments. However, understanding of the spatial and temporal variability of land use change characteristics and their link to water quality parameters in catchments is limited. As a contribution to address this limitation, the objective of this study is to assess the linkages between biophysico-chemical water quality parameters and land use and land cover (LULC) classes in the upper reaches of the uMngeni Catchment, a rapidly developing catchment in South Africa. These were assessed using Geographic Information Systems tools and statistical analyses for the years 1994, 2000, 2008 and 2011 based on changes over time of eight LULC classes and available water quality information. Natural vegetation, forest plantations and cultivated areas occupy 85% of the catchment. Cultivated, urban/built-up and degraded areas increased by 6%, 4.5% and 3%, respectively coinciding with a decrease in natural vegetation by 17%. Variability in the concentration of water quality parameters from 1994 to 2011 and an overall decline in water quality were observed. Escherichia coli (E. coli) levels exceeding the recommended guidelines for recreation and public health protection was noted as a major issue at seven of the nine sampling points. Overall, water supply reservoirs in the catchment retained over 20% of nutrients and over 85% of E. coli entering them. A relationship between land use types and water quality variables was found. However, the degree and magnitude of the associations varies between sub-catchments and is difficult to quantify. This highlights the complexity and the site-specific nature of relationships between land use types and water quality parameters in the catchment. Thus, this study provides useful findings on the general relationship between land use and land cover and water quality degradation, but highlights the risks of applying simple relationships or adding

  14. Phosphorus load to surface water from bank erosion in a Danish lowland river basin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kronvang, Brian; Audet, Joachim; Baattrup-Pedersen, Annette; Jensen, Henning S; Larsen, Søren E

    2012-01-01

    Phosphorus loss from bank erosion was studied in the catchment of River Odense, a lowland Danish river basin, with the aim of testing the hypothesis of whether stream banks act as major diffuse phosphorus (P) sources at catchment scale. Furthermore, the study aimed at analyzing the impact of different factors influencing bank erosion and P loss such as stream order, anthropogenic disturbances, width of uncultivated buffer strips, and the vegetation of buffer strips. A random stratified procedure in geographical information system (GIS) was used to select two replicate stream reaches covering different stream orders, channelized vs. naturally meandering channels, width of uncultivated buffer strips (≤ 2 m and ≥ 10 m), and buffer strips with different vegetation types. Thirty-six 100-m stream reaches with 180 bank plots and a total of 3000 erosion pins were established in autumn 2006, and readings were conducted during a 3-yr period (2006-2009). The results show that neither stream size nor stream disturbance measured as channelization of channel or the width of uncultivated buffer strip had any significant ( erosion and P losses during each of the 3 yr studied. In buffer strips with natural trees bank erosion was significantly ( erosion amounted to 13.8 to 16.5 and 2.4 to 6.3 t P, respectively, in the River Odense catchment during the three study years. The net P input from bank erosion equaled 17 to 29% of the annual total P export and 21 to 62% of the annual export of P from diffuse sources from the River Odense catchment. Most of the exported total P was found to be bioavailable (71.7%) based on a P speciation of monthly suspended sediment samples collected at the outlet of the river basin. The results found in this study have a great importance for managers working with P mitigation and modeling at catchment scale. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

  15. The River Network of Montenegro in the GIS Database

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Goran Barović

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The subject of this paper is the systematization and precise identification of the structure of river networks in Montenegro in both planimetric and hypsometric dimensions, using cartometry. This includes the precise determination of the morphometric parameters of river flows, their numerical display, graphical display, and documentation. This allows for a number of analyses, for example, of individual catchments, the mutual relations of individual watercourses within a higher order catchment, and the classification of flows according to river and sea basins and their relationship to the environment. In addition, there is the potential for expanding the database further, with a view to continuous, systematic, scientific and practical follow-up in all or part of the geographic space. The cartometric analysis of the river network in Montenegro has a special scientific, and also a social value. In the geographical structure of all countries, including Montenegro, rivers occupy a central place as individual elements and integral parts of the whole. There is almost no human activity which is not related to river flows, or related phenomena and processes. The river network as part of a geographic space continues to gain in importance, and therefore studying it must connect with the other structural elements within which it functions. These are the basic relief characteristics, climate, and certain hydrographic characteristics. A complete theoretical and methodological approach to this problem forms the basis for a scientific understanding of the significance of the river network of Montenegro.

  16. Preliminary survey of the vulnerability to the contamination of the aquifers of Morondava river catchments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Randrianasolo, A.F.

    2004-01-01

    The objective of this work is to make a preliminary survey of the vulnerability to the contamination of the aquifers of Morondava river catchments. The methods used are the geological and hydrogeological surveys, the hydrochemistry and isotopic techniques. This survey allows us to have an overview of the chemical features of groundwaters, conditions of recharge, and especially to determine the potential and active zone of nitrate pollution. Two field works have been carried out within the frame of MAG/8/003 project. The first one is focused on groundwater sampling and surface water sampling, and the second one is based on the geological and hydrogeological surveys. The samples were sent for isotope ( 18 O, 2 H, 15 N, 87 Sr, 3 H) and chemical analysis to the I.A.E.A laboratories. The survey gave the following conclusions: the groundwaters are affected by evaporation before or during infiltration and saline intrusion. The region of Morondava is submitted to a regime of simple oceanic precipitation (excess in deuterium). The boreholes waters is of sodic-bicarbonate chemical type, whereas well waters belong to the calcic-bicarbonate. The superficial aquifers (subsurface water) trapped by the wells are more vulnerable than deep aquifers (homogeneous aquifers) trapped by boreholes. These hypotheses are proven by geological and hydrogeological investigations, by the groundwaters nitrate analyses results, and are confirmed by radioactive isotope. [fr

  17. Investigating the temporal dynamics of suspended sediment during flood events with 7Be and 210Pbxs measurements in a drained lowland catchment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le Gall, Marion; Evrard, Olivier; Foucher, Anthony; Laceby, J. Patrick; Salvador-Blanes, Sébastien; Manière, Louis; Lefèvre, Irène; Cerdan, Olivier; Ayrault, Sophie

    2017-02-01

    Soil erosion is recognized as one of the main processes of land degradation in agricultural areas. High suspended sediment loads, often generated from eroding agricultural landscapes, are known to degrade downstream environments. Accordingly, there is a need to understand soil erosion dynamics during flood events. Suspended sediment was therefore sampled in the river network and at tile drain outlets during five flood events in a lowland drained catchment in France. Source and sediment fallout radionuclide concentrations (7Be, 210Pbxs) were measured to quantify both the fraction of recently eroded particles transported during flood events and their residence time. Results indicate that the mean fraction of recently eroded sediment, estimated for the entire Louroux catchment, increased from 45 ± 20% to 80 ± 20% between December 2013 and February 2014, and from 65 ± 20% to 80 ± 20% in January 2016. These results demonstrate an initial flush of sediment previously accumulated in the river channel before the increasing supply of sediment recently eroded from the hillslopes during subsequent events. This research highlights the utility of coupling continuous river monitoring and fallout radionuclide measurements to increase our understanding of sediment dynamics and improve the management of soil and water resources in agricultural catchments.

  18. Attributes for MRB_E2RF1 Catchments by Major River Basins in the Conterminous United States: Artificial Drainage (1992) and Irrigation (1997)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wieczorek, Michael; LaMotte, Andrew E.

    2010-01-01

    This tabular data set represents the estimated area of artifical drainage for the year 1992 and irrigation types for the year 1997 compiled for every MRB_E2RF1 catchment of Major River Basins (MRBs, Crawford and others, 2006). The source data sets were derived from tabular National Resource Inventory (NRI) data sets created by the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1995, 2000). Artificial drainage is defined as subsurface drains and ditches. Irrigation types are defined as gravity and pressure. Subsurface drains are described as conduits, such as corrugated plastic tubing, tile, or pipe, installed beneath the ground surface to collect and/or convey drainage. Surface drainage field ditches are described as graded ditches for collecting excess water. Gravity irrigation source is described as irrigation delivered to the farm and/or field by canals or pipelines open to the atmosphere; and water is distributed by the force of gravity down the field by: (1) A surface irrigation system (border, basin, furrow, corrugation, wild flooding, etc.) or (2) Sub-surface irrigation pipelines or ditches. Pressure irrigation source is described as irrigation delivered to the farm and/or field in pump or elevation-induced pressure pipelines, and water is distributed across the field by: (1) Sprinkle irrigation (center pivot, linear move, traveling gun, side roll, hand move, big gun, or fixed set sprinklers), or (2) Micro irrigation (drip emitters, continuous tube bubblers, micro spray or micro sprinklers). NRI data do not include Federal lands and are thus excluded from this dataset. The tabular data for drainage were spatially apportioned to the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD, Kerie Hitt, U.S. Geological Survey, written commun., 2005) and the tabular data for irrigation were spatially apportioned to an enhanced version of the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCDe, Nakagaki and others, 2007). The MRB_E2RF1 catchments are based on a modified

  19. The river temperature changes follows the climate variability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gergov, G.; Karagiozova, Tz.

    2004-01-01

    The temperature of the river water is a dynamical characteristic affected by the geophysical processes- and climate characteristics of the catchment area, as well as the hydrological processes of the runoff formation and movement. The knowledge about the river water is very important when the water losses for transpiration are concerned. One should add that the river pollution problems, the self purification, the potable water supply require this information also. We consider the temperature of the river water as a very important parameter for diversity of ecological studies and research. It is a general practice to accept that the river water temperature is rather homogeneous across any profile because of the turbulent mass exchange. The temperature stratification is a matter of concern in limnology and oceanology studies mainly. We have shown several basic regularities about the cyclic feature of the daily and seasonal changes or about the river water temperature and both the altitude of the catchment area (gradient 1 o C per a 100 m) and so on. After the mean water temperatures on any hydro metric gauge stations are being determined the area patterns with equal temperatures are identified, thus drawing a map. It is a presumption that the river water temperatures inside a specific area are equal on any place, meaning that the temperature field is rather homogeneous. The mapping allowed to distinguish the river reaches, subjected to the anthropogenic impact. The study and the map have been developed on the basis of the new hydro metric information data bank, composed recently by the authors.(Author)

  20. Farmer and retailer knowledge and awareness of the risks from pesticide use: A case study in the Wei River catchment, China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Xiaomei; Wang, Fei; Meng, Lei; Zhang, Wenshuai; Fan, Liangxin; Geissen, Violette; Ritsema, Coen J.

    2014-01-01

    Monitoring the educational level of farmers and retailers on pesticide use would be useful to assess the appropriateness of information for reducing or/and avoiding the risks from pesticides in rural regions. The levels of knowledge and awareness of the dangers to the environment and human health were investigated by questionnaires for farmers (209) and retailers (20) in two rural regions (Qianyang County (S1) and Chencang County (S2)) of the Wei River catchment in China where the modes of farming and the state of erosion are very different. The results showed that farmers learned the use and dangers of pesticides mainly by oral communication (p < 0.01). Protective measures were inadequate; 65% (S1) and 55% (S2) of farmers never used any protective measures during spraying (p < 0.05). Washing hands (> 70%) was the most common mode of personal hygiene, relative to wearing masks, showering, and changing clothes, but no significant differences were observed between the selected regions. Most pesticide wastes were dumped directly onto the land or into water, suggesting that educational measures should be taken to address the potential risks from the residues in the wastes. Over 85% of farmers (S1 and S2) claimed to use illegal pesticides, but the reasons for their use varied (p < 0.01). Retailers were well-informed and highly conscious of their responsibility for the safe use of pesticides, especially in S2 (p < 0.01). A canonical correspondence analysis indicated that educational level and age differed between the two regions and contributed greatly to the risks from pesticide use (p < 0.01). Educational programmes targeted to age groups, proper disposal of pesticide waste, and sufficient supervision from authorities should consequently be considered for improving the levels of knowledge and awareness of the dangers of pesticides to human health and environmental pollution in the Wei River catchment, China. - Highlights: • The status of income and expenditure on

  1. Farmer and retailer knowledge and awareness of the risks from pesticide use: A case study in the Wei River catchment, China

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yang, Xiaomei, E-mail: xiaomei.yang@wur.nl [Soil Physics and Land Management, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700AA Wageningen (Netherlands); State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, 712100 Yangling (China); Wang, Fei [State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, 712100 Yangling (China); Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A and F University, 712100 Yangling (China); Meng, Lei [Baoji University of Arts and Sciences, 712300 Baoji, Shaanxi (China); Zhang, Wenshuai [State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, 712100 Yangling (China); Fan, Liangxin [School of Surveying and Land Information Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, 454003 Jiaozuo, Henan Province (China); Geissen, Violette [Soil Physics and Land Management, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700AA Wageningen (Netherlands); Institute of Crop Science and Resources Conservation (INRES), University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn (Germany); Ritsema, Coen J. [Soil Physics and Land Management, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700AA Wageningen (Netherlands)

    2014-11-01

    Monitoring the educational level of farmers and retailers on pesticide use would be useful to assess the appropriateness of information for reducing or/and avoiding the risks from pesticides in rural regions. The levels of knowledge and awareness of the dangers to the environment and human health were investigated by questionnaires for farmers (209) and retailers (20) in two rural regions (Qianyang County (S1) and Chencang County (S2)) of the Wei River catchment in China where the modes of farming and the state of erosion are very different. The results showed that farmers learned the use and dangers of pesticides mainly by oral communication (p < 0.01). Protective measures were inadequate; 65% (S1) and 55% (S2) of farmers never used any protective measures during spraying (p < 0.05). Washing hands (> 70%) was the most common mode of personal hygiene, relative to wearing masks, showering, and changing clothes, but no significant differences were observed between the selected regions. Most pesticide wastes were dumped directly onto the land or into water, suggesting that educational measures should be taken to address the potential risks from the residues in the wastes. Over 85% of farmers (S1 and S2) claimed to use illegal pesticides, but the reasons for their use varied (p < 0.01). Retailers were well-informed and highly conscious of their responsibility for the safe use of pesticides, especially in S2 (p < 0.01). A canonical correspondence analysis indicated that educational level and age differed between the two regions and contributed greatly to the risks from pesticide use (p < 0.01). Educational programmes targeted to age groups, proper disposal of pesticide waste, and sufficient supervision from authorities should consequently be considered for improving the levels of knowledge and awareness of the dangers of pesticides to human health and environmental pollution in the Wei River catchment, China. - Highlights: • The status of income and expenditure on

  2. Suspended sediment flux modeling with artificial neural network: An example of the Longchuanjiang River in the Upper Yangtze Catchment, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Yun-Mei; Lu, X. X.; Zhou, Yue

    2007-02-01

    Artificial neural network (ANN) was used to model the monthly suspended sediment flux in the Longchuanjiang River, the Upper Yangtze Catchment, China. The suspended sediment flux was related to the average rainfall, temperature, rainfall intensity and water discharge. It is demonstrated that ANN is capable of modeling the monthly suspended sediment flux with fairly good accuracy when proper variables and their lag effect on the suspended sediment flux are used as inputs. Compared with multiple linear regression and power relation models, ANN can generate a better fit under the same data requirement. In addition, ANN can provide more reasonable predictions for extremely high or low values, because of the distributed information processing system and the nonlinear transformation involved. Compared with the ANNs that use the values of the dependent variable at previous time steps as inputs, the ANNs established in this research with only climate variables have an advantage because it can be used to assess hydrological responses to climate change.

  3. Dependence between sea surge, river flow and precipitation in south and west Britain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Svensson

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available Estuaries around Great Britain may be at heightened risk of flooding because of the simultaneous occurrence of extreme sea surge and river flow, both of which may be caused by mid-latitude cyclones. A measure especially suited for extremes was employed to estimate dependence between river flow and sea surge. To assist in the interpretation of why flow-surge dependence occurs in some areas and not in others, the dependence between precipitation and surge and between precipitation and river flow was also studied. Case studies of the meteorological situations leading to high surges and/or river flows were also carried out. The present study concerns catchments draining to the south and west coasts of Great Britain. Statistically significant dependence between river flow and daily maximum sea surge may be found at catchments spread along most of this coastline. However, higher dependence is generally found in catchments in hilly areas with a southerly to westerly aspect. Here, precipitation in south-westerly airflow, which is generally the quadrant of prevailing winds, will be enhanced orographically as the first higher ground is encountered. The sloping catchments may respond quickly to the abundant rainfall and the flow peak may arrive in the estuary on the same day as a large sea surge is produced by the winds and low atmospheric pressure associated with the cyclone. There are three regions where flow-surge dependence is strong: the western part of the English south coast, southern Wales and around the Solway Firth. To reduce the influence of tide-surge interaction on the dependence analysis, the dependence between river flow and daily maximum surge occurring at high tide was estimated. The general pattern of areas with higher dependence is similar to that using the daily maximum surge. The dependence between river flow and daily maximum sea surge is often strongest when surge and flow occur on the same day. The west coast from Wales and

  4. Situation analysis of water quality in the Umtata River catchment ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The Umtata River was characterised by using standard physico-chemical and microbiological methods to assess the present water quality in the river. The results indicated high turbidity, gross microbiological and cadmium pollution. Turbidity values ranged from 0.28 NTU to 1 899 NTU highlighting the known problem of ...

  5. Export of nitrogen from catchments: A worldwide analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alvarez-Cobelas, M.; Angeler, D.G.; Sanchez-Carrillo, S.

    2008-01-01

    This study reviews nitrogen export rates from 946 rivers of the world to determine the influence of quantitative (runoff, rainfall, inhabitant density, catchment area, percentage of land use cover, airborne deposition, fertilizer input) and qualitative (dominant type of forest, occurrence of stagnant waterbodies, dominant land use, occurrence of point sources, runoff type) environmental factors on nitrogen fluxes. All fractions (total, nitrate, ammonia, dissolved organic and particulate organic) of nitrogen export showed a left-skewed distribution, which suggests a relatively pristine condition for most systems. Total nitrogen export showed the highest variability whereas total organic nitrogen export comprised the dominant fraction of export. Nitrogen export rates were only weakly explained by our qualitative and quantitative environmental variables. Our study suggests that the consideration of spatial and temporal scales is important for predicting nitrogen export rates using simple and easy-to-get environmental variables. Regionally based modelling approaches prove more useful than global-scale analyses. - Spatial and temporal scales are important determinants for nitrogen export from catchments and emphasis should be put on regional approaches

  6. Sediment fingerprinting in agricultural catchments: A critical re-examination of source discrimination and data corrections

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Hugh G.; Blake, William H.

    2014-01-01

    Fine sediment source fingerprinting techniques have been widely applied in agricultural river catchments. Successful source discrimination in agricultural environments depends on the key assumption that land-use source signatures imprinted on catchment soils are decipherable from those due to other landscape factors affecting soil and sediment properties. In this study, we re-examine this critical assumption by investigating (i) the physical and chemical basis for source discrimination and (ii) potential factors that may confound source un-mixing in agricultural catchments, including particle size and organic matter effects on tracer properties. The study is situated in the River Tamar, a predominantly agricultural catchment (920 km2) in south-west England that has also been affected by mining. Source discrimination focused on pasture and cultivated land uses and channel banks. Monthly, time-integrated suspended sediment samples were collected across seven catchments for a 12-month period. Physical and chemical properties measured in source soils and sediment included fallout radionuclides (137Cs, excess 210Pb), major and minor element geochemical constituents, total organic carbon and particle size. Source discrimination was entirely dependent on differences in tracer property concentrations between surface and sub-surface soils. This is based on fallout radionuclide concentrations that are surface-elevated, while many geochemical properties are surface-depleted due to weathering and pedogenetic effects, although surface soil contamination can reverse this trend. However, source discrimination in the study catchments was limited by (i) rotation of cultivated and pasture fields resulting in reduced differences between these two sources, and (ii) the cultivated source signature resembling a mix of the pasture and channel bank sources for many tracer properties. Furthermore, a combination of metal pollution from abandoned historic mines and organic enrichment of

  7. The contemporary geomorphology of the Letaba River in the Kruger National Park

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B.P. Moon

    2001-07-01

    Full Text Available The Letaba River drains part of Northern Province in north-east South Africa. Its catchment has been modified significantly by human activity which has affected the flow regime; it experiences only ephemeral flows through the Kruger National Park to its confluence with the Olifants River. Although the Letaba is similar to the other rivers in the Kruger National Park in that it displays some bedrock influenced channel features, increased sediment delivery from the degraded catchment upstream has resulted in extensive alluviation within the channel. Sections of channel flowing over bedrock with no sediment covering are rare, and the river comprises a series of channel types: mixed anastomosing, alluvial braided, mixed pool-rapid and alluvial single thread. Each is characterised by a different combination of morphological units which relate to the degree of alluviation in the channel. These channel types are described in detail and inferences are made concerning their formation and maintenance from field observation and measurement.

  8. Continuous catchment-scale monitoring of geomorphic processes with a 2-D seismological array

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burtin, A.; Hovius, N.; Milodowski, D.; Chen, Y.-G.; Wu, Y.-M.; Lin, C.-W.; Chen, H.

    2012-04-01

    The monitoring of geomorphic processes during extreme climatic events is of a primary interest to estimate their impact on the landscape dynamics. However, available techniques to survey the surface activity do not provide a relevant time and/or space resolution. Furthermore, these methods hardly investigate the dynamics of the events since their detection are made a posteriori. To increase our knowledge of the landscape evolution and the influence of extreme climatic events on a catchment dynamics, we need to develop new tools and procedures. In many past works, it has been shown that seismic signals are relevant to detect and locate surface processes (landslides, debris flows). During the 2010 typhoon season, we deployed a network of 12 seismometers dedicated to monitor the surface processes of the Chenyoulan catchment in Taiwan. We test the ability of a two dimensional array and small inter-stations distances (~ 11 km) to map in continuous and at a catchment-scale the geomorphic activity. The spectral analysis of continuous records shows a high-frequency (> 1 Hz) seismic energy that is coherent with the occurrence of hillslope and river processes. Using a basic detection algorithm and a location approach running on the analysis of seismic amplitudes, we manage to locate the catchment activity. We mainly observe short-time events (> 300 occurrences) associated with debris falls and bank collapses during daily convective storms, where 69% of occurrences are coherent with the time distribution of precipitations. We also identify a couple of debris flows during a large tropical storm. In contrast, the FORMOSAT imagery does not detect any activity, which somehow reflects the lack of extreme climatic conditions during the experiment. However, high resolution pictures confirm the existence of links between most of geomorphic events and existing structures (landslide scars, gullies...). We thus conclude to an activity that is dominated by reactivation processes. It

  9. Unravelling mixed sediment signals in the floodplains of the Rhine catchment using end member modelling of grain size distributions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Erkens, G.; Toonen, W.H.J.; Cohen, K.M.; Prins, M.A.

    2013-01-01

    During sediment transport downstream, river systems mix sediments from different parts of their catchments. During deposition, sediments are often unmixed again in different depositional environments (facies). During fluvial transport, between erosion and deposition of sediment, the sediment is

  10. Effects of lakes and reservoirs on annual river nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment export in agricultural and forested landscapes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powers, Stephen M.; Robertson, Dale M.; Stanley, Emily H.

    2014-01-01

    Recently, effects of lakes and reservoirs on river nutrient export have been incorporated into landscape biogeochemical models. Because annual export varies with precipitation, there is a need to examine the biogeochemical role of lakes and reservoirs over time frames that incorporate interannual variability in precipitation. We examined long-term (~20 years) time series of river export (annual mass yield, Y, and flow-weighted mean annual concentration, C) for total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and total suspended sediment (TSS) from 54 catchments in Wisconsin, USA. Catchments were classified as small agricultural, large agricultural, and forested by use of a cluster analysis, and these varied in lentic coverage (percentage of catchment lake or reservoir water that was connected to river network). Mean annual export and interannual variability (CV) of export (for both Y and C) were higher in agricultural catchments relative to forested catchments for TP, TN, and TSS. In both agricultural and forested settings, mean and maximum annual TN yields were lower in the presence of lakes and reservoirs, suggesting lentic denitrification or N burial. There was also evidence of long-term lentic TP and TSS retention, especially when viewed in terms of maximum annual yield, suggesting sedimentation during high loading years. Lentic catchments had lower interannual variability in export. For TP and TSS, interannual variability in mass yield was often >50% higher than interannual variability in water yield, whereas TN variability more closely followed water (discharge) variability. Our results indicate that long-term mass export through rivers depends on interacting terrestrial, aquatic, and meteorological factors in which the presence of lakes and reservoirs can reduce the magnitude of export, stabilize interannual variability in export, as well as introduce export time lags.

  11. Sediment sources in the Upper Severn catchment: a fingerprinting approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. L. Collins

    1997-01-01

    Full Text Available Suspended sediment sources in the Upper Severn catchment are quantified using a composite fingerprinting technique combining statistically-verified signatures with a multivariate mixing model. Composite fingerprints are developed from a suite of diagnostic properties comprising trace metal (Fe, Mn, AI, heavy metal (Cu, Zn, Pb, Cr, Co, Ni, base cation (Na, Mg, Ca, K, organic (C, N, radiometric (137Cs, 210Pb, and other (total P determinands. A numerical mixing model, to compare the fingerprints of contemporary catchment source materials with those of fluvial suspended sediment in transit and those of recent overbank floodplain deposits, provides a means of quantifying present and past sediment sources respectively. Sources are classified in terms of eroding surface soils under different land uses and channel banks. Eroding surface soils are the most important source of the contemporary suspended sediment loads sampled at the Institute of Hydrology flow gauging stations at Plynlimon and at Abermule. The erosion of forest soils, associated with the autumn and winter commercial activities of the Forestry Commission, is particularly evident. Reconstruction of sediment provenance over the recent past using a sediment core from the active river floodpiain at Abermule, in conjunction with a 137Cs chronology, demonstrates the significance of recent phases of afforestation and deforestation for accelerated catchment soil erosion.

  12. Temporal and spatial distribution of isotopes in river water in Central Europe: 50 years experience with the Austrian network of isotopes in rivers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rank, Dieter; Wyhlidal, Stefan; Schott, Katharina; Weigand, Silvia; Oblin, Armin

    2018-05-01

    The Austrian network of isotopes in rivers comprises about 15 sampling locations and has been operated since 1976. The Danube isotope time series goes back to 1963. The isotopic composition of river water in Central Europe is mainly governed by the isotopic composition of precipitation in the catchment area; evaporation effects play only a minor role. Short-term and long-term isotope signals in precipitation are thus transmitted through the whole catchment. The influence of climatic changes has become observable in the long-term stable isotope time series of precipitation and surface waters. Environmental 3 H values were around 8 TU in 2015, short-term 3 H pulses up to about 80 TU in the rivers Danube and March were a consequence of releases from nuclear power plants. The complete isotope data series of this network will be included in the Global Network of Isotopes in Rivers database of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2017. This article comprises a review of 50 years isotope monitoring on rivers and is also intended to provide base information on the (isotope-)hydrological conditions in Central Europe specifically for the end-users of these data, e.g. for modelling hydrological processes. Furthermore, this paper includes the 2006-2015 supplement adding to the Danube isotope set published earlier.

  13. Potential possibilities of water retention in agricultural loess catchments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zubala Tomasz

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The growing water deficit and the increased demand for water, as well as economic problems and inadequate spatial planning in many regions indicate a necessity of developing more effective rules of programming and realisation of works concerning the water management in small catchments. The paper presents a sample analysis of the possibilities of increasing water retention in the agricultural loess catchments with periodic streams. The scope of the study included the determination of physical parameters of selected sub-catchments (geometry, soil cover, land use, etc. and of the sources of threat to water resources, resulting from construction and geomorphological conditions. Pre-design assumptions of dammings were developed, taking into account anti-erosion protective measures, and treatments increasing the landscape retention of water were proposed. Creating surface retention objects should be an important source of water in simplified agroecosystems, especially in regions, where productivity to a great extent depends on natural weather conditions. Proper management of the fourth-order loess basin of the Ciemięga River (area of about 150 km2, the presence of 50 lateral valleys could give a temporary reservoir retention reaching 500 thousand m3. Farmers should be encouraged to seek “own water sources” (including the accumulation of water within wasteland, using appropriate economic instruments (tax reliefs for the documented volume of retained water, e.g. in small retention reservoirs.

  14. Distinguishing spatiotemporal variability of sediment sources in small urbanized catchment as a response to urban expansion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belyaev, Vladimir; Feoktistov, Artem; Huygens, Dries; Shamshurina, Eugenia; Golosov, Valentin

    2014-05-01

    Understanding hydrological response and geomorphic behavior of small catchments in urban environments, especially those experiencing urban expansion, represents serious and important problem which has not yet been given an adequate research attention. Urbanization exerts profound and diverse impacts on catchment characteristics, particularly by increasing surface runoff coefficients, peak flow discharges and rates of flash flood waves propagation as a result of widespread appearance of buildings and paved surfaces with practically zero infiltration capacities. Another essential influence of urbanization on small catchment hydrological regimes is associated with significant changes of natural topography (from relatively minor modifications such as grading of steeper slopes to complete transformations including total filling of gullies and small valleys, transfer of small streams from surface into underground pipes or collectors, etc.) combined with creation of systems of concrete-protected surface drainages and underground storm flow sewages. Such activities can result in substantial changes of runoff- and sediment-contributing areas for the remaining gullies and small valleys in comparison to the pre-urbanization conditions, causing dramatic increase of fluvial activity in some of those and much lower flow discharges in others. In addition, gullies and small valleys in urban settlements often become sites of dumping for both dry and liquid domestic and industrial wastes, thus being major pathways for dissolved and particle-bound pollutant transfer into perennial streams and rivers. All the problems listed require detailed hydrological and geomorphic investigations in order to provide sound basis for developing appropriate measures aimed to control and decrease urban erosion, sediment redistribution, pollution of water bodies, damage to constructions and communications. Recent advances in sediment tracing and fingerprinting techniques provide promising opportunities

  15. Importance of bottom-up approach in water management - sustainable development of catchment areas in Croatia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pavic, M.; Cosic-Flajsig, G.; Petricec, M.; Blazevic, Z.

    2012-04-01

    Association for preservation of Croatian waters and sea SLAP is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that gathers more than 150 scientist, hydrologist and civil engineers. SLAP has been established in 2006 and since then had organized many conferences and participated in projects dealing with water management. We have started our work developing plans to secure water supply to the 22 (21) villages in the rural parts of Dubrovnik (Pozega) area and trough the years we have accumulated knowledge and experience in dealing with stakeholders in hydrology and water management. Within this paper we will present importance of bottom-up approach to the stakeholders in water management in Croatia on two case studies: (1) Management of River Trebizat catchment area - irrigation of the Imotsko-Bekijsko rural parts; (2) Development of multipurpose water reservoirs at the River Orljava catchment area. Both projects were designed in the mid and late 1980's but due to the war were forgotten and on halt. River Trebizat meanders between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and acquires joint management by both countries. In 2010 and 2011 SLAP has organized conferences in both countries gathering all the relevant stakeholders from representatives of local and state governments, water management companies and development agencies to the scientist and interested NGO's. The conferences gave firm scientific background of the topic including presentation of all previous studies and measurements as well as model results but presented in manner appropriate to the stakeholders. The main result of the conference was contribution to the development of joint cross-border project sent to the EU Pre-Accession funds in December 2011 with the aim to strengthen capacities of both countries and prepare larger project dealing with management of the whole Trebizat catchment area to EU structural funds once Croatia enters EU in 2013. Similar approach was taken for the Orljava catchment in the northern

  16. Ecohydrological modelling of water discharge and nitrate loads in a mesoscale lowland catchment, Germany

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. Fohrer

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available The aims of this study are to identify the capacities of applying an ecohydrological model for simulating flow and to assess the impact of point and non-point source pollution on nitrate loads in a complex lowland catchment, which has special hydrological characteristics in comparison with those of other catchments. The study area Kielstau catchment has a size of approximately 50 km2 and is located in the North German lowlands. The water quality is not only influenced by the predominating agricultural land use in the catchment as cropland and pasture, but also by six municipal wastewater treatment plants.

    Ecohydrological models like the SWAT model (Soil and Water Assessment Tool are useful tools for simulating nutrient loads in river catchments. Diffuse entries from the agriculture resulting from fertilizers as well as punctual entries from the wastewater treatment plants are implemented in the model set-up.

    The results of this study show good agreement between simulated and measured daily discharges with a Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency and a correlation coefficient of 0.76 and 0.88 for the calibration period (November 1998 to October 2004; 0.75 and 0.92 for the validation period (November 2004 to December 2007. The model efficiency for daily nitrate loads is 0.64 and 0.5 for the calibration period (June 2005 to May 2007 and the validation period (June 2007 to December 2007, respectively. The study revealed that SWAT performed satisfactorily in simulating daily flow and nitrate loads at the lowland catchment in Northern Germany.

  17. Final report on impact of catchment scale processes and climate change on cause-effect and recovery-chains

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verdonschot, P.F.M.; Keizer-Vlek, H.E.; Spears, B.; Brucet, S.; Johnson, R.; Feld, C.; Kernan, M.

    2012-01-01

    Catchment wide integrated basin management requires knowledge on cause-effect and recovery chains within water bodies as well as on the interactions between water bodies and categories. In the WISER WP6.4 recovery processes in rivers, lakes and estuarine and coastal waters were evaluated. The major

  18. Characterizing chromophoric dissolved organic matter in Lake Tianmuhu and its catchment basin using excitation-emission matrix fluorescence and parallel factor analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yunlin; Yin, Yan; Feng, Longqing; Zhu, Guangwei; Shi, Zhiqiang; Liu, Xiaohan; Zhang, Yuanzhi

    2011-10-15

    Chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) is an important optically active substance that transports nutrients, heavy metals, and other pollutants from terrestrial to aquatic systems and is used as a measure of water quality. To investigate how the source and composition of CDOM changes in both space and time, we used chemical, spectroscopic, and fluorescence analyses to characterize CDOM in Lake Tianmuhu (a drinking water source) and its catchment in China. Parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) identified three individual fluorophore moieties that were attributed to humic-like and protein-like materials in 224 water samples collected between December 2008 and September 2009. The upstream rivers contained significantly higher concentrations of CDOM than did the lake water (a(350) of 4.27±2.51 and 2.32±0.59 m(-1), respectively), indicating that the rivers carried a substantial load of organic matter to the lake. Of the three main rivers that flow into Lake Tianmuhu, the Pingqiao River brought in the most CDOM from the catchment to the lake. CDOM absorption and the microbial and terrestrial humic-like components, but not the protein-like component, were significantly higher in the wet season than in other seasons, indicating that the frequency of rainfall and runoff could significantly impact the quantity and quality of CDOM collected from the catchment. The different relationships between the maximum fluorescence intensities of the three PARAFAC components, CDOM absorption, and chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentration in riverine and lake water indicated the difference in the composition of CDOM between Lake Tianmuhu and the rivers that feed it. This study demonstrates the utility of combining excitation-emission matrix fluorescence and PARAFAC to study CDOM dynamics in inland waters. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. "Upstream Thinking": the catchment management approach of a water provider

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grand-Clement, E.; Ross, M.; Smith, D.; Anderson, K.; Luscombe, D.; Le Feuvre, N.; Brazier, R. E.

    2012-04-01

    Human activities have large impacts on water quality and provision. Water companies throughout the UK are faced with the consequences of poor land management and need to find appropriate solutions to decreasing water quality. This is particularly true in the South West of England, where 93% of the drinking water is sourced from rivers and reservoirs: large areas of drained peatlands (i.e. Exmoor and Dartmoor National Parks) are responsible for a significant input of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) discolouring the water, whilst poorly managed farming activities can lead to diffuse pollution. Alongside the direct environmental implications, poor water quality is partly increasing water treatment costs and will drive significant future investment in additional water treatment, with further repercussions on customers. This highlights the need for water companies throughout the UK, and further afield, to be more involved in catchment management. "Upstream Thinking" is South West Water's (SWW) approach to catchment management, where working with stakeholders to improve water quality upstream aims to avoid increasingly costly solutions downstream. This approach has led the company to invest in two major areas of work: (1) The Farmland programme where problematic farm management practices and potential solutions are identified, typically 40% of the required investment is then offered in exchange for a legal undertaking to maintain the new farm assets in good condition for 25 years; (2) The Mires programme which involves heavy investment in peatland restoration through the blocking of open ditches in order to improve water storage and quality in the long term. From these two projects, it has been clear that stakeholder involvement of groups such as local farmers, the Westcountry Rivers Trust, the Exmoor National Park Authority, the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Exmoor Society is essential, first because it draws in catchment improvement expertise which is not

  20. Remotely Sensed, catchment scale, estimations of flow resistance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carbonneau, P.; Dugdale, S. J.

    2009-12-01

    Despite a decade of progress in the field of fluvial remote sensing, there are few published works using this new technology to advance and explore fundamental ideas and theories in fluvial geomorphology. This paper will apply remote sensing methods in order to re-visit a classic concept in fluvial geomorphology: flow resistance. Classic flow resistance equations such as those of Strickler and Keulegan typically use channel slope, channel depth or hydraulic radius and some measure channel roughness usually equated to the 50th or 84th percentile of the bed material size distribution. In this classic literature, empirical equations such as power laws are usually calibrated and validated with a maximum of a few hundred data points. In contrast, fluvial remote sensing methods are now capable of delivering millions of high resolution data points in continuous, catchment scale, surveys. On the river Tromie in Scotland, a full dataset or river characteristics is now available. Based on low altitude imagery and NextMap topographic data, this dataset has a continuous sampling of channel width at a resolution of 3cm, of depth and median grain size at a resolution of 1m, and of slope at a resolution of 5m. This entire data set is systematic and continuous for the entire 20km length of the river. When combined with discharge at the time of data acquisition, this new dataset offers the opportunity to re-examine flow resistance equations with a 2-4 orders of magnitude increase in calibration data. This paper will therefore re-examine the classic approaches of Strickler and Keulagan along with other more recent flow resistance equations. Ultimately, accurate predictions of flow resistance from remotely sensed parameters could lead to acceptable predictions of velocity. Such a usage of classic equations to predict velocity could allow lotic habitat models to account for microhabitat velocity at catchment scales without the recourse to advanced and computationally intensive

  1. Ecosystem Effects from Nutrient and Pesticide Pollutants: Catchment Care as a Solution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kathleen H Bowmer

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Agricultural chemicals include fertilisers (nitrogen and phosphorus and biocides (herbicides, fungicides and insecticides. Environmental impacts in surface waters include algal blooms and disruption to ecological function. Strategies for protection of rivers from eutrophication include improved agricultural land management, conservation farming methods, recycling or retention of drainage and runoff water, and use of buffer strips and riparian vegetation for filtration. Reduction in pesticide use has been achieved by improved application technologies, precision farming, adoption of organic farming, and use of biological control methods. Australian river health audits show widespread deterioration, and protection using the “Polluter Pays Principle” is attractive. However, who should pay for environmental assessment, for adoption of new technologies or change in land use, and how will this be determined? Unfortunately, as demonstrated in two case studies on algal blooms and cotton pesticides, the links between pollutant source and environmental impact remain poorly understood, and the complexity of assessing environmental benefit of agricultural changes makes sheeting home the costs of pollution sources difficult. Alternatives to imposition of penalties include catchment-based targets and guidelines, benchmarking, and adoption of best management practice with an emphasis on incentives and encouragement. Many strategies for risk reduction in agricultural cropping systems are available for inclusion in a “Catchment Care” approach.

  2. Combining satellite radar altimetry, SAR surface soil moisture and GRACE total storage changes for hydrological model calibration in a large poorly gauged catchment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Milzow

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available The availability of data is a major challenge for hydrological modelling in large parts of the world. Remote sensing data can be exploited to improve models of ungauged or poorly gauged catchments. In this study we combine three datasets for calibration of a rainfall-runoff model of the poorly gauged Okavango catchment in Southern Africa: (i surface soil moisture (SSM estimates derived from radar measurements onboard the Envisat satellite; (ii radar altimetry measurements by Envisat providing river stages in the tributaries of the Okavango catchment, down to a minimum river width of about one hundred meters; and (iii temporal changes of the Earth's gravity field recorded by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE caused by total water storage changes in the catchment. The SSM data are shown to be helpful in identifying periods with over-respectively underestimation of the precipitation input. The accuracy of the radar altimetry data is validated on gauged subbasins of the catchment and altimetry data of an ungauged subbasin is used for model calibration. The radar altimetry data are important to condition model parameters related to channel morphology such as Manning's roughness. GRACE data are used to validate the model and to condition model parameters related to various storage compartments in the hydrological model (e.g. soil, groundwater, bank storage etc.. As precipitation input the FEWS-Net RFE, TRMM 3B42 and ECMWF ERA-Interim datasets are considered and compared.

  3. Land-use impacts on fatty acid profiles of suspended particulate organic matter along a larger tropical river

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Boëchat, Iola; Krüger, Angela; Chavez, R.C.

    2014-01-01

    (SPOM-FAs) as indicators of land-use change in tropical catchments, and at identifying major human impacts on the biochemical composition of SPOM, which represents an important basal energy and organic matter resource for aquatic consumers. River water SPOM and total FA concentrations ranged between 2......Land-use change, such as agricultural expansion and urbanization, can affect riverine biological diversity and ecosystem functioning. Identifying the major stressors associated with catchment land-use change is a prerequisite for devising successful river conservation and restoration strategies...

  4. Understanding the mobilisation of metal pollution associated with historical mining in a carboniferous upland catchment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valencia-Avellan, Magaly; Slack, Rebecca; Stockdale, Anthony; Mortimer, Robert John George

    2017-08-16

    Point and diffuse pollution from metal mining has led to severe environmental damage worldwide. Mine drainage is a significant problem for riverine ecosystems, it is commonly acidic (AMD), but neutral mine drainage (NMD) can also occur. A representative environment for studying metal pollution from NMD is provided by carboniferous catchments characterised by a circumneutral pH and high concentrations of carbonates, supporting the formation of secondary metal-minerals as potential sinks of metals. The present study focuses on understanding the mobility of metal pollution associated with historical mining in a carboniferous upland catchment. In the uplands of the UK, river water, sediments and spoil wastes were collected over a period of fourteen months, samples were chemically analysed to identify the main metal sources and their relationships with geological and hydrological factors. Correlation tests and principal component analysis suggest that the underlying limestone bedrock controls pH and weathering reactions. Significant metal concentrations from mining activities were measured for zinc (4.3 mg l -1 ), and lead (0.3 mg l -1 ), attributed to processes such as oxidation of mined ores (e.g. sphalerite, galena) or dissolution of precipitated secondary metal-minerals (e.g. cerussite, smithsonite). Zinc and lead mobility indicated strong dependence on biogeochemistry and hydrological conditions (e.g. pH and flow) at specific locations in the catchment. Annual loads of zinc and lead (2.9 and 0.2 tonnes per year) demonstrate a significant source of both metals to downstream river reaches. Metal pollution results in a large area of catchment having a depleted chemical status with likely effects on the aquatic ecology. This study provides an improved understanding of geological and hydrological processes controlling water chemistry, which is critical to assessing metal sources and mobilization, especially in neutral mine drainage areas.

  5. A practical demonstration in modelling diclofenac and propranolol river water concentrations using a GIS hydrology model in a rural UK catchment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Johnson, A.C. [Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) Wallingford, Benson Lane, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB (United Kingdom)]. E-mail: ajo@ceh.ac.uk; Keller, V. [Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) Wallingford, Benson Lane, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB (United Kingdom); Williams, R.J. [Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) Wallingford, Benson Lane, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB (United Kingdom); Young, A. [Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) Wallingford, Benson Lane, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB (United Kingdom)

    2007-03-15

    An existing GIS hydrology water quality model, LF2000-WQX, was applied to predict the concentrations of the pharmaceuticals diclofenac and propranalol in catchments. As a practical exercise the predominantly rural Tamar (UK) catchment was chosen. Consumption, excretion, and fate data were used to estimate the pharmaceutical input load for the model. The predicted concentrations throughout most of the catchment were 1 ng/L or less under low flow (90th percentile) conditions. However, at a few locations, downstream of small sewage treatment plants, concentrations above 25 ng/L were predicted. This exercise shows that it is relatively straightforward to predict the concentrations of new and emerging organic microcontaminants in real catchments using existing GIS hydrology water quality models. Further testing will be required to establish their accuracy. - A GIS hydrology model was used to predict pharmaceutical concentration hot spots in a rural catchment.

  6. A practical demonstration in modelling diclofenac and propranolol river water concentrations using a GIS hydrology model in a rural UK catchment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, A.C.; Keller, V.; Williams, R.J.; Young, A.

    2007-01-01

    An existing GIS hydrology water quality model, LF2000-WQX, was applied to predict the concentrations of the pharmaceuticals diclofenac and propranalol in catchments. As a practical exercise the predominantly rural Tamar (UK) catchment was chosen. Consumption, excretion, and fate data were used to estimate the pharmaceutical input load for the model. The predicted concentrations throughout most of the catchment were 1 ng/L or less under low flow (90th percentile) conditions. However, at a few locations, downstream of small sewage treatment plants, concentrations above 25 ng/L were predicted. This exercise shows that it is relatively straightforward to predict the concentrations of new and emerging organic microcontaminants in real catchments using existing GIS hydrology water quality models. Further testing will be required to establish their accuracy. - A GIS hydrology model was used to predict pharmaceutical concentration hot spots in a rural catchment

  7. Demonstrating the viability and value of community-based monitoring schemes in catchment science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Starkey, Eleanor; Parkin, Geoff; Quinn, Paul; Large, Andy

    2016-04-01

    Hydrological catchments are complex systems which need to be monitored over time in order to characterise their behaviour on a local level, model, implement mitigation measures and meet policy targets. Despite hydrometric monitoring techniques being well developed, data is often inadequate within rural areas. Local knowledge and experiences are also vital sources of information in this sector but they are not routinely harvested. Long-term evidence is required to provide stakeholders with confidence and innovation is required to fully engage with and inform the public. Citizen science and volunteered geographical information (VGI) projects are encouraging volunteers to participate in crowdsourcing activities and generate new knowledge, but they have not been fully investigated within catchment science. A citizen science approach has therefore been implemented within the 42km2 Haltwhistle Burn catchment (northern England) using effective engagement techniques. This catchment responds rapidly, experiences flash flood events, and like many, it does not benefit from any traditional monitoring equipment. Participation levels confirm that members of the public do want to monitor their local water environment, with flooding being a key driver. Regular 'River Watch' volunteers and passers-by are sharing their knowledge and monitoring rainfall, river levels, water quality parameters, sediment issues, flood events and performance of flood risk management features. This has enabled a variety of low-cost data collection and submission tools to be tested over a two year period. Training has encouraged good quality data to be collected and volunteers are ready to capture meaningful information during unexpected flood events. Although volunteers are capable of collecting quantitative information, photographs and videos are submitted more readily. Twitter has also been used to share real-time observations successfully. A traditional monitoring network has been running in parallel

  8. Attributes for NHDPlus Catchments (Version 1.1) for the Conterminous United States: Mean Annual R-factor, 1971-2000

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wieczorek, Michael; LaMotte, Andrew E.

    2010-01-01

    This data set represents the average annual R-factor, rainfall-runoff erosivity measure, compiled for every catchment of NHDPlus for the conterminous United States. The source data are from Christopher Daly of the Spatial Climate Analysis Service, Oregon State University, and George Taylor of the Oregon Climate Service, Oregon State University (2002), who developed spatially distributed estimates of R-factor for the period 1971-2000 for the conterminous United States. The NHDPlus Version 1.1 is an integrated suite of application-ready geospatial datasets that incorporates many of the best features of the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) and the National Elevation Dataset (NED). The NHDPlus includes a stream network (based on the 1:100,00-scale NHD), improved networking, naming, and value-added attributes (VAAs). NHDPlus also includes elevation-derived catchments (drainage areas) produced using a drainage enforcement technique first widely used in New England, and thus referred to as "the New England Method." This technique involves "burning in" the 1:100,000-scale NHD and when available building "walls" using the National Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD). The resulting modified digital elevation model (HydroDEM) is used to produce hydrologic derivatives that agree with the NHD and WBD. Over the past two years, an interdisciplinary team from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), and contractors, found that this method produces the best quality NHD catchments using an automated process (USEPA, 2007). The NHDPlus dataset is organized by 18 Production Units that cover the conterminous United States. The NHDPlus version 1.1 data are grouped by the U.S. Geologic Survey's Major River Basins (MRBs, Crawford and others, 2006). MRB1, covering the New England and Mid-Atlantic River basins, contains NHDPlus Production Units 1 and 2. MRB2, covering the South Atlantic-Gulf and Tennessee River basins, contains NHDPlus

  9. In Hot Water. A study on sociotechnical intervention models and practices of water use in smallholder agriculture, Nyanyadzi catchment, Zimbabwe

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bolding, J.A.

    2004-01-01

    This study focuses on intervention processes in smallholder agriculture in the Nyanyadzi river catchment, located in Chimanimani district, Manicaland Province Zimbabwe. In particular it concerns itself with sociotechnical interventions that were implemented by Agritex, the local extension and

  10. IDENTIFICATION OF DANGER ZONES FOR SURFACE WATER USING GIS (SIP – MAPINFO SYSTEM ON AN EXAMPLE OF UPPER NAREW RIVER CATCHMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mirosław Skorbiłowicz

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Creating the buffer zones is a function intended to designate an area in particular, of a constant distance around the spatial objects. The aim of the study was to create maps as thematic layers, which served to identify areas of existing and potential contamination of surface water and other environmental elements. Among others, it made possible to localize the areas potentially affected by the surface water pollution due to transport; localize the areas potentially affected by the surface water pollution due to the discharge of sewage from human settlements; localize the zones with mitigated impact of communication emissions due to the natural protection of forests taking the form of so-called geochemical barriers. The spatial analyzes allowed to generate model-zones of the existing and potential threat of water pollution in the Narew river catchment. Designated danger zones can be verified by studies as well as they can be very helpful in determining the monitoring network and for water quality modeling process.

  11. Controls on inorganic nitrogen leaching from Finnish catchments assessed using a sensitivity and uncertainty analysis of the INCA-N model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rankinen, K.; Granlund, K. [Finnish Environmental Inst., Helsinki (Finland); Futter, M. N. [Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala (Sweden)

    2013-11-01

    The semi-distributed, dynamic INCA-N model was used to simulate the behaviour of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in two Finnish research catchments. Parameter sensitivity and model structural uncertainty were analysed using generalized sensitivity analysis. The Mustajoki catchment is a forested upstream catchment, while the Savijoki catchment represents intensively cultivated lowlands. In general, there were more influential parameters in Savijoki than Mustajoki. Model results were sensitive to N-transformation rates, vegetation dynamics, and soil and river hydrology. Values of the sensitive parameters were based on long-term measurements covering both warm and cold years. The highest measured DIN concentrations fell between minimum and maximum values estimated during the uncertainty analysis. The lowest measured concentrations fell outside these bounds, suggesting that some retention processes may be missing from the current model structure. The lowest concentrations occurred mainly during low flow periods; so effects on total loads were small. (orig.)

  12. Vallerani Micro-Catchment Infiltration Dynamics and Erosion from Simulated Rainfall and Concentrated Flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Founds, M. J.; McGwire, K.; Weltz, M.

    2017-12-01

    Critical research gaps in rangeland hydrology still exist on the impact of conservation practices on erosion and subsequent mobilization of dissolved solids to streams. This study develops the scientific foundation necessary to better understand how a restoration strategy using a Vallerani Plow can be optimized to minimize erosion from rainfall impact and concentrated flow. Use of the Vallerani system has been proposed for use in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB), where rapidly eroding rangelands contribute high salt loads to the Colorado River at a significant economic cost. The poster presentation will document the findings from a series of physical rainfall and concentrated flow simulations taking place at an experimental site northeast of Reno, NV in early August. A Walnut Gulch Rainfall simulator is used to apply variable intensity and duration rainfall events to micro-catchment structures created by the Vallerani Plow. The erosion and deposition caused by simulated rainfall will be captured from multi-angle photography using structure from motion (SFM) to create sub-centimeter 3-D models between each rainfall event. A rill-simulator also will be used to apply large volumes of concentrated flow to Vallerani micro-catchments, testing the point at which their infiltration capacity is exceeded and micro-catchments are overtopped. This information is important to adequately space structures on a given hillslope so that chances of failure are minimized. Measurements of saturated hydraulic conductivity and sorptivity from a Guelph Permeameter will be compared to the experimental results in order to develop an efficient method for surveying new terrain for treatment with the Vallerani plow. The effect of micro-catchments on surface flow and erosion will eventually be incorporated into the process-based Rangeland Hydrology and Erosion Model (RHEM) to create a tool that provides decision makers with quantitative estimates of potential reductions in erosion when

  13. Health at the Sub-catchment Scale: Typhoid and Its Environmental Determinants in Central Division, Fiji.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jenkins, Aaron Peter; Jupiter, Stacy; Mueller, Ute; Jenney, Adam; Vosaki, Gandercillar; Rosa, Varanisese; Naucukidi, Alanieta; Mulholland, Kim; Strugnell, Richard; Kama, Mike; Horwitz, Pierre

    2016-12-01

    The impact of environmental change on transmission patterns of waterborne enteric diseases is a major public health concern. This study concerns the burden and spatial nature of enteric fever, attributable to Salmonella Typhi infection in the Central Division, Republic of Fiji at a sub-catchment scale over 30-months (2013-2015). Quantitative spatial analysis suggested relationships between environmental conditions of sub-catchments and incidence and recurrence of typhoid fever. Average incidence per inhabited sub-catchment for the Central Division was high at 205.9/100,000, with cases recurring in each calendar year in 26% of sub-catchments. Although the numbers of cases were highest within dense, urban coastal sub-catchments, the incidence was highest in low-density mountainous rural areas. Significant environmental determinants at this scale suggest increased risk of exposure where sediment yields increase following runoff. The study suggests that populations living on large systems that broaden into meandering mid-reaches and floodplains with alluvial deposition are at a greater risk compared to small populations living near small, erosional, high-energy headwaters and small streams unconnected to large hydrological networks. This study suggests that anthropogenic alteration of land cover and hydrology (particularly via fragmentation of riparian forest and connectivity between road and river networks) facilitates increased transmission of typhoid fever and that environmental transmission of typhoid fever is important in Fiji.

  14. Effects of land use change on streamflow and stream water quality of a coastal catchment

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Petersen, Chantel R

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Main stream length (km) 28.4 19.46 Main stream slope (%) 3.4 2.6 Drainage density (km/km2) 2.51 3.59 Length of overland flow (km) 0.19 0.139   Figure 1    Figure 1 Catchments of the Touws and Duiwe Rivers 141 http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/wsa.v43i1... catchment throughout the period examined (Fig. 2a, Table 3), as the natural forest areas were formally protected from the 142 http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/wsa.v43i1.16 Available on website http://www.wrc.org.za ISSN 1816-7950 (Online) = Water SA Vol. 43 No. 1...

  15. Energy Fluxes above Three Disparate Surfaces in a Temperate Mesoscale Coastal Catchment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ringgaard, Rasmus; Herbst, Mathias; Friborg, Thomas

    2011-01-01

    This study is part of the long-term catchment-scale hydrological observatory, HOBE, situated in the Skjern River catchment covering 2500 km2 on the western coast of Denmark. To gain a more detailed knowledge of how evapotranspiration is controlled by the local surface and atmospheric processes......, eddy-covariance systems have been installed over an agricultural field, over a spruce [Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.] plantation, and on wet grassland. Measurements started in fall 2008, and the first annual series showed large differences in evaporative response among the surfaces. The annual sum...... was about 500 mm for the wet grassland and spruce plantation, while it was about 300 mm for the irrigated agricultural site. In winter, the actual evapotranspiration rate of the grassland and the forest were much larger than the available energy evaluated from the radiation balance, while at the same time...

  16. Extreme river flow dependence in Northern Scotland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Villoria, M. Franco; Scott, M.; Hoey, T.; Fischbacher-Smith, D.

    2012-04-01

    Various methods for the spatial analysis of hydrologic data have been developed recently. Here we present results using the conditional probability approach proposed by Keef et al. [Appl. Stat. (2009): 58,601-18] to investigate spatial interdependence in extreme river flows in Scotland. This approach does not require the specification of a correlation function, being mostly suitable for relatively small geographical areas. The work is motivated by the Flood Risk Management Act (Scotland (2009)) which requires maps of flood risk that take account of spatial dependence in extreme river flow. The method is based on two conditional measures of spatial flood risk: firstly the conditional probability PC(p) that a set of sites Y = (Y 1,...,Y d) within a region C of interest exceed a flow threshold Qp at time t (or any lag of t), given that in the specified conditioning site X > Qp; and, secondly the expected number of sites within C that will exceed a flow Qp on average (given that X > Qp). The conditional probabilities are estimated using the conditional distribution of Y |X = x (for large x), which can be modeled using a semi-parametric approach (Heffernan and Tawn [Roy. Statist. Soc. Ser. B (2004): 66,497-546]). Once the model is fitted, pseudo-samples can be generated to estimate functionals of the joint tails of the distribution of (Y,X). Conditional return level plots were directly compared to traditional return level plots thus improving our understanding of the dependence structure of extreme river flow events. Confidence intervals were calculated using block bootstrapping methods (100 replicates). We report results from applying this approach to a set of four rivers (Dulnain, Lossie, Ewe and Ness) in Northern Scotland. These sites were chosen based on data quality, spatial location and catchment characteristics. The river Ness, being the largest (catchment size 1839.1km2) was chosen as the conditioning river. Both the Ewe (441.1km2) and Ness catchments have

  17. Variability in source sediment contributions by applying different statistic test for a Pyrenean catchment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palazón, L; Navas, A

    2017-06-01

    Information on sediment contribution and transport dynamics from the contributing catchments is needed to develop management plans to tackle environmental problems related with effects of fine sediment as reservoir siltation. In this respect, the fingerprinting technique is an indirect technique known to be valuable and effective for sediment source identification in river catchments. Large variability in sediment delivery was found in previous studies in the Barasona catchment (1509 km 2 , Central Spanish Pyrenees). Simulation results with SWAT and fingerprinting approaches identified badlands and agricultural uses as the main contributors to sediment supply in the reservoir. In this study the Kruskal-Wallis H-test and (3) principal components analysis. Source contribution results were different between assessed options with the greatest differences observed for option using #3, including the two step process: principal components analysis and discriminant function analysis. The characteristics of the solutions by the applied mixing model and the conceptual understanding of the catchment showed that the most reliable solution was achieved using #2, the two step process of Kruskal-Wallis H-test and discriminant function analysis. The assessment showed the importance of the statistical procedure used to define the optimum composite fingerprint for sediment fingerprinting applications. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Population demographics of American eels Anguilla rostrata in two Arkansas, U.S.A., catchments that drain into the Gulf of Mexico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cox, C A; Quinn, J W; Lewis, L C; Adams, S R; Adams, G L

    2016-03-01

    The goal of this study was to compare American eel Anguilla rostrata life history in two inland river systems in Arkansas, U.S.A., that ultimately discharge into the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River and the Red-Atchafalaya catchments. From 21 June 2011 to 24 April 2014, 238 yellow-phase A. rostrata were captured in the middle Ouachita River and tributaries using boat electrofishing and 39 in the lower White River using multiple sampling gears. Most of them were caught downstream of dams in both basins (61%). Medium-sized A. rostrata ranging from 225 to 350 mm total length (LT ) were the most abundant size group in the Ouachita River basin, but they were absent from the White River. Mean LT at age 4 years (i.e. youngest shared age) was 150 mm greater for the White River than the Ouachita River basin. Anguilla rostrata appeared to have a greater initial LT (i.e. minimum size upon arrival) in the White River that allowed them to reach a gonado-somatic index (IG ) of 1·5 up to 4 years earlier, and downstream migration appeared to occur 5 years earlier at 100 mm greater LT ; these differences may be related to increased river fragmentation by dams in the Ouachita River basin. Growth and maturation of A. rostrata in this study were more similar to southern populations along the Atlantic coast than other inland populations. Adult swimbladder nematodes Anguillicoloides crassus were not present in any of the 214 swimbladders inspected. Gulf of Mexico catchments may be valuable production areas for A. rostrata and data from these systems should be considered as range-wide protection and management plans are being developed. © 2016 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

  19. GIS-Based KW-GIUH hydrological model of semiarid catchments: The case of Faria Catchment, Palestine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shadeed, S.; Shaheen, H.; Jayyousi, A.

    2007-01-01

    Among the most basic challenges of hydrology are the quantitative understanding of the processes of runoff generation and prediction of flow hydrographs. Traditional techniques have been widely applied for the estimation of runoff hydrographs of gauged catchments using historical rainfall-runoff data and unit hydrographs. Such procedures are questioned as to their reliability and their application to ungauged, arid and semiarid catchments. To overcome such difficulties, the use of physically based rainfall-runoff process of Faria Catchment using the lately developed KW-GIUH. Faria catchment, located in the northeastern part of the West Bank, Palestine, is characterized as a semiarid region with annual rainfall depths ranging on average from 150 to 640 mm at both ends of the catchment. The Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques were used to shape the geomorphological features of the catchment. A GIS based KW-GIUH hydrological model was used to stimulate the rainfall-runoff process in the three sub-catchments of Faria, namely: Al-Badan, Al-Faria and Al-Malaqi. The simulated runoff hydrographs proved that the GIS-based KW-GIUH model is applicable to semiarid regions and can be used to estimate the unit hydrographs in the West Bank catchments. (author)

  20. Hydrochemistry of rivers in an acid sulphate soil hotspot area in western Finland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. ROOS

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available During heavy rains and snow melting, acid sulphate (AS soils on the coastal plains of Finland are flushed resulting in discharge of acidic and metal-rich waters that strongly affect small streams. In this study, the impact of AS soils occurrence and hydrological changes on water quality were determined for 21 rivers (catchment sizes between 96–4122 km2 running through an AS soil hotspot area in western central Finland. Water samples, collected at the outlet, during eight selected events, were analysed for pH, dissolved organic carbon, electrical conductivity (EC and 32 chemical elements. Based on the correlation with percentage arable land in the catchments (a rough estimate of AS soil occurrences, as up to 50% of the arable land is underlain with these soils, it was possible to categorize variables into those that are enriched in runoff from such land, depleted in runoff from such land (only one element, and not affected by land-use type in the catchments. Of the variables enriched in runoff from arable land, some were leached from AS soils during high-water flows, in particular (aluminium, boron, beryllium, cadmium, cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese, nickel, sulphur, silicon, thorium, thallium, uranium, and zinc and others occurred in highest concentrations during lower flows (calcium, EC, potassium, magnesium, sodium, rubidium and strontium. Molybdenum and phosphorus were not leached from AS soils in larger amounts than from other soils and thus related to other factors connected to the arable land. Based on the concentrations of potentially toxic metals derived from AS soils, the 21 rivers were ranked from the least (Lestijoki River, Lapväärtinjoki River and Perhonjoki River to the most (Sulvanjoki River, Vöyrinjoki River and Maalahdenjoki River heavily AS soil impacted. It has been decided that Vöyrinjoki is to be dredged along a ca. 20 km distance. This is quite alarming considering the high metal concentrations in the river.;

  1. Global Drainage Patterns to Modern Terrestrial Sedimentary Basins and its Influence on Large River Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nyberg, B.; Helland-Hansen, W.

    2017-12-01

    Long-term preservation of alluvial sediments is dependent on the hydrological processes that deposit sediments solely within an area that has available accomodation space and net subsidence know as a sedimentary basin. An understanding of the river processes contributing to terrestrial sedimentary basins is essential to fundamentally constrain and quantify controls on the modern terrestrial sink. Furthermore, the terrestrial source to sink controls place constraints on the entire coastal, shelf and deep marine sediment routing systems. In addition, the geographical importance of modern terrestrial sedimentary basins for agriculture and human settlements has resulted in significant upstream anthropogenic catchment modification for irrigation and energy needs. Yet to our knowledge, a global catchment model depicting the drainage patterns to modern terrestrial sedimentary basins has previously not been established that may be used to address these challenging issues. Here we present a new database of 180,737 global catchments that show the surface drainage patterns to modern terrestrial sedimentary basins. This is achieved by using high resolution river networks derived from digital elevation models in relation to newly acquired maps on global modern sedimentary basins to identify terrestrial sinks. The results show that active tectonic regimes are typically characterized by larger terrestrial sedimentary basins, numerous smaller source catchments and a high source to sink relief ratio. To the contrary passive margins drain catchments to smaller terrestrial sedimentary basins, are composed of fewer source catchments that are relatively larger and a lower source to sink relief ratio. The different geomorphological characteristics of source catchments by tectonic setting influence the spatial and temporal patterns of fluvial architecture within sedimentary basins and the anthropogenic methods of exploiting those rivers. The new digital database resource is aimed to help

  2. Climatic and geomorphic drivers of plant organic matter transport in the Arun River, E Nepal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoffmann, Bernd; Feakins, Sarah J.; Bookhagen, Bodo; Olen, Stephanie M.; Adhikari, Danda P.; Mainali, Janardan; Sachse, Dirk

    2016-10-01

    Fixation of atmospheric CO2 in terrestrial vegetation, and subsequent export and deposition of terrestrial plant organic matter in marine sediments is an important component of the global carbon cycle, yet it is difficult to quantify. This is partly due to the lack of understanding of relevant processes and mechanisms responsible for organic-matter transport throughout a landscape. Here we present a new approach to identify terrestrial plant organic matter source areas, quantify contributions and ascertain the role of ecologic, climatic, and geomorphic controls on plant wax export in the Arun River catchment spanning the world's largest elevation gradient from 205 to 8848 m asl, in eastern Nepal. Our approach takes advantage of the distinct stable hydrogen isotopic composition (expressed as δD values) of plant wax n-alkanes produced along this gradient, transported in river waters and deposited in flood deposits alongside the Arun River and its tributaries. In mainstem-flood deposits, we found that plant wax n-alkanes were mostly derived from the lower elevations constituting only a small fraction (15%) of the catchment. Informed by remote sensing data, we tested four differently weighted isotopic mixing models that quantify sourcing of tributary plant-derived organic matter along the Arun and compare it to our field observations. The weighting parameters included catchment area, net primary productivity (NPP) and annual rainfall amount as well as catchment relief as erosion proxy. When weighted by catchment area the isotopic mixing model could not explain field observations on plant wax δD values along the Arun, which is not surprising because the large arid Tibetan Plateau is not expected to be a major source. Weighting areal contributions by annual rainfall and NPP captured field observations within model prediction errors suggesting that plant productivity may influence source strength. However weighting by a combination of rainfall and catchment relief also

  3. Climate-scale modelling of suspended sediment load in an Alpine catchment debris flow (Rio Cordon-northeastern Italy)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diodato, Nazzareno; Mao, Luca; Borrelli, Pasquale; Panagos, Panos; Fiorillo, Francesco; Bellocchi, Gianni

    2018-05-01

    Pulsing storms and prolonged rainfall can drive hydrological damaging events in mountain regions with soil erosion and debris flow in river catchments. The paper presents a parsimonious model for estimating climate forcing on sediment loads in an Alpine catchment (Rio Cordon, northeastern Italian Alps). Hydroclimatic forcing was interpreted by the novel CliSMSSL (Climate-Scale Modelling of Suspended Sediment Load) model to estimate annual sediment loads. We used annual data on suspended-solid loads monitored at an experimental station from 1987 to 2001 and on monthly precipitation data. The quality of sediment load data was critically examined, and one outlying year was identified and removed from further analyses. This outlier revealed that our model underestimates exceptionally high sediment loads in years characterized by a severe flood event. For all other years, the CliSMSSL performed well, with a determination coefficient (R2) equal to 0.67 and a mean absolute error (MAE) of 129 Mg y-1. The calibrated model for the period 1986-2010 was used to reconstruct sediment loads in the river catchment for historical times when detailed precipitation records are not available. For the period 1810-2010, the model results indicate that the past centuries have been characterized by large interannual to interdecadal fluctuations in the conditions affecting sediment loads. This paper argues that climate-induced erosion processes in Alpine areas and their impact on environment should be given more attention in discussions about climate-driven strategies. Future work should focus on delineating the extents of these findings (e.g., at other catchments of the European Alpine belt) as well as investigating the dynamics for the formation of sediment loads.

  4. Tropical Montane Cloud Forests: Hydrometeorological variability in three neighbouring catchments with different forest cover

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramírez, Beatriz H.; Teuling, Adriaan J.; Ganzeveld, Laurens; Hegger, Zita; Leemans, Rik

    2017-09-01

    Mountain areas are characterized by a large heterogeneity in hydrological and meteorological conditions. This heterogeneity is currently poorly represented by gauging networks and by the coarse scale of global and regional climate and hydrological models. Tropical Montane Cloud Forests (TMCFs) are found in a narrow elevation range and are characterized by persistent fog. Their water balance depends on local and upwind temperatures and moisture, therefore, changes in these parameters will alter TMCF hydrology. Until recently the hydrological functioning of TMCFs was mainly studied in coastal regions, while continental TMCFs were largely ignored. This study contributes to fill this gap by focusing on a TMCF which is located on the northern eastern Andes at an elevation of 1550-2300 m asl, in the Orinoco river basin highlands. In this study, we describe the spatial and seasonal meteorological variability, analyse the corresponding catchment hydrological response to different land cover, and perform a sensitivity analysis on uncertainties related to rainfall interpolation, catchment area estimation and streamflow measurements. Hydro-meteorological measurements, including hourly solar radiation, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, precipitation, soil moisture and streamflow, were collected from June 2013 to May 2014 at three gauged neighbouring catchments with contrasting TMCF/grassland cover and less than 250 m elevation difference. We found wetter and less seasonally contrasting conditions at higher elevations, indicating a positive relation between elevation and fog or rainfall persistence. This pattern is similar to that of other eastern Andean TMCFs, however, the study site had higher wet season rainfall and lower dry season rainfall suggesting that upwind contrasts in land cover and moisture can influence the meteorological conditions at eastern Andean TMCFs. Contrasting streamflow dynamics between the studied catchments reflect the overall system response

  5. Chemistry of groundwater discharge inferred from longitudinal river sampling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Batlle-Aguilar, J.; Harrington, G. A.; Leblanc, M.; Welch, C.; Cook, P. G.

    2014-02-01

    We present an approach for identifying groundwater discharge chemistry and quantifying spatially distributed groundwater discharge into rivers based on longitudinal synoptic sampling and flow gauging of a river. The method is demonstrated using a 450 km reach of a tropical river in Australia. Results obtained from sampling for environmental tracers, major ions, and selected trace element chemistry were used to calibrate a steady state one-dimensional advective transport model of tracer distribution along the river. The model closely reproduced river discharge and environmental tracer and chemistry composition along the study length. It provided a detailed longitudinal profile of groundwater inflow chemistry and discharge rates, revealing that regional fractured mudstones in the central part of the catchment contributed up to 40% of all groundwater discharge. Detailed analysis of model calibration errors and modeled/measured groundwater ion ratios elucidated that groundwater discharging in the top of the catchment is a mixture of local groundwater and bank storage return flow, making the method potentially useful to differentiate between local and regional sourced groundwater discharge. As the error in tracer concentration induced by a flow event applies equally to any conservative tracer, we show that major ion ratios can still be resolved with minimal error when river samples are collected during transient flow conditions. The ability of the method to infer groundwater inflow chemistry from longitudinal river sampling is particularly attractive in remote areas where access to groundwater is limited or not possible, and for identification of actual fluxes of salts and/or specific contaminant sources.

  6. ACQUISION OF GEOMETRICAL DATA OF SMALL RIVERS WITH AN UNMANNED WATER VEHICLE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Sardemann

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Rivers with small- and medium-scaled catchments have been increasingly affected by extreme events, i.e. flash floods, in the last years. New methods to describe and predict these events are developed in the interdisciplinary research project EXTRUSO. Flash flood events happen on small temporal and spatial scales, stressing the necessity of high-resolution input data for hydrological and hydrodynamic modelling. Among others, the benefit of high-resolution digital terrain models (DTMs will be evaluated in the project. This article introduces a boat-based approach for the acquisition of geometrical and morphological data of small rivers and their banks. An unmanned water vehicle (UWV is used as a multi-sensor platform to collect 3D-point clouds of the riverbanks, as well as bathymetric measurements of water depth and river morphology. The UWV is equipped with a mobile Lidar, a panorama camera, an echo sounder and a positioning unit. Whole (sub- catchments of small rivers can be digitalized and provided for hydrological modelling when UWV-based and UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle based point clouds are fused.

  7. Quantifying the importance of diffuse minewater pollution in a historically heavily coal mined catchment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mayes, W.M.; Gozzard, E.; Potter, H.A.B.; Jarvis, A.P.

    2008-01-01

    There has been considerable progress in developing treatment systems for point sources of minewater pollution in recent years; however, there remains a knowledge gap in the characterisation and remediation of diffuse minewater sources. Data are presented from the River Gaunless catchment, a historically heavily coal mined catchment in the northeast of England. Instream iron (Fe) loadings were monitored alongside loadings arising from point minewater discharges over a 12-month period to assess the dynamic importance of diffuse sources of minewater pollution. In low flow, diffuse sources account for around 50% of instream loading, a proportion which increases to 98% in high flow conditions. The low flow sources appear to be dominated by direct discharge of contaminated groundwater to surface waters in lower reaches of the catchment. In high flow, resuspended Fe-rich sediments, which are both naturally occurring and derived from historic mining, become the dominant diffuse source of Fe in the water column. - Diffuse sources of minewater pollution significantly contribute to instream contaminant loadings under varying flow conditions

  8. Human impacts on fluvial systems - A small-catchment case study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pöppl, Ronald E.; Glade, Thomas; Keiler, Margreth

    2010-05-01

    Regulations of nearly two-thirds of the rivers worldwide have considerable influences on fluvial systems. In Austria, nearly any river (or) catchment is affected by humans, e.g. due to changing land-use conditions and river engineering structures. Recent studies of human impacts on rivers show that morphologic channel changes play a major role regarding channelization and leveeing, land-use conversions, dams, mining, urbanization and alterations of natural habitats (ecomorphology). Thus 'natural (fluvial) systems' are scarce and humans are almost always inseparably interwoven with them playing a major role in altering them coincidentally. The main objective of this study is to identify human effects (i.e. different land use conditions and river engineering structures) on river bed sediment composition and to delineate its possible implications for limnic habitats. The study area watersheds of the 'Fugnitz' River (~ 140km²) and the 'Kaja' River (~ 20km²) are located in the Eastern part of the Bohemian Massif in Austria (Europe) and drain into the 'Thaya' River which is the border river to the Czech Republic in the north of Lower Austria. Furthermore the 'Thaya' River is eponymous for the local National Park 'Nationalpark Thayatal'. In order to survey river bed sediment composition and river engineering structures facies mapping techniques, i.e. river bed surface mapping and ecomorphological mapping have been applied. Additionally aerial photograph and airborne laserscan interpretation has been used to create land use maps. These maps have been integrated to a numerical DEM-based spatial model in order to get an impression of the variability of sediment input rates to the river system. It is hypothesized that this variability is primarily caused by different land use conditions. Finally river bed sites affected by river engineering structures have been probed and grain size distributions have been analyzed. With these data sedimentological and ecological

  9. Morphometric analysis of Suketi river basin, Himachal Himalaya, India

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    The entire Suketi river basin has been divided into five sub-basins based on the catchment areas of ..... with equilibrium profile, where driving force is equivalent to the .... need attention for revival and sustenance by taking suitable artificial ...

  10. Hydrological Regimes of Small Catchments in the High Tatra Mountains Before and After Extraordinary Wind-Induced Deforestation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holko, Ladislav; Hlavata, Helena; Kostka, Zdenek; Novak, Jan

    2009-01-01

    The paper presents the results of rainfall-runoff data analysis for small catchments of the upper Poprad River affected by wind-induced deforestation in November 2004. Before-event and afterevent measured data were compared in order to assess the impact of deforestation on hydrological regimes. Several characteristics were used including water balance, minimum and maximum runoff, runoff thresholds, number of runoff events, selected characteristics of events, runoff coefficients, and flashiness indices. Despite increased spring runoff minima, which in one catchment (Velick Creek) exceeded previously observed values after deforestation took place, it can be generally concluded that the impact of the deforestation was not clearly manifested in the analyzed hydrological data.

  11. Comparison of estuarine sediment record with modelled rates of sediment supply from a western European catchment since 1500

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poirier, Clément; Poitevin, Cyril; Chaumillon, Éric

    2016-09-01

    Marine and estuarine sediment records reporting impacts of historical land use changes exist worldwide, but they are rarely supported by direct quantified evidence of changes in denudation rates on the related catchments. Here we implement a spatially-resolved RUSLE soil erosion model on the 10 000 km2 Charente catchment (France), supplied with realistic scenarios of land-cover and climate changes since 1500, and compare the results to a 14C-dated estuarine sediment record. Despite approximations, the model correctly predicts present-day Charente river sediment load. Back-cast modelling suggests that the Charente catchment is an interesting case where the sediment supply did not change despite increase in soil erosion resulting from 18th-century deforestation because it was mitigated by drier climate during the same period. Silt-sand alternations evidenced in the sediment record were correlated with sub-decadal rainfall variability.

  12. Modelling spatial and temporal variations of annual suspended sediment yields from small agricultural catchments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rymszewicz, A; Bruen, M; O'Sullivan, J J; Turner, J N; Lawler, D M; Harrington, J R; Conroy, E; Kelly-Quinn, M

    2018-04-01

    Estimates of sediment yield are important for ecological and geomorphological assessment of fluvial systems and for assessment of soil erosion within a catchment. Many regulatory frameworks, such as the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic, derived from the Oslo and Paris Commissions (OSPAR) require reporting of annual sediment fluxes. While they may be measured in large rivers, sediment flux is rarely measured in smaller rivers. Measurements of sediment transport at a national scale can be also challenging and therefore, sediment yield models are often utilised by water resource managers for the predictions of sediment yields in the ungauged catchments. Regression based models, calibrated to field measurements, can offer an advantage over complex and computational models due to their simplicity, easy access to input data and due to the additional insights into factors controlling sediment export in the study sites. While traditionally calibrated to long-term average values of sediment yields such predictions cannot represent temporal variations. This study addresses this issue in a novel way by taking account of the variation from year to year in hydrological variables in the developed models (using annual mean runoff, annual mean flow, flows exceeded in five percentage of the time (Q5) and seasonal rainfall estimated separately for each year of observations). Other parameters included in the models represent spatial differences influenced by factors such as soil properties (% poorly drained soils and % peaty soils), land-use (% pasture or % arable lands), channel slope (S1085) and drainage network properties (drainage density). Catchment descriptors together with year-specific hydrological variables can explain both spatial differences and inter-annual variability of suspended sediment yields. The methodology is demonstrated by deriving equations from Irish data-sets (compiled in this study) with the best model

  13. Prediction of Hydrologic Characteristics for Ungauged Catchments to Support Hydroecological Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bond, Nick R.; Kennard, Mark J.

    2017-11-01

    Hydrologic variability is a fundamental driver of ecological processes and species distribution patterns within river systems, yet the paucity of gauges in many catchments means that streamflow data are often unavailable for ecological survey sites. Filling this data gap is an important challenge in hydroecological research. To address this gap, we first test the ability to spatially extrapolate hydrologic metrics calculated from gauged streamflow data to ungauged sites as a function of stream distance and catchment area. Second, we examine the ability of statistical models to predict flow regime metrics based on climate and catchment physiographic variables. Our assessment focused on Australia's largest catchment, the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). We found that hydrologic metrics were predictable only between sites within ˜25 km of one another. Beyond this, correlations between sites declined quickly. We found less than 40% of fish survey sites from a recent basin-wide monitoring program (n = 777 sites) to fall within this 25 km range, thereby greatly limiting the ability to utilize gauge data for direct spatial transposition of hydrologic metrics to biological survey sites. In contrast, statistical model-based transposition proved effective in predicting ecologically relevant aspects of the flow regime (including metrics describing central tendency, high- and low-flows intermittency, seasonality, and variability) across the entire gauge network (median R2 ˜ 0.54, range 0.39-0.94). Modeled hydrologic metrics thus offer a useful alternative to empirical data when examining biological survey data from ungauged sites. More widespread use of these statistical tools and modeled metrics could expand our understanding of flow-ecology relationships.

  14. River network bedload model: a tool to investigate the impact of flow regulation on grain size distribution in a large Alpine catchment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Costa, Anna; Molnar, Peter

    2017-04-01

    Sediment transport rates along rivers and the grain size distribution (GSD) of coarse channel bed sediment are the result of the long term balance between transport capacity and sediment supply. Transport capacity, mainly a function of channel geometry and flow competence, can be altered by changes in climatic forcing as well as by human activities. In Alpine rivers it is hydropower production systems that are the main causes of modification to the transport capacity of water courses through flow regulation, leading over longer time scales to the adjustment of river bed GSDs. We developed a river network bedload transport model to evaluate the impacts of hydropower on the transfer of sediments and the GSDs of the Upper Rhône basin, a 5,200 km2 catchment located in the Swiss Alps. Many large reservoirs for hydropower production have been built along the main tributaries of the Rhône River since the 1960s, resulting in a complex system of intakes, tunnels, and pumping stations. Sediment storage behind dams and intakes, is accompanied by altered discharge due to hydropower operations, mainly higher flow in winter and lower in summer. It is expected that this change in flow regime may have resulted in different bedload transport. However, due the non-linear, threshold-based nature of the relation between discharge and sediment mobilization, the effects of changed hydraulic conditions are not easily deducible, and because observations of bedload in pre- and post-dam conditions are usually not available, a modelling approach is often necessary. In our modelling approach, the river network is conceptualized as a series of connected links (river reaches). Average geometric characteristics of each link (width, length, and slope of cross section) are extracted from digital elevation data, while surface roughness coefficients are assigned based on the GSD. Under the assumptions of rectangular prismatic cross sections and normal flow conditions, bed shear stress is estimated

  15. TransWatL - Crowdsourced water level transmission via short message service within the Sondu River Catchment, Kenya

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weeser, Björn; Jacobs, Suzanne; Breuer, Lutz; Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus; Rufino, Mariana

    2016-04-01

    The fast economic development in East African countries causes an increasing need of water and farmland. Ongoing changes in land use and climate may affect the function of water tower areas such as the Mau Forest complex as an important water source and tropical montane forest in Kenya. Reliable models and predictions are necessary to ensure a sustainable and adequate water resource management. The calibration and validation process of these models requires solid data, based on widespread monitoring in both space and time, which is a time consuming and expensive exercise. Countries with merging economies often do not have the technical capacity and resources to operate monitoring networks, although both the government and citizens are aware of the importance of sustainable water management. Our research focus on the implementation and testing of a crowdsourced database as a low-cost method to assess the water quantity within the Sondu river catchment in Kenya. Twenty to 30 water level gauges will be installed and equipped with instructional signage. Citizens are invited to read and transmit the water level and the station number to the database using a simple text message and their cell phone. The text message service is easy to use, stable, inexpensive and an established way of communication in East African countries. The simplicity of the method ensures a broad access for interested citizens and integration of locals in water monitoring all over the catchment. Furthermore, the system allows a direct and fast feedback to the users, which likely increases the awareness for water flow changes in the test region. A raspberry pi 2 Model B equipped with a mobile broadband modem will be used as a server receiving and storing incoming text messages. The received raw data will be quality checked and formatted by a python script and afterwards written back in a database. This ensures flexible and standardized access for postprocessing and data visualization, for which a

  16. Probabilistic properties of the date of maximum river flow, an approach based on circular statistics in lowland, highland and mountainous catchment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rutkowska, Agnieszka; Kohnová, Silvia; Banasik, Kazimierz

    2018-04-01

    Probabilistic properties of dates of winter, summer and annual maximum flows were studied using circular statistics in three catchments differing in topographic conditions; a lowland, highland and mountainous catchment. The circular measures of location and dispersion were used in the long-term samples of dates of maxima. The mixture of von Mises distributions was assumed as the theoretical distribution function of the date of winter, summer and annual maximum flow. The number of components was selected on the basis of the corrected Akaike Information Criterion and the parameters were estimated by means of the Maximum Likelihood method. The goodness of fit was assessed using both the correlation between quantiles and a version of the Kuiper's and Watson's test. Results show that the number of components varied between catchments and it was different for seasonal and annual maxima. Differences between catchments in circular characteristics were explained using climatic factors such as precipitation and temperature. Further studies may include circular grouping catchments based on similarity between distribution functions and the linkage between dates of maximum precipitation and maximum flow.

  17. Suitability of fluorescent whitening compounds (FWCs) as indicators of human faecal contamination from septic tanks in rural catchments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dubber, Donata; Gill, Laurence W

    2017-12-15

    Rural river catchments are impacted by diffuse pollution sources from agricultural practices and on-site domestic wastewater treatment systems (DWWTS), mainly septic tanks. Methods that can distinguish between contamination sources will significantly increase water management efficiency as they will allow for the development and application of targeted remediation measures. Fluorescent whitening compounds (FWC), are used as optical brighteners in laundry detergents and enter the environment through the discharge of domestic wastewater effluents. Due to their human specific source and potential simple fluorometric measurement this represents a very attractive method to be used by state monitoring agencies. In this study the suitability of FWCs as chemical indicators for human faecal contamination has been investigated in rural Irish catchments. It was found that no quantitative measurements are possible for FWCs in natural waters when using simple fluorometric methods. Hence a simple presence/absence approach needs to be applied. The detectability of FWCs was quantified and found to decrease with higher organic matter content of the river water which has its own fluorescence. This enabled the establishment of equations to predict detection limits and assess the method's suitability for individual catchments based on organic matter concentrations. Furthermore a modified photodecay method is suggested that increases sensitivity of the technique by up to 59%. Applications at rural study sites found some removal of FWCs in percolation areas of DWWTSs but they were still detectable 40 cm below the infiltration depth. FWCs were also detected as distinguishable peaks in impacted streams where septic tank effluents have a high contribution to the river flow. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. A framework of integrated hydrological and hydrodynamic models using synthetic rainfall for flash flood hazard mapping of ungauged catchments in tropical zones

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    W. Lohpaisankrit

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Flash flood hazard maps provide a scientific support to mitigate flash flood risk. The present study develops a practical framework with the help of integrated hydrological and hydrodynamic modelling in order to estimate the potential flash floods. We selected a small pilot catchment which has already suffered from flash floods in the past. This catchment is located in the Nan River basin, northern Thailand. Reliable meteorological and hydrometric data are missing in the catchment. Consequently, the entire upper basin of the main river was modelled with the help of the hydrological modelling system PANTA RHEI. In this basin, three monitoring stations are located along the main river. PANTA RHEI was calibrated and validated with the extreme flood events in June 2011 and July 2008, respectively. The results show a good agreement with the observed discharge data. In order to create potential flash flood scenarios, synthetic rainfall series were derived from temporal rainfall patterns based on the radar-rainfall observation and different rainfall depths from regional rainfall frequency analysis. The temporal rainfall patterns were characterized by catchment-averaged rainfall series selected from 13 rainstorms in 2008 and 2011 within the region. For regional rainfall frequency analysis, the well-known L-moments approach and related criteria were used to examine extremely climatic homogeneity of the region. According to the L-moments approach, Generalized Pareto distribution was recognized as the regional frequency distribution. The synthetic rainfall series were fed into the PANTA RHEI model. The simulated results from PANTA RHEI were provided to a 2-D hydrodynamic model (MEADFLOW, and various simulations were performed. Results from the integrated modelling framework are used in the ongoing study to regionalize and map the spatial distribution of flash flood hazards with four levels of flood severities. As an overall outcome, the presented framework

  19. A multi-approach and multi-scale study on water quantity and quality changes in the Tapajós River basin, Amazon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bezerra Nóbrega, Rodolfo Luiz; Lamparter, Gabriele; Hughes, Harold; Chenjerayi Guzha, Alphonce; Santos Silva Amorim, Ricardo; Gerold, Gerhard

    2018-04-01

    We analyzed changes in water quantity and quality at different spatial scales within the Tapajós River basin (Amazon) based on experimental fieldwork, hydrological modelling, and statistical time-trend analysis. At a small scale, we compared the river discharge (Q) and suspended-sediment concentrations (SSC) of two adjacent micro-catchments ( < 1 km2) with similar characteristics but contrasting land uses (forest vs. pasture) using empirical data from field measurements. At an intermediary scale, we simulated the hydrological responses of a sub-basin of the Tapajós (Jamanxim River basin, 37 400 km2), using a hydrological model (SWAT) and land-use change scenario in order to quantify the changes in the water balance components due to deforestation. At the Tapajós' River basin scale, we investigated trends in Q, sediments, hydrochemistry, and geochemistry in the river using available data from the HYBAM Observation Service. The results in the micro-catchments showed a higher runoff coefficient in the pasture (0.67) than in the forest catchment (0.28). At this scale, the SSC were also significantly greater during stormflows in the pasture than in the forest catchment. At the Jamanxim watershed scale, the hydrological modelling results showed a 2 % increase in Q and a 5 % reduction of baseflow contribution to total Q after a conversion of 22 % of forest to pasture. In the Tapajós River, however, trend analysis did not show any significant trend in discharge and sediment concentration. However, we found upward trends in dissolved organic carbon and NO3- over the last 20 years. Although the magnitude of anthropogenic impact has shown be scale-dependent, we were able to find changes in the Tapajós River basin in streamflow, sediment concentration, and water quality across all studied scales.

  20. A multi-objective approach to improve SWAT model calibration in alpine catchments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tuo, Ye; Marcolini, Giorgia; Disse, Markus; Chiogna, Gabriele

    2018-04-01

    Multi-objective hydrological model calibration can represent a valuable solution to reduce model equifinality and parameter uncertainty. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model is widely applied to investigate water quality and water management issues in alpine catchments. However, the model calibration is generally based on discharge records only, and most of the previous studies have defined a unique set of snow parameters for an entire basin. Only a few studies have considered snow observations to validate model results or have taken into account the possible variability of snow parameters for different subbasins. This work presents and compares three possible calibration approaches. The first two procedures are single-objective calibration procedures, for which all parameters of the SWAT model were calibrated according to river discharge alone. Procedures I and II differ from each other by the assumption used to define snow parameters: The first approach assigned a unique set of snow parameters to the entire basin, whereas the second approach assigned different subbasin-specific sets of snow parameters to each subbasin. The third procedure is a multi-objective calibration, in which we considered snow water equivalent (SWE) information at two different spatial scales (i.e. subbasin and elevation band), in addition to discharge measurements. We tested these approaches in the Upper Adige river basin where a dense network of snow depth measurement stations is available. Only the set of parameters obtained with this multi-objective procedure provided an acceptable prediction of both river discharge and SWE. These findings offer the large community of SWAT users a strategy to improve SWAT modeling in alpine catchments.

  1. Transport and potential attenuation of nitrogen in shallow groundwaters in the lower Rangitikei catchment, New Zealand

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collins, S.; Singh, R.; Rivas, A.; Palmer, A.; Horne, D.; Manderson, A.; Roygard, J.; Matthews, A.

    2017-11-01

    Intensive agricultural activities are generally associated with nitrogen leaching from agricultural soils, and this nitrogen has the potential to percolate and contaminate groundwater and surface waters. We assessed surface water and groundwater interactions, and nitrogen leaching and its potential attenuation in shallow groundwater in the lower Rangitikei River catchment (832 km2), New Zealand. We combined regional- and local-scale field surveys and experiments, nutrient budget modelling, and hydraulic and geochemical methods, to gain an insight into leaching, transformation and transport of nitrogen via groundwaters to the river in the study area. Concurrent river flow gaugings (in January 2015) and a piezometric map, developed from measured depths to groundwater in 110 bores (in October 2014), suggest groundwater discharges to the Rangitikei River in the upper parts of the study area, while there is groundwater recharge near the coast. The groundwater redox characterisation, based on sampling and analysis of 15 mostly shallow bores ( 5 m bgl), despite being installed under intensive land uses, such as dairying and cropping. Our in-field push-pull tests showed NO3-N reduction at four shallow groundwater piezometers, with the rates of reduction varying from 0.04 mg N L- 1 h-1 to 1.57 mg N L- 1 h-1. This highlights the importance of a sound understanding of not only the sources, but also transport and transformation, or fate, of nutrients leached from farms, to mitigate the likely impacts of land use on water quality and ecosystem health in agricultural catchments.

  2. Contribution of atmospheric nitrogen deposition to diffuse pollution in a typical hilly red soil catchment in southern China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Jianlin; Liu, Jieyun; Li, Yong; Li, Yuyuan; Wang, Yi; Liu, Xuejun; Wu, Jinshui

    2014-09-01

    Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is currently high and meanwhile diffuse N pollution is also serious in China. The correlation between N deposition and riverine N export and the contribution of N deposition to riverine N export were investigated in a typical hilly red soil catchment in southern China over a two-year period. N deposition was as high as 26.1 to 55.8kgN/(ha·yr) across different land uses in the studied catchment, while the riverine N exports ranged from 7.2 to 9.6kgN/(ha·yr) in the forest sub-catchment and 27.4 to 30.3kgN/(ha·yr) in the agricultural sub-catchment. The correlations between both wet N deposition and riverine N export and precipitation were highly positive, and so were the correlations between NH4(+)-N or NO3(-)-N wet deposition and riverine NH4(+)-N or NO3(-)-N exports except for NH4(+)-N in the agricultural sub-catchment, indicating that N deposition contributed to riverine N export. The monthly export coefficients of atmospheric deposited N from land to river in the forest sub-catchment (with a mean of 14%) presented a significant positive correlation with precipitation, while the monthly contributions of atmospheric deposition to riverine N export (with a mean of 18.7% in the agricultural sub-catchment and a mean of 21.0% in the whole catchment) were significantly and negatively correlated with precipitation. The relatively high contribution of N deposition to diffuse N pollution in the catchment suggests that efforts should be done to control anthropogenic reactive N emissions to the atmosphere in hilly red soil regions in southern China. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  3. The initiation and evolution of the River Nile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fielding, Laura; Najman, Yani; Millar, Ian; Butterworth, Peter; Garzanti, Eduardo; Vezzoli, Giovanni; Barfod, Dan; Kneller, Ben

    2018-05-01

    The Nile is generally regarded as the longest river in the world. Knowledge of the timing of the Nile's initiation as a major river is important to a number of research questions. For example, the timing of the river's establishment as a catchment of continental proportions can be used to document surface uplift of its Ethiopian upland drainage, with implications for constraining rift tectonics. Furthermore, the time of major freshwater input to the Mediterranean is considered to be an important factor in the development of sapropels. Yet the river's initiation as a major drainage is currently constrained no more precisely than Eocene to Pleistocene. Within the modern Nile catchment, voluminous Cenozoic Continental Flood Basalts (CFBs) are unique to the Ethiopian Highlands; thus first detection of their presence in the Nile delta record indicates establishment of the river's drainage at continental proportions at that time. We present the first detailed multiproxy provenance study of Oligocene-Recent Nile delta cone sediments. We demonstrate the presence of Ethiopian CFB detritus in the Nile delta from the start of our studied record (c. 31 Ma) by (1) documenting the presence of zircons with U-Pb ages unique, within the Nile catchment, to the Ethiopian CFBs and (2) using Sr-Nd data to construct a mixing model which indicates a contribution from the CFBs. We thereby show that the Nile river was established as a river of continental proportions by Oligocene times. We use petrography and heavy mineral data to show that previous petrographic provenance studies which proposed a Pleistocene age for first arrival of Ethiopian CFBs in the Nile delta did not take into account the strong diagenetic influence on the samples. We use a range of techniques to show that sediments were derived from Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks that blanket North Africa, Arabian-Nubian Shield basement terranes, and Ethiopian CFB's. We see no significant input from Archaean cratons supplied

  4. The mountain-lowland debate: deforestation and sediment transport in the upper Ganga catchment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wasson, R J; Juyal, N; Jaiswal, M; McCulloch, M; Sarin, M M; Jain, V; Srivastava, P; Singhvi, A K

    2008-07-01

    The Himalaya-Gangetic Plain region is the iconic example of the debate about the impact on lowlands of upland land-use change. Some of the scientific aspects of this debate are revisited by using new techniques to examine the role of deforestation in erosion and river sediment transport. The approach is whole-of-catchment, combining a history of deforestation with a history of sediment sources from well before deforestation. It is shown that deforestation had some effect on one very large erosional event in 1970, in the Alaknanda subcatchment of the Upper Ganga catchment, but that both deforestation and its effects on erosion and sediment transport are far from uniform in the Himalaya. Large magnitude erosional events occur for purely natural reasons. The impact on the Gangetic Plain of erosion caused by natural events and land cover change remains uncertain.

  5. An investigation of the effects of an arterial drainage scheme on the rainfall-runoff transformation behaviour of the Brosna catchment in Ireland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhattarai, K. P.; O'Connor, K. M.

    2003-04-01

    Inefficient natural land drainage and the consequent frequent flooding of rivers are a problem of particular significance to the Irish economy. Such problems can be attributed less to the amount of annual rainfall, than to the topological configuration of Ireland. Its high maritime rim and relatively flat interior results in poor river gradients, intercepted by many lakes. As a remedial measure to tackle these problems, Arterial Drainage Schemes (ADSs) were started in Ireland from as early as the beginning of the nineteenth century. The major activities carried out under ADSs have been the deepening and widening of channels to increase their discharge-carrying capacity, which naturally affected the hydrological behaviour of the catchments involved. Earlier studies carried out in order to assess the effects of such ADSs on the hydrological behaviour of Irish catchments were concentrated mainly on comparisons of unit hydrographs and relationship between flood peaks of pre- and post-drainage periods. The present study, carried out on the River Brosna catchment in Ireland, concentrates on assessing the changes in the rainfall runoff transformation process, by using the conceptual Soil Moisture Accounting and Routing Model (SMAR), one of the constituent models of the "Galway River Flow Modelling and Forecasting System (GFMFS)" software package. Hydro-meteorological data of the pre-drainage (1942--1947) and post-drainage (1954--2000) periods have been used in this study. The results of the present study show that, for similar patterns of rainfall, the catchment produces higher annual maximum daily flows, and lower annual minimum daily flows in the post-drainage period than in the pre-drainage period. Moreover, the post-drainage unit hydrographs are more "peaky" and have quicker recessions than the pre-drainage counterparts, thus confirming the findings of the earlier studies. It is also observed that, apart from the expected pre-to-post-drainage change, the nature of the

  6. Flood prediction, its risk and mitigation for the Babura River with GIS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tarigan, A. P. M.; Hanie, M. Z.; Khair, H.; Iskandar, R.

    2018-03-01

    This paper describes the flood prediction along the Babura River, the catchment of which is within the comparatively larger watershed of the Deli River which crosses the centre part of Medan City. The flood plain and ensuing inundation area were simulated using HECRAS based on the available data of rainfall, catchment, and river cross-sections. The results were shown in a GIS format in which the city map of Medan and other infrastructure layers were stacked for spatial analysis. From the resulting GIS, it can be seen that 13 sub-districts were likely affected by the flood, and then the risk calculation of the flood damage could be estimated. In the spirit of flood mitigation thoughts, 6 locations of evacuation centres were identified and 15 evacuation routes were recommended to reach the centres. It is hoped that the flood prediction and its risk estimation in this study will inspire the preparedness of the stakeholders for the probable threat of flood disaster.

  7. Compounding Effects of Agricultural Land Use and Water Use in Free-Flowing Rivers: Confounding Issues for Environmental Flows.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hardie, Scott A; Bobbi, Chris J

    2018-03-01

    Defining the ecological impacts of water extraction from free-flowing river systems in altered landscapes is challenging as multiple stressors (e.g., flow regime alteration, increased sedimentation) may have simultaneous effects and attributing causality is problematic. This multiple-stressor context has been acknowledged in environmental flows science, but is often neglected when it comes to examining flow-ecology relationships, and setting and implementing environmental flows. We examined the impacts of land and water use on rivers in the upper Ringarooma River catchment in Tasmania (south-east Australia), which contains intensively irrigated agriculture, to support implementation of a water management plan. Temporal and spatial and trends in river condition were assessed using benthic macroinvertebrates as bioindicators. Relationships between macroinvertebrate community structure and environmental variables were examined using univariate and multivariate analyses, focusing on the impacts of agricultural land use and water use. Structural changes in macroinvertebrate communities in rivers in the catchment indicated temporal and spatial declines in the ecological condition of some stretches of river associated with agricultural land and water use. Moreover, water extraction appeared to exacerbate impairment associated with agricultural land use (e.g., reduced macroinvertebrate density, more flow-avoiding taxa). The findings of our catchment-specific bioassessments will underpin decision-making during the implementation of the Ringarooma water management plan, and highlight the need to consider compounding impacts of land and water use in environmental flows and water planning in agricultural landscapes.

  8. Compounding Effects of Agricultural Land Use and Water Use in Free-Flowing Rivers: Confounding Issues for Environmental Flows

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hardie, Scott A.; Bobbi, Chris J.

    2018-03-01

    Defining the ecological impacts of water extraction from free-flowing river systems in altered landscapes is challenging as multiple stressors (e.g., flow regime alteration, increased sedimentation) may have simultaneous effects and attributing causality is problematic. This multiple-stressor context has been acknowledged in environmental flows science, but is often neglected when it comes to examining flow-ecology relationships, and setting and implementing environmental flows. We examined the impacts of land and water use on rivers in the upper Ringarooma River catchment in Tasmania (south-east Australia), which contains intensively irrigated agriculture, to support implementation of a water management plan. Temporal and spatial and trends in river condition were assessed using benthic macroinvertebrates as bioindicators. Relationships between macroinvertebrate community structure and environmental variables were examined using univariate and multivariate analyses, focusing on the impacts of agricultural land use and water use. Structural changes in macroinvertebrate communities in rivers in the catchment indicated temporal and spatial declines in the ecological condition of some stretches of river associated with agricultural land and water use. Moreover, water extraction appeared to exacerbate impairment associated with agricultural land use (e.g., reduced macroinvertebrate density, more flow-avoiding taxa). The findings of our catchment-specific bioassessments will underpin decision-making during the implementation of the Ringarooma water management plan, and highlight the need to consider compounding impacts of land and water use in environmental flows and water planning in agricultural landscapes.

  9. On the forecast of runoff based on the harmonic analysis of time series of precipitation in the catchment area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cherednichenko, A. V.; Cherednichenko, A. V.; Cherednichenko, V. S.

    2018-01-01

    It is shown that a significant connection exists between the most important harmonics, extracted in the process of harmonic analysis of time series of precipitation in the catchment area of rivers and the amount of runoff. This allowed us to predict the size of the flow for a period of up to 20 years, assuming that the main parameters of the harmonics are preserved at the predicted time interval. The results of such a forecast for three river basins of Kazakhstan are presented.

  10. Review article: Hydrological modeling in glacierized catchments of central Asia – status and challenges

    OpenAIRE

    Y. Chen; W. Li; G. Fang; Z. Li

    2017-01-01

    Meltwater from glacierized catchments is one of the most important water supplies in central Asia. Therefore, the effects of climate change on glaciers and snow cover will have increasingly significant consequences for runoff. Hydrological modeling has become an indispensable research approach to water resources management in large glacierized river basins, but there is a lack of focus in the modeling of glacial discharge. This paper reviews the status of hydrological modeli...

  11. Use of reservoir deposits to reconstruct the recent changes in sediment yields from a small granite catchment in the Yimeng Mountain region, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yunqi; Long, Yi; Li, Bao; Xu, Shujian; Wang, Xiaoli; Liao, Jia

    2017-09-01

    Information on recent changes in sediment yields from small catchments provides a better understanding of temporal trends in soil loss from certain physical and human-influenced landscapes that have been subjected to recent environmental changes, and will help bridge the current knowledge gap that exists between hillslope erosion and sediment transport in rivers. The Yimeng Mountain region, characterized by alternating granite and limestone, is one of the most susceptible regions to soil erosion in northern China, and has been subjected to intensive anthropogenic activity in recent years. Soil loss from areas underlain by granite is particularly obvious, and is the main sediment source for the Yihe River. In this study, we used reservoir deposits to estimate the changes in sediment yields over the past 50 years from a small catchment underlain by granite, namely the Jiangzhuang catchment in the Yimeng Mountain region. Three cores were collected from the Jiangzhuang Reservoir in the catchment. The activities of 137Cs and 210Pbex at different depths, clay (grain size reference to human activity and environmental change in the catchment. The chronologies of the cores were established by 137Cs and 210Pbex dating. The area-specific sediment yield (SSY) for different time periods since dam construction was estimated from each core by referring to the original capacity curve of the reservoir. The results indicate that the depth profiles of 137Cs, 210Pbex, clay, and SOC contents in cores from the Jiangzhuang Reservoir reflect the general history of human disturbances on the catchment over the past 50 years. The estimated SSY value from each core for each period ranged from 7.2 ± 2.7 to 23.7 ± 8.3 t ha- 1 y- 1, with a mean of 12.5 ± 4.6 t ha- 1 y- 1. SSY decreased during 1954-1972, and then showed a general tendency to increase. The temporal pattern of the sediment yield largely reflects the history of environmental change influenced by human activity in the catchment.

  12. A novel modelling approach for spatial and temporal variations in nitrate concentrations in an N-impacted UK small upland river basin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smart, Richard P.; Cresser, Malcolm S.; Calver, Louise J.; Clark, Matthew; Chapman, Pippa J.

    2005-01-01

    Monthly data for 11 moorland streams displaying marked seasonality and spatial variation in nitrate concentrations have been used with readily available catchment characteristics to develop a method for predicting stream water nitrate concentrations throughout an upland river network in the Lake District, UK. Over a 12-month period, a simple asymmetric truncated cosine function of day number is used to describe seasonality effects on stream water nitrate concentrations. This is then adjusted to compensate for differences in seasonality effects with catchment elevation. Occurrence of greater proportions of steeper slopes (>20 deg. -40 deg. ) in individual catchments facilitated nitrate leaching, as did increased extent of occurrence of outcropping rocks. It is shown that the spatial and temporal variation in nitrate concentration through the river network studied may therefore be effectively represented by an equation which is a function of day number, % outcropping rock and % of catchment area with a >20 deg. -40 deg. slope. - A novel model of spatial and temporal variations in stream water nitrate concentration throughout an N-impacted upland catchment is described

  13. Morphodynamics and Sediment connectivity in the Kosi River basin in the Himalaya and their implications for river management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sinha, R.; Mishra, K.; Swrankar, S.; Jain, V.; Nepal, S.; Uddin, K.

    2017-12-01

    Sediment flux of large tropical rivers is strongly influenced by the degree of linkage between the sediments sources and sink (i.e. sediment connectivity). Sediment connectivity, especially at the catchment scale, depends largely on the morphological characteristics of the catchment such as relief, terrain roughness, slope, elevation, stream network density and catchment shape and the combined effects of land use, particularly vegetation. Understanding the spatial distribution of sediment connectivity and its temporal evolution can be useful for the characterization of sediment source areas. Specifically, these areas represent sites of instability and their connectivity influences the probability of sediment transfer at a local scale that will propagate downstream through a feedback system. This paper evaluates the morphodynamics and sediment connectivity of the Kosi basin in Nepal and India at various spatial and temporal scales. Our results provide the first order assessment of the spatial sediment connectivity in terms of the channel connectivity (IC outlet) and source to channel connectivity (IC channel) of the upstream and midstream Kosi basin. This assessment helped in the characterization of sediment dynamics in the complex morphological settings and in a mixed environment. Further, Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) was used to quantify soil erosion and sediment transport capacity equation is used to quantify sediment flux at each cell basis. Sediment Delivery Ratio (SDR) was calculated for each sub-basin to identify the sediment production and transport capacity limited sub-basin. We have then integrated all results to assess the sediment flux in the Kosi basin in relation to sediment connectivity and the factors controlling the pathways of sediment delivery. Results of this work have significant implications for sediment management of the Kosi river in terms of identification of hotspots of sediment accumulation that will in turn be manifested

  14. Gully Erosion Mapping and Monitoring at Multiple Scales Based on Multi-Source Remote Sensing Data of the Sancha River Catchment, Northeast China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ranghu Wang

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available This research is focused on gully erosion mapping and monitoring at multiple spatial scales using multi-source remote sensing data of the Sancha River catchment in Northeast China, where gullies extend over a vast area. A high resolution satellite image (Pleiades 1A, 0.7 m was used to obtain the spatial distribution of the gullies of the overall basin. Image visual interpretation with field verification was employed to map the geometric gully features and evaluate gully erosion as well as the topographic differentiation characteristics. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV remote sensing data and the 3D photo-reconstruction method were employed for detailed gully mapping at a site scale. The results showed that: (1 the sub-meter image showed a strong ability in the recognition of various gully types and obtained satisfactory results, and the topographic factors of elevation, slope and slope aspects exerted significant influence on the gully spatial distribution at the catchment scale; and (2 at a more detailed site scale, UAV imagery combined with 3D photo-reconstruction provided a Digital Surface Model (DSM and ortho-image at the centimeter level as well as a detailed 3D model. The resulting products revealed the area of agricultural utilization and its shaping by human agricultural activities and water erosion in detail, and also provided the gully volume. The present study indicates that using multi-source remote sensing data, including satellite and UAV imagery simultaneously, results in an effective assessment of gully erosion over multiple spatial scales. The combined approach should be continued to regularly monitor gully erosion to understand the erosion process and its relationship with the environment from a comprehensive perspective.

  15. Catchment-wide weathering and erosion rates of mafic, ultramafic, and granitic rock from cosmogenic meteoric 10Be/9Be ratios

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dannhaus, N.; Wittmann, H.; Krám, P.; Christl, M.; von Blanckenburg, F.

    2018-02-01

    Quantifying rates of weathering and erosion of mafic rocks is essential for estimating changes to the oceans alkalinity budget that plays a significant role in regulating atmospheric CO2 levels. In this study, we present catchment-wide rates of weathering, erosion, and denudation measured with cosmogenic nuclides in mafic and ultramafic rock. We use the ratio of the meteoric cosmogenic nuclide 10Be, deposited from the atmosphere onto the weathering zone, to stable 9Be, a trace metal released by silicate weathering. We tested this approach in stream sediment and water from three upland forested catchments in the north-west Czech Republic. The catchments are underlain by felsic (granite), mafic (amphibolite) and ultramafic (serpentinite) lithologies. Due to acid rain deposition in the 20th century, the waters in the granite catchment exhibit acidic pH, whereas waters in the mafic catchments exhibit neutral to alkaline pH values due to their acid buffering capability. The atmospheric depositional 10Be flux is estimated to be balanced with the streams' dissolved and particulate meteoric 10Be export flux to within a factor of two. We suggest a correlation method to derive bedrock Be concentrations, required as an input parameter, which are highly heterogeneous in these small catchments. Derived Earth surface metrics comprise (1) Denudation rates calculated from the 10Be/9Be ratio of the "reactive" Be (meaning sorbed to mineral surfaces) range between 110 and 185 t km-2 y-1 (40 and 70 mm ky-1). These rates are similar to denudation rates we obtained from in situ-cosmogenic 10Be in quartz minerals present in the bedrock or in quartz veins in the felsic and the mafic catchment. (2) The degree of weathering, calculated from the fraction of 9Be released from primary minerals as a new proxy, is about 40-50% in the mafic catchments, and 10% in the granitic catchment. Lastly, (3) erosion rates were calculated from 10Be concentrations in river sediment and corrected for sorting

  16. A sedimentation study in the Muda catchment area using nuclear techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kamarudin Samuding; Wan Zakaria Wan Muhamad Tahir; Roslan Mohd Ali; Juhari Yusuf

    2002-01-01

    A study on the sediment size distribution and determination of sediment density profile was conducted in a selected area of the Muda Dam catchment area, Kedah. The objective of the study was to establish baseline data of the input sedimentation with regard to the effects of development within the catchment in the future. Three main sampling locations were identified, namely at Sungai Teliang, Sungai Muda and the Muda Reservoir. Results showed that the grain size distribution of sediment generally ranged from clay to gravel size. In the reservoir and downstream the river, most of the samples studied consisted of fine sediment Le, silt and clay (< 63 μm). However, sediment distribution in the upstream section of Sungai Teliang mainly consisted of fine to coarse sand. Based on the sediment distribution profile analysis, the study site could be divided into two parts comprising the dynamic area (region) covering selected locations along the river and the deposited sediment in the reservoir. Measurement of sediment thickness was performed using nuclear gauges, i.e. direct transmission and backscattering methods. The result also showed that the thickness of bed sediment varied from one location to another, whereby the thickness variation could reach up to 0.75 metre in some areas. This study could assist local authorities (AMDA) in identifying the rates and sources of accumulated sediment as well as quality and quantity of water in the study area in order to sustain distribution of good quality water to the farmers. (Author)

  17. Microbial source tracking and transfer hydrodynamics in rural catchments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphy, Sinead; Bhreathnach, Niamh; O'Flaherty, Vincent; Jordan, Philip; Wuertz, Stefan

    2013-04-01

    In Ireland, bacterial pathogens from continual point source pollution and intermittent pollution from diffuse sources can impact both drinking water supplies and recreational waters. This poses a serious public health threat. Observing and establishing the source of faecal pollution is imperative for the protection of water quality and human health. Traditional culture methods to detect such pollution via faecal indicator bacteria have been widely utilised but do not decipher the source of pollution. To combat this, microbial source tracking, an important emerging molecular tool, is applied to detect host-specific markers in faecally contaminated waters. The aim of this study is to target ruminant and human-specific faecal Bacteroidales and Bacteroides 16S rRNA genes within rural river catchments in Ireland and investigate hydrological transfer dependencies. During storm events and non-storm periods, 1L untreated water samples, taken every 2 hours over a 48-hour time period at the spring (Cregduff) or outlet (Dunleer), and large (5-20L) untreated water samples were collected from two catchment sites. Cregduff is a spring emergence under a grassland karst landscape in Co. Mayo (west coast of Ireland) and Dunleer is a mixed landuse over till soils in Co. Louth (east coast). From a risk assessment point of view, the catchments are very different. Samples were filtered through 0.2µm nitrocellulose filters to concentrate bacterial cells which then underwent chemical extraction of total nucleic acids. Animal and human stool samples were also collected from the catchments to determine assay sensitivity and specificity following nucleic acid extraction. Aquifer response to seasonal events was assessed by monitoring coliforms and E. coli occurrence using the IDEXX Colisure® Quanti Tray®/2000 system in conjunction with chemical and hydrological parameters. Autoanalysers deployed at each catchment monitor multiple water parameters every 10 min such as phosphorus, nitrogen

  18. Hydrochemical processes in lowland rivers: insights from in situ, high-resolution monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. J. Wade

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper introduces new insights into the hydrochemical functioning of lowland river systems using field-based spectrophotometric and electrode technologies. The streamwater concentrations of nitrogen species and phosphorus fractions were measured at hourly intervals on a continuous basis at two contrasting sites on tributaries of the River Thames – one draining a rural catchment, the River Enborne, and one draining a more urban system, The Cut. The measurements complement those from an existing network of multi-parameter water quality sondes maintained across the Thames catchment and weekly monitoring based on grab samples. The results of the sub-daily monitoring show that streamwater phosphorus concentrations display highly complex dynamics under storm conditions dependent on the antecedent catchment wetness, and that diurnal phosphorus and nitrogen cycles occur under low flow conditions. The diurnal patterns highlight the dominance of sewage inputs in controlling the streamwater phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations at low flows, even at a distance of 7 km from the nearest sewage treatment works in the rural River Enborne. The time of sample collection is important when judging water quality against ecological thresholds or standards. An exhaustion of the supply of phosphorus from diffuse and multiple septic tank sources during storm events was evident and load estimation was not improved by sub-daily monitoring beyond that achieved by daily sampling because of the eventual reduction in the phosphorus mass entering the stream during events. The results highlight the utility of sub-daily water quality measurements and the discussion considers the practicalities and challenges of in situ, sub-daily monitoring.

  19. Modelling soil erosion and associated sediment yield for small headwater catchments of the Daugava spillway valley, Latvia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soms, Juris

    2015-04-01

    The accelerated soil erosion by water and associated fine sediment transfer in river catchments has various negative environmental as well as economic implications in many EU countries. Hence, the scientific community had recognized and ranked soil erosion among other environmental problems. Moreover, these matters might worsen in the near future in the countries of the Baltic Region, e.g. Latvia considering the predicted climate changes - more precisely, the increase in precipitation and shortening of return periods of extreme rainfall events, which in their turn will enable formation of surface runoff, erosion and increase of sediment delivery to receiving streams. Thereby it is essential to carry out studies focused on these issues in order to obtain reliable data in terms of both scientific and applied aims, e.g. environmental protection and sustainable management of soils as well as water resources. During the past decades, many of such studies of soil erosion had focused on the application of modelling techniques implemented in a GIS environment, allowing indirectly to estimate the potential soil losses and to quantify related sediment yield. According to research results published in the scientific literature, this approach currently is widely used all over the world, and most of these studies are based on the USLE model and its revised and modified versions. Considering that, the aim of this research was to estimate soil erosion rates and sediment transport under different hydro-climatic conditions in south-eastern Latvia by application of GIS-based modelling. For research purposes, empirical RUSLE model and ArcGIS software were applied, and five headwater catchments were chosen as model territories. The selected catchments with different land use are located in the Daugava spillway valley, which belongs to the upper Daugava River drainage basin. Considering lithological diversity of Quaternary deposits, a variety of soils can be identified, i.e., Stagnic

  20. Designing cost efficient buffer zone programs: An application of the FyrisSKZ tool in a Swedish catchment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collentine, Dennis; Johnsson, Holger; Larsson, Peter; Markensten, Hampus; Persson, Kristian

    2015-03-01

    Riparian buffer zones are the only measure which has been used extensively in Sweden to reduce phosphorus losses from agricultural land. This paper describes how the FyrisSKZ web tool can be used to evaluate allocation scenarios using data from the Svärta River, an agricultural catchment located in central Sweden. Three scenarios are evaluated: a baseline, a uniform 6-m-wide buffer zone in each sub-catchment, and an allocation of areas of buffer zones to sub-catchments based on the average cost of reduction. The total P reduction increases by 30 % in the second scenario compared to the baseline scenario, and the average reduction per hectare increases by 90 % while total costs of the program fall by 32 %. In the third scenario, the average cost per unit of reduction (163 kg P(-1)) is the lowest of the three scenarios (58 % lower than the baseline) and has the lowest total program costs.

  1. Geostatistical methods in the assessment of the spatial variability of the quality of river water

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Krasowska Małgorzata

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The research was conducted in the agricultural catchment in north–eastern Poland. The aim of this study was to check how geostatistical analysis can be useful for the detection zones and forms of supply stream by water from different sources. The work was included the implementation of hydrochemical profiles. These profiles were made by measuring the electrical conductivity (EC values and temperature along the river. On the basis of these results, the authors calculated the coefficient of Moran I and performed semivariogram and found that the EC values are correlated on a stretch of about 140 m. This means that the spatial correlation between samples of water in the stream is readable over a distance of about 140 meters. Therefore it is believed that the degree of water mineralization on this section is shaped by water entering the river channel migration in different ways: through tributaries, leachate drainage and surface runoff. In the case of the analyzed catchment, the potential sources of pollution were drainage systems. Therefore, the spatial analysis allowed the identification pollution sources in a catchment, especially in drained agricultural catchments.

  2. North Putrajaya Catchment Area Putrajaya, Malaysia-Challenges in Water Quality Management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohd Zamri Daud; Pereira, J.J.; Mazlin Mokhtar

    2011-01-01

    The Putrajaya Administrative area covers 70 % of the Putrajaya Lake catchment area. Development work carried out within the Putrajaya area abides by the rules and regulations set by the Putrajaya Corporation to ensure that the quality of the lake water and wetland within the Putrajaya area meets the stipulated benchmark standards. However, 30 % of the Putrajaya lake and wetland catchment area is located outside of administration and prerogative of the Putrajaya Corporation. The North Putrajaya catchment area which originates from the Sg. Chuau River contributes the bulk of the water that flows into the lake and wetlands of Putrajaya. Water quality data collected by the Putrajaya Corporation for the period of 2002 to 2005 has been analysed to identify major issues in the Putrajaya Wetland North Catchment area. Data from 2002 shows average percentage parameter of non-compliance Putrajaya Standard for ammoniacal nitrogen (NH 3 -N) at 43.7 %, E. coli at 31.3 % and TSS at 12.5 % while the DO and COD are both 6.2 %. For 2003, the average percentage parameter of non compliance for NH 3 -N was at 23.7 %, E. coli at 18.4 %, total coliform at 18.4 %, TSS at 2.6 %, DO at 13.2 %, COD at 13.2 % and BOD at 10.5 %. For 2004, the average percentage parameter of non complying for NH 3 -N was at 35.5 %, E. coli at 22.6 %, total coliform at 12.9 %, TSS at 9.7 %, COD at 3.2 % and BOD at 16.1 %. For 2005, the average percentage parameter of non compliance were at is 36.4 % for E. coli, 22.7 % for NH 3 -N, 18.2 % for total coliform, 13.6 % for BOD and 4.5 % for both DO and COD. In conclusion the analysed data within the four year period showed that the NH 3 -N and E. coli discharge from the north catchment area did not comply with the Putrajaya Standard. The main factors of water quality issues in the Putrajaya Wetland North Catchment area include the failure of integrating the management of the catchment areas and the stake holders attitude of total disregard of the management and

  3. Land Use Impacts on Water Quality of Rivers draining from Mulanje ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The population growth has put pressure on the Africa's environment to ... of Malawi's exports have their source in natural resources, the economic cost of the major ...... Upper Catchment of Lilonger River – Malawi. unpublished masters thesis.

  4. Different compositions of pharmaceuticals in Dutch and Belgian rivers explained by consumption patterns and treatment efficiency

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Laak, ter T.L.; Kooij, P.J.F.; Tolkamp, H.; Hofman, J.

    2014-01-01

    In the current study, 43 pharmaceuticals and 18 transformation products were studied in the river Meuse at the Belgian-Dutch border and four tributaries of the river Meuse in the southern part of the Netherlands. The tributaries originate from Belgian, Dutch and mixed Dutch and Belgian catchments.

  5. A high space-time resolution dataset linking meteorological forcing and hydro-sedimentary response in a mesoscale Mediterranean catchment (Auzon) of the Ardèche region, France

    OpenAIRE

    Nord, Guillaume; Boudevillain, Brice; Berne, Alexis; Branger, Flora; Braud, Isabelle; Dramais, Guillaume; Gérard, Simon; Coz, Le, Jérôme; Legoût, Cédric; Molinié, Gilles; Teuling, Ryan

    2017-01-01

    A comprehensive hydrometeorological dataset is presented spanning the period 1 January 2011-31 December 2014 to improve the understanding of the hydrological processes leading to flash floods and the relation between rainfall, runoff, erosion and sediment transport in a mesoscale catchment (Auzon, 116km2) of the Mediterranean region. Badlands are present in the Auzon catchment and well connected to high-gradient channels of bedrock rivers which promotes the transfer of suspended solids downst...

  6. A stream temperature model for the Peace-Athabasca River basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morales-Marin, L. A.; Rokaya, P.; Wheater, H. S.; Lindenschmidt, K. E.

    2017-12-01

    Water temperature plays a fundamental role in water ecosystem functioning. Because it regulates flow energy and metabolic rates in organism productivity over a broad spectrum of space and time scales, water temperature constitutes an important indicator of aquatic ecosystems health. In cold region basins, stream water temperature modelling is also fundamental to predict ice freeze-up and break-up events in order to improve flood management. Multiple model approaches such as linear and multivariable regression methods, neural network and thermal energy budged models have been developed and implemented to simulate stream water temperature. Most of these models have been applied to specific stream reaches and trained using observed data, but very little has been done to simulate water temperature in large catchment river networks. We present the coupling of RBM model, a semi-Lagrangian water temperature model for advection-dominated river system, and MESH, a semi-distributed hydrological model, to simulate stream water temperature in river catchments. The coupled models are implemented in the Peace-Athabasca River basin in order to analyze the variation in stream temperature regimes under changing hydrological and meteorological conditions. Uncertainty of stream temperature simulations is also assessed in order to determine the degree of reliability of the estimates.

  7. Paradigm Shift in Transboundary Water Management Policy: Linking Water Environment Energy and Food (weef) to Catchment Hydropolitics - Needs, Scope and Benefits

    Science.gov (United States)

    RAI, S.; Wolf, A.; Sharma, N.; Tiwari, H.

    2015-12-01

    The incessant use of water due to rapid growth of population, enhanced agricultural and industrial activities, degraded environment and ecology will in the coming decades constrain the socioeconomic development of humans. To add on to the precarious situation, political boundaries rarely embrace hydrological boundaries of lakes, rivers, aquifers etc. Hydropolitics relate to the ability of geopolitical institutions to manage shared water resources in a politically sustainable manner, i.e., without tensions or conflict between political entities. Riparian hydropolitics caters to differing objectives, needs and requirements of states making it difficult to administer the catchment. The diverse riparian objectives can be merged to form a holistic catchment objective of sustainable water resources development and management. It can be proposed to make a paradigm shift in the present-day transboundary water policy from riparian hydropolitics (in which the focal point of water resources use is hinged on state's need) to catchment hydropolitics (in which the interest of the basin inhabitants are accorded primacy holistically over state interests) and specifically wherein the water, environment, energy and food (WEEF) demands of the catchment are a priority and not of the states in particular. The demands of the basin pertaining to water, food and energy have to be fulfilled, keeping the environment and ecology healthy in a cooperative political framework; the need for which is overwhelming. In the present scenario, the policy for water resources development of a basin is segmented into independent uncoordinated parts controlled by various riparians; whereas in catchment hydropolitics the whole basin should be considered as a unit. The riparians should compromise a part of national interest and work in collaboration on a joint objective which works on the principle of the whole as against the part. Catchment hydropolitics may find greater interest in the more than 250

  8. Isotope techniques in catchment behaviour studies with particular emphasis on snowmelt runoff investigations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yurtsever, Y.

    1984-05-01

    The dynamics of runoff occurring mainly by snowmelt have been investigated by the aid of environmental isotopes. Regular samples collected from river water and snow cover throughout 1978 to 1981 at two selected catchment basins in eastern Turkey were analysed for their oxygen-18, deuterium and tritium contents. The tritium results together with detailed hydrological and hydro-meteorological data have enabled to study the time distribution of various component flow systems involved in the total runoff resulting from snowmelt

  9. Calibration of a transient transport model to tritium data in streams and simulation of groundwater ages in the western Lake Taupo catchment, New Zealand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. A. Gusyev

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Here we present a general approach of calibrating transient transport models to tritium concentrations in river waters developed for the MT3DMS/MODFLOW model of the western Lake Taupo catchment, New Zealand. Tritium has a known pulse-shaped input to groundwater systems due to the bomb tritium in the early 1960s and, with its radioactive half-life of 12.32 yr, allows for the determination of the groundwater age. In the transport model, the tritium input (measured in rainfall passes through the groundwater system, and the simulated tritium concentrations are matched to the measured tritium concentrations in the river and stream outlets for the Waihaha, Whanganui, Whareroa, Kuratau and Omori catchments from 2000–2007. For the Kuratau River, tritium was also measured between 1960 and 1970, which allowed us to fine-tune the transport model for the simulated bomb-peak tritium concentrations. In order to incorporate small surface water features in detail, an 80 m uniform grid cell size was selected in the steady-state MODFLOW model for the model area of 1072 km2. The groundwater flow model was first calibrated to groundwater levels and stream baseflow observations. Then, the transient tritium transport MT3DMS model was matched to the measured tritium concentrations in streams and rivers, which are the natural discharge of the groundwater system. The tritium concentrations in the rivers and streams correspond to the residence time of the water in the groundwater system (groundwater age and mixing of water with different age. The transport model output showed a good agreement with the measured tritium values. Finally, the tritium-calibrated MT3DMS model is applied to simulate groundwater ages, which are used to obtain groundwater age distributions with mean residence times (MRTs in streams and rivers for the five catchments. The effect of regional and local hydrogeology on the simulated groundwater ages is investigated by demonstrating groundwater ages

  10. Combining satellite radar altimetry, SAR surface soil moisture and GRACE total storage changes for model calibration and validation in a large ungauged catchment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Milzow, Christian; Krogh, Pernille Engelbredt; Bauer-Gottwein, Peter

    2010-01-01

    The availability of data is a major challenge for hydrological modelling in large parts of the world. Remote sensing data can be exploited to improve models of ungauged or poorly gauged catchments. In this study we combine three datasets for calibration and validation of a rainfall-runoff model...... of the ungauged Okavango catchment in Southern Africa: (i) Surface soil moisture (SSM) estimates derived from SAR measurements onboard the Envisat satellite; (ii) Radar altimetry measurements by Envisat providing river stages in the tributaries of the Okavango catchment, down to a minimum width of about one...... hundred meters; and (iii) Temporal changes of the Earth’s gravity field recorded by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) caused by total water storage changes in the catchment. The SSM data are compared to simulated moisture conditions in the top soil layer. They cannot be used for model...

  11. Variability of Snow Ablation: Consequences for Runoff Generation at the Process Scale and Lessons for Large Cold Regions Catchments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pomeroy, J. W.; Carey, S. K.; Granger, R. J.; Hedstrom, N. R.; Janowicz, R.; Pietroniro, A.; Quinton, W. L.

    2002-12-01

    The supply of water to large northern catchments such as the Mackenzie and Yukon Rivers is dominated by snowmelt runoff from first order mountain catchments. In order to understand the timing, peak and duration of the snowmelt freshet at larger scale it is important to appreciate the spatial and temporal variability of snowmelt and runoff processes at the source. For this reason a comprehensive hydrology study of a Yukon River headwaters catchment, Wolf Creek Research Basin, near Whitehorse, has focussed on the spatial variability of snow ablation and snowmelt runoff generation and the consequences for the water balance in a mountain tundra zone. In northern mountain tundra, surface energetics vary with receipt of solar radiation, shrub vegetation cover and initial snow accumulation. Therefore the timing of snowmelt is controlled by aspect, in that south facing slopes become snow-free 4-5 weeks before the north facing. Runoff generation differs widely between the slopes; there is normally no spring runoff generated from the south facing slope as all meltwater evaporates or infiltrates. On the north facing slope, snowmelt provides substantial runoff to hillside macropores which rapidly route water to the stream channel. Macropore distribution is associated with organic terrain and discontinuous permafrost, which in turn result from the summer surface energetics. Therefore the influence of small-scale snow redistribution and energetics as controlled by topography must be accounted for when calculating contributing areas to larger scale catchments, and estimating the effectiveness of snowfall in generating streamflow. This concept is quite distinct from the drainage controlled contributing area that has been found useful in temperate-zone hydrology.

  12. Long term effect of metal pollution in the catchment area of Tisza River

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zoltán Győri

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available In January and March 2000 two tailings dam failures occurred in the upper Tisza catchment area near Baia Mare and Baia Borsa (Romania. These accidents focused attention on the metal pollution of the Tisza catchment area, and the short term effects of them were studied by many researchers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long term effects of these pollutions by determining the Lakanen-Erviö extractable easily available metal contents of samples collected in 2011 from floodplains and pastures along the Tisza (Tivadar, Vásárosnamény, Rakamaz, Tiszacsege, and comparing them to our earlier results. Cu and Zn contents were measured by Optima 3300 DV ICP-OES (Perkin-Elmer. The measurement of Pb and Cd was conducted by QZ 939 GF-AAS (Unicam in 2000 and by an X7 ICP-MS (Thermo Fisher in 2011. We found that the Cd, Zn and Pb contents of the pasture near Vásárosnamény exceed limit values and natural background values. In addition, during a 11 year period the easily available Cd, Zn and Pb contents increased significantly, suggesting that the hazard of this pollution should not be neglected.

  13. Hydroclimatic control of sediment and metal export from a rural catchment in Northwest Spain

    OpenAIRE

    L. Palleiro; M. L. Rodríguez-Blanco; M. M. Taboada-Castro; M. T. Taboada-Castro

    2014-01-01

    This paper examines sediment and metal (Al, Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn) exportation at different time scales (annual, seasonal and event) during a three-year period (2005–2008) in the Mero River headwater, a rural catchment under humid temperate climate. Inter-annual differences were found both in annual loads and their distributions throughout the year. At annual scale, sediment and particulate metal loads followed the same trend as streamflow, while dissolved metals showed differe...

  14. Hydroclimatic control of sediment and metal export from a rural catchment in northwestern Spain

    OpenAIRE

    Palleiro, L.; Rodríguez-Blanco, M. L.; Taboada-Castro, M. M.; Taboada-Castro, M. T.

    2014-01-01

    This paper examines sediment and metal (Al, Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn) exportation at different timescales (annual, seasonal and event) during a 3-year period (2005–2008) in the Mero River headwater, a rural catchment under humid temperate climate. Interannual differences were found both in annual loads and their distributions throughout the year. At annual scale, sediment and particulate metal loads followed the same trend as streamflow, while dissolved metals showed different pat...

  15. On the stationarity of Floods in west African rivers

    Science.gov (United States)

    NKA, B. N.; Oudin, L.; Karambiri, H.; Ribstein, P.; Paturel, J. E.

    2014-12-01

    West Africa undergoes a big change since the years 1970-1990, characterized by very low precipitation amounts, leading to low stream flows in river basins, except in the Sahelian region where the impact of human activities where pointed out to justify the substantial increase of floods in some catchments. More recently, studies showed an increase in the frequency of intense rainfall events, and according to observations made over the region, increase of flood events is also noticeable during the rainy season. Therefore, the assumption of stationarity on flood events is questionable and the reliability of flood evolution and climatic patterns is justified. In this work, we analyzed the trends of floods events for several catchments in the Sahelian and Sudanian regions of Burkina Faso. We used thirteen tributaries of large river basins (Niger, Nakambe, Mouhoun, Comoé) for which daily rainfall and flow data were collected from national hydrological and meteorological services of the country. We used Mann-Kendall and Pettitt tests to detect trends and break points in the annual time series of 8 rainfall indices and the annual maximum discharge records. We compare the trends of precipitation indices and flood size records to analyze the possible causality link between floods size and rainfall pattern. We also analyze the stationary of the frequency of flood exceeding the ten year return period level. The samples were extracted by a Peak over threshold method and the quantification of change in flood frequency was assessed by using a test developed by Lang M. (1995). The results exhibit two principal behaviors. Generally speaking, no trend is detected on catchments annual maximum discharge, but positive break points are pointed out in a group of three right bank tributaries of the Niger river that are located in the sahelian region between 300mm to 650mm. These same catchments show as well an increase of the yearly number of flood greater than the ten year flood since

  16. Fish assemblage relationships with physical characteristics and presence of dams in three eastern Iowa rivers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pierce, Clay; Nicholas L. Ahrens,; Anna K. Loan-Wilsey,; Gregory A. Simmons,; Gregory T. Gelwicks,

    2013-01-01

    Fish assemblages in rivers of the Midwestern United States are an important component of the region's natural resources and biodiversity. We characterized the physical environment and presence of dams in a series of reaches in three eastern Iowa rivers tributary to the Mississippi River and related these characteristics to the fish assemblages present. Some physical characteristics were similar among the 12 study reaches, whereas others differed substantially. We found a total of 68 species across the 12 study reaches; 56 in the Turkey River, 51 in the Maquoketa River and 50 in the Wapsipinicon River. Seventeen species could be described as ‘downstream-distributed’; 15 being found only in the lowest reach of one or more rivers and the other two being found only in the lowest reaches or two or more contiguous reaches including the lowest reach. Two species could be described as ‘upstream-distributed’, being found only in an uppermost reach. Non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination illustrated similarities among reaches, and five physical variables were significantly correlated with assemblage similarities. Catchment area and number of dams between reaches and the Mississippi River were strongly correlated with assemblage similarities, but the directions of their effects were opposite. Catchment area and number of dams were confounded. The collective evidence to date suggests that the pervasiveness of dams on rivers significantly alters fish assemblages, making underlying patterns of species change and relationships with naturally varying and human-influenced physical characteristics along a river's course difficult to discern.

  17. Modelling nitrogen dynamics and distributions in the River Tweed, Scotland: an application of the INCA model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. P. Jarvie

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available The INCA (Integrated Nitrogen in Catchments model was applied to the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders, a large-scale (4400km2, spatially heterogeneous catchment, draining a wide range of agricultural land-use types, and which contributes approximately 20% of UK river flows to the North Sea. The model was calibrated for the first four years' data record (1994 to 1997 and tested over the following three years (1998 to 2000. The model calibration and testing periods incorporated a high degree of variability in climatic conditions and river flows within the Tweed catchment. The ability of the INCA model to reproduce broad-scale spatial patterns and seasonal dynamics in river flows and nitrate concentrations suggests that the processes controlling first order variability in river water nitrate concentrations have been represented successfully within the model. The tendency of the model to overestimate summer/early autumn baseflow nitrate concentrations during dry years may be linked to the operation of aquatic plant uptake effects. It is, therefore, suggested that consideration be given to incorporating a spatially and temporally variable in-stream plant uptake term for the application of INCA to lowland eutrophic rivers. Scenarios to examine possible impacts of environmental change on nitrate concentrations on the Tweed are examined. These include the effects of (i implementing different recommendations for fertiliser use and land use change under the Nitrate Sensitive Areas (NSA Scheme and the Scottish Code of Good Agricultural Practice, (ii worst case scenario changes linked to a dramatic reduction in livestock numbers as a result of a crisis in UK livestock farming and (iii changes in atmospheric nitrogen deposition. Keywords: Nitrate, nitrogen, modelling, Tweed, INCA

  18. Stable isotope content of South African river water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Talma, A.S.

    1987-01-01

    Variations of the isotopic ratios 18 O/ 16 O and D/H in natural waters reflect the variety of processes to which the water was subjected within the hydrological cycle. Time series of the 18 O content of the major South African rivers over a few years have been obtained in order to characterise the main features of these variations in both time and space. Regionally the average '1 8 O content of river water reflects that of the prevailing rains within the catchment. 18 O variations with time are mainly correlated with river flow rates. Impoundments upstream and management of river flows reduce this correlation. Isotope variations along the course of a river show the effects of inflow from smaller streams and evaporation in the river or its impoundments. These observations indicate the use of isotopic methods to study the evaporation and mixing of river water and its interaction with the surrounding environment

  19. Catchment-scale evaluation of pollution potential of urban snow at two residential catchments in southern Finland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sillanpää, Nora; Koivusalo, Harri

    2013-01-01

    Despite the crucial role of snow in the hydrological cycle in cold climate conditions, monitoring studies of urban snow quality often lack discussions about the relevance of snow in the catchment-scale runoff management. In this study, measurements of snow quality were conducted at two residential catchments in Espoo, Finland, simultaneously with continuous runoff measurements. The results of the snow quality were used to produce catchment-scale estimates of areal snow mass loads (SML). Based on the results, urbanization reduced areal snow water equivalent but increased pollutant accumulation in snow: SMLs in a medium-density residential catchment were two- to four-fold higher in comparison with a low-density residential catchment. The main sources of pollutants were related to vehicular traffic and road maintenance, but also pet excrement increased concentrations to a high level. Ploughed snow can contain 50% of the areal pollutant mass stored in snow despite its small surface area within a catchment.

  20. Repeat synoptic sampling reveals drivers of change in carbon and nutrient chemistry of Arctic catchments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zarnetske, J. P.; Abbott, B. W.; Bowden, W. B.; Iannucci, F.; Griffin, N.; Parker, S.; Pinay, G.; Aanderud, Z.

    2017-12-01

    Dissolved organic carbon (DOC), nutrients, and other solute concentrations are increasing in rivers across the Arctic. Two hypotheses have been proposed to explain these trends: 1. distributed, top-down permafrost degradation, and 2. discrete, point-source delivery of DOC and nutrients from permafrost collapse features (thermokarst). While long-term monitoring at a single station cannot discriminate between these mechanisms, synoptic sampling of multiple points in the stream network could reveal the spatial structure of solute sources. In this context, we sampled carbon and nutrient chemistry three times over two years in 119 subcatchments of three distinct Arctic catchments (North Slope, Alaska). Subcatchments ranged from 0.1 to 80 km2, and included three distinct types of Arctic landscapes - mountainous, tundra, and glacial-lake catchments. We quantified the stability of spatial patterns in synoptic water chemistry and analyzed high-frequency time series from the catchment outlets across the thaw season to identify source areas for DOC, nutrients, and major ions. We found that variance in solute concentrations between subcatchments collapsed at spatial scales between 1 to 20 km2, indicating a continuum of diffuse- and point-source dynamics, depending on solute and catchment characteristics (e.g. reactivity, topography, vegetation, surficial geology). Spatially-distributed mass balance revealed conservative transport of DOC and nitrogen, and indicates there may be strong in-stream retention of phosphorus, providing a network-scale confirmation of previous reach-scale studies in these Arctic catchments. Overall, we present new approaches to analyzing synoptic data for change detection and quantification of ecohydrological mechanisms in ecosystems in the Arctic and beyond.

  1. Identifying dominant controls on hydrologic parameter transfer from gauged to ungauged catchments: a comparative hydrology approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, R.; Archfield, S.A.; Wagener, T.

    2014-01-01

    Daily streamflow information is critical for solving various hydrologic problems, though observations of continuous streamflow for model calibration are available at only a small fraction of the world’s rivers. One approach to estimate daily streamflow at an ungauged location is to transfer rainfall–runoff model parameters calibrated at a gauged (donor) catchment to an ungauged (receiver) catchment of interest. Central to this approach is the selection of a hydrologically similar donor. No single metric or set of metrics of hydrologic similarity have been demonstrated to consistently select a suitable donor catchment. We design an experiment to diagnose the dominant controls on successful hydrologic model parameter transfer. We calibrate a lumped rainfall–runoff model to 83 stream gauges across the United States. All locations are USGS reference gauges with minimal human influence. Parameter sets from the calibrated models are then transferred to each of the other catchments and the performance of the transferred parameters is assessed. This transfer experiment is carried out both at the scale of the entire US and then for six geographic regions. We use classification and regression tree (CART) analysis to determine the relationship between catchment similarity and performance of transferred parameters. Similarity is defined using physical/climatic catchment characteristics, as well as streamflow response characteristics (signatures such as baseflow index and runoff ratio). Across the entire US, successful parameter transfer is governed by similarity in elevation and climate, and high similarity in streamflow signatures. Controls vary for different geographic regions though. Geology followed by drainage, topography and climate constitute the dominant similarity metrics in forested eastern mountains and plateaus, whereas agricultural land use relates most strongly with successful parameter transfer in the humid plains.

  2. Transport and potential attenuation of nitrogen in shallow groundwaters in the lower Rangitikei catchment, New Zealand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collins, S; Singh, R; Rivas, A; Palmer, A; Horne, D; Manderson, A; Roygard, J; Matthews, A

    2017-11-01

    Intensive agricultural activities are generally associated with nitrogen leaching from agricultural soils, and this nitrogen has the potential to percolate and contaminate groundwater and surface waters. We assessed surface water and groundwater interactions, and nitrogen leaching and its potential attenuation in shallow groundwater in the lower Rangitikei River catchment (832km 2 ), New Zealand. We combined regional- and local-scale field surveys and experiments, nutrient budget modelling, and hydraulic and geochemical methods, to gain an insight into leaching, transformation and transport of nitrogen via groundwaters to the river in the study area. Concurrent river flow gaugings (in January 2015) and a piezometric map, developed from measured depths to groundwater in 110 bores (in October 2014), suggest groundwater discharges to the Rangitikei River in the upper parts of the study area, while there is groundwater recharge near the coast. The groundwater redox characterisation, based on sampling and analysis of 15 mostly shallow bores (shallow groundwater piezometers (3-6mbgl) using single-well push-pull tests. We found generally low levels (shallow groundwater piezometers (>5mbgl), despite being installed under intensive land uses, such as dairying and cropping. Our in-field push-pull tests showed NO 3 -N reduction at four shallow groundwater piezometers, with the rates of reduction varying from 0.04mgNL -1 h - 1 to 1.57mgNL -1 h - 1 . This highlights the importance of a sound understanding of not only the sources, but also transport and transformation, or fate, of nutrients leached from farms, to mitigate the likely impacts of land use on water quality and ecosystem health in agricultural catchments. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Catchment areas for public transport

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Jonas Lohmann Elkjær; Landex, Alex

    2008-01-01

    In the planning of public transport catchment areas of stops are often included to estimate potential number of travellers. There are different approaches to GIS-based catchment area analyses depending on the desired level of detail. The Circular Buffer approach is the fundamental, but also....../from stations. The article also shows how the refinement of the Service Area approach with additional time resistance results in smaller catchment areas when the feeder routes cross stairs. It is concluded that GIS-based catchment area analyses are a multiple decision support tool for planning of public...... transport where the level of detail can be suited to the purpose....

  4. Dissolved Black Carbon in the Headwaters-To Continuum of PARAÍBA do Sul River, Brazil

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marques, Jomar S. J.; Dittmar, Thorsten; Niggemann, Jutta; Almeida, Marcelo G.; Gomez-Saez, Gonzalo V.; Rezende, Carlos E.

    2017-02-01

    Rivers annually carry 25-28 Tg carbon in the form of pyrogenic dissolved organic matter (dissolved black carbon, DBC) into the ocean, which is equivalent to about 10% of the entire riverine land-ocean flux of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). The objective of this study was to identify the main processes behind the release and turnover of DBC on a riverine catchment scale. As a model system, we chose the headwater-to-ocean continuum of Paraíba do Sul River (Brazil), the only river system with long-term DBC flux data available. The catchment was originally covered by Atlantic rain forest (mainly C3 plants) which was almost completely destroyed over the past centuries by slash-and-burn. As a result, large amounts of wood-derived charcoal reside in the soils. Today, fire-managed pasture and sugar cane (both dominated by C4 plants) cover most of the catchment area. Water samples were collected along the river, at the main tributaries, and also along the salinity gradient in the estuary and up to 35 km offshore during three different seasons. DBC was determined on a molecular level as benzenepolycarboxylic acids (BPCAs). Stable carbon isotopes (δ13C) were determined in solid phase extractable DOC (SPE-DOC) to distinguish C4 and C3 sources. Our results clearly show a relationship between hydrology and DBC concentrations in the river, with highest DBC concentrations and fluxes in the wet season (flux of 770 moles .sec 1 in 2013 and 59 moles .sec 1 in 2014) and lowest in the dry season (flux of 27 moles .sec 1). This relationship indicates that DBC is mainly mobilized from the upper soil horizons during heavy rainfalls. The relationship between DBC concentrations and δ13C-SPE-DOC indicated that most of DBC in the river system originated from C3 plants, i.e. from the historic burning event of the Atlantic rain forest. A conservative mixing model could largely reproduce the observed DBC fluxes within the catchment and the land to ocean continuum. Comparably slight

  5. Microbial and metal water quality in rain catchments compared with traditional drinking water sources in the East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horak, Helena M; Chynoweth, Joshua S; Myers, Ward P; Davis, Jennifer; Fendorf, Scott; Boehm, Alexandria B

    2010-03-01

    In Papua New Guinea, a significant portion of morbidity and mortality is attributed to water-borne diseases. To reduce incidence of disease, communities and non-governmental organizations have installed rain catchments to provide drinking water of improved quality. However, little work has been done to determine whether these rain catchments provide drinking water of better quality than traditional drinking water sources, and if morbidity is decreased in villages with rain catchments. The specific aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of water produced by rain catchments in comparison with traditional drinking water sources in rural villages in the East Sepik Province. Fifty-four water sources in 22 villages were evaluated for enterococci and Escherichia coli densities as well as 14 health-relevant metals. In addition, we examined how the prevalence of diarrhoeal illness in villages relates to the type of primary drinking water source. The majority of tested metals were below World Health Organization safety limits. Catchment water sources had lower enterococci and E. coli than other water sources. Individuals in villages using Sepik River water as their primary water source had significantly higher incidence of diarrhoea than those primarily using other water sources (streams, dug wells and catchments).

  6. Variation in turbidity with precipitation and flow in a regulated river system – river Göta Älv, SW Sweden

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. Göransson

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available The turbidity variation in time and space is investigated in the downstream stretch of the river Göta Älv in Sweden. The river is heavily regulated and carries the discharge from the largest fresh water lake in Sweden, Lake Vänern, to the outflow point in Göteborg Harbour on the Swedish west coast. The river is an important waterway and serves as a fresh-water supply for 700 000 users. Turbidity is utilised as a water quality indicator to ensure sufficient quality of the intake water to the treatment plant. The overall objective of the study was to investigate the influence of rainfall, surface runoff, and river water flow on the temporal and spatial variability of the turbidity in the regulated river system by employing statistical analysis of an extensive data set. A six year long time series of daily mean values on precipitation, discharge, and turbidity from six stations along the river were examined primarily through linear correlation and regression analysis, combined with nonparametric tests and analysis of variance. The analyses were performed on annual, monthly, and daily bases, establishing temporal patterns and dependences, including; seasonal changes, impacts from extreme events, influences from tributaries, and the spatial variation along the river. The results showed that there is no simple relationship between discharge, precipitation, and turbidity, mainly due to the complexity of the runoff process, the regulation of the river, and the effects of Lake Vänern and its large catchment area. For the river Göta Älv, significant, positive correlations between turbidity, discharge, and precipitation could only be found during periods with high flow combined with heavy rainfall. Local precipitation does not seem to have any significant impact on the discharge in the main river, which is primarily governed by precipitation at catchment scale. The discharge from Lake Vänern determines the base level for the turbidity in the river

  7. ASSESSMENT OF THE ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS TO GEOMORPHIC MODELLING OF SEDIMENT YIELD FOR UNGAUGED CATCHMENTS, ALGERIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khanchoul Kamel

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Knowledge of sediment yield and the factors controlling it provides useful information for estimating erosion intensities within river basins. The objective of this study was to build a model from which suspended sediment yield could be estimated from ungauged rivers using computed sediment yield and physical factors. Researchers working on suspended sediment transported by wadis in the Maghreb are usually facing the lack of available data for such river types. Further study of the prediction of sediment transport in these regions and its variability is clearly required. In this work, ANNs were built between sediment yield established from longterm measurement series at gauging stations in Algerian catchments and corresponding basic physiographic parameters such as rainfall, runoff, lithology index, coefficient of torrentiality, and basin area. The proposed Levenberg-Marquardt and Multilayer Perceptron algorithms to train the neural networks of the current research study was based on the feed-forward backpropagation method with combinations of number of neurons in each hidden layer, transfer function, error goal. Additionally, three statistical measurements, namely the root mean square error (RMSE, the coefficient of determination (R², and the efficiency factor (EF have been reported for examining the forecasting accuracy of the developed model. Single plot displays of network outputs with respect to targets for training have provided good performance results and good fitting . Thus, ANNs were a promising method for predicting suspended sediment yield in ungauged Algerian catchments.

  8. Pasvik River Watercourse, Barents Region: Pollution Impacts and Ecological Responses. Investigations in 1993

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Traaen, T; Moiseenko, T; Sandimirov, S and others

    1994-12-31

    The Pasvik River is one of the largest rivers in the Northern Fennoscandia and constitutes the border between Norway and Russia, with catchment area in Finland, Norway and Russia. Besides being strongly regulated for hydroelectric power production, the river is polluted by the smelter in Nikel and other industrial activities and by domestic sewage from the settlements on both sides of the border. This document discusses the pollution of the river and the ecological responses. The two main areas of concern are heavy metals and eutrophication. Very high content of heavy metals in water, lake sediments, macrophytes and fish was found in Kuetsyarvi. Extensive toxic effects were documented on the fish population in the lake. The toxic effects are less than expected from the concentration of heavy metals, which is due to high calcium content, organic matter and eutrophication. Eutrophication is due to the domestic sewage from settlements within the water catchment. Kuetsyarvi has eutrophic status, the lower parts of the Pasvik River have oligo-mesotrophic status according to phosphorus concentrations, and the composition of the planktonic and benthic communities. Because of increased and stabilized water level from hydroelectric power regulations, increased abundance of macrophytes and zoobenthos in shallow areas also have occurred. 77 refs., 32 figs., 28 tabs.

  9. Isotopic fingerprint of the middle Olt River basin, Romania.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Popescu, Raluca; Costinel, Diana; Ionete, Roxana Elena; Axente, Damian

    2014-01-01

    One of the most important tributaries of the Danube River in Romania, the Olt River, was characterized in its middle catchment in terms of the isotopic composition using continuous flow-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (CF-IRMS). Throughout a period of 10 months, from November 2010 to August 2011, water samples from the Olt River and its more important tributaries were collected in order to investigate the seasonal and spatial isotope patterns of the basin waters. The results revealed a significant difference between the Olt River and its tributaries, by the fact that the Olt River waters show smaller seasonal variations in the stable isotopic composition and are more depleted in (18)O and (2)H. The waters present an overall enrichment in heavy isotopes during the warm seasons.

  10. Geochemistry balance for the high basin of the Medellin River, central mountain range (Antioquia, Colombia)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Osorio, Juan Carlos; Lopez Rendon, Jorge E; Hermelin Michel

    2003-01-01

    The solute budget in the upper Medellin - Porce river catchment (Colombia) was obtained through chemical and physical water analyses (rainfall and runoff). Samples were taken every two weeks between 04/07/00 and 16/02/01. Balance was carried out for the dissolved ion concentrations in surface waters averaging rainy and dry seasons values. We estimated that runoff contributes with 88% of the principal dissolved solids that flow out of the catchment (H 2 CO 3 , SiO 2 , Ca+2, Na+, Mg+2 K) relative mobility is Ca> Mg> SiO 2 > Na> K. The percentage of dissolved Mg in the Medellin River duplicated the world average for rivers draining plutonic and metamorphic rocks. A chemical weathering rate estimate of 138 kg/ha/yr was derived for the SiO 2 budget and of 48 kg/ha/yr for the sum of major dissolved cations

  11. Active tectonics and Holocene versus modern catchment erosion rates at 300 MW Baspa II hydroelectric power plant (NW Himalaya, India)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Draganits, Erich; Grasemann, Bernhard; Gier, Susanne; Hofmann, Christa-Charlotte; Janda, Christoph; Bookhagen, Bodo; Preh, Alexander

    2015-04-01

    The Baspa River is one of the most important tributaries to the Sutlej River in the NW Himalaya (India). Its catchment is 1116 km2 in size, ranges from c. 6400 m asl to 1770 m asl and contains India's largest private hydroelectric facility, the 300 MW Baspa II. Geologically, the hydroelectric installation is located in the Higher Himalayan Crystalline, just above the active Karcham Normal Fault, which is reactivating the Early Miocene Main Central Thrust, one of the principal Himalayan faults. The area is seismically active and mass-movements are common. Around 8200 yrs BP the Baspa was dammed by a rock-avalanche dam, leading to the formation of the originally c. 260 m deep palaeo-lake Sangla palaeo-lake. Detailed sedimentological investigations and radiocarbon dating indicate that the palaeo-lake was completely filled with sediments until c. 5100 yrs BP. This makes the Sangla palaeo-lake to a very rare example of a mass-movement dam with very long duration and its lacustrine sediments represent a valuable archive for geological processes and environmental proxies within the Baspa catchment during the c. 3100 years of its existence - which are the aim of our study. At least 5 levels of soft-sediment deformation have been recorded in the exposed part of the lacustrine sediments of Sangla palaeo-lake, including brecciated laminae, overturned laminae, folds, faults and deformation bands, separated by undeformed deposits. They are interpreted as seismites, indicating at least 5 earthquakes within 2500 years strong enough to cause liquefaction. The 300 MW Baspa II hydro-electric power plant has been built exactly on top of this palaeo-lake. This special location represents a very rare possibility to evaluate the short-term, river load and hydrological parameters measured during the planning and operational stages of Baspa II with the long-term parameters gained from the palaeo-lake sediments from the catchment. This data show that the Mid-Holocene erosion rates of the

  12. Anomaly in the rainfall-runoff behaviour of the Meuse catchment. Climate, land-use, or land-use management?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F. Fenicia

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to investigate the time variability of catchment characteristics in the Meuse basin through its effect on catchment response. The approach uses a conceptual model to represent rainfall-runoff behaviour of this catchment, and evaluates possible time-dependence of model parameters. The main hypothesis is that conceptual model parameters, although not measurable quantities, are representative of specific catchment attributes (e.g. geology, land-use, land management, topography. Hence, we assume that eventual trends in model parameters are representative of catchment attributes that may have changed over time. The available hydrological record involves ninety years of data, starting in 1911. During this period the Meuse catchment has undergone significant modifications. The catchment structural modifications, although documented, are not available as "hard-data". Hence, our results should be considered as "plausible hypotheses". The main motivation of this work is the "anomaly" found in the rainfall runoff behaviour of the Meuse basin, where ninety years of rainfall-runoff simulations show a consistent overestimation of the runoff in the period between 1930 and 1965. Different authors have debated possible causes for the "anomaly", including climatic variability, land-use change and data errors. None of the authors considered the way in which the land is used by for instance agricultural and forestry practises. This aspect influenced the model design, which has been configured to account for different evaporation demand of growing forest. As a result of our analysis, we conclude that the lag time of the catchment has decreased significantly over time, which we attribute to more intensive drainage and river training works. Furthermore, we hypothesise that forest rotation has had a significant impact on the evaporation of the catchment. These results contrast with previous studies, where the effect of land-use change on

  13. Morphodynamics of the Kulsi River Basin in the northern front of ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Watinaro Imsong

    2018-02-14

    Feb 14, 2018 ... geomorphic parameters and Landsat satellite images, it has been observed that the Kulsi River migrated. 0.7–2 km westward ..... stream is represented by a Power law function ..... ing that the Kulsi catchment is a transport lim-.

  14. Adaptive capacity and water governance in the Keiskamma River ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    South Africa, being a semi-arid country, faces water resource constraints. The projected impacts of climate change in the Keiskamma River Catchment, Eastern Cape Province, are, for example, changes in rainfall with effects on streamflow, salt water intrusion, decreasing water quality due to runoff and erosion, and droughts ...

  15. Data-driven nutrient analysis and reality check: Human inputs, catchment delivery and management effects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Destouni, G.

    2017-12-01

    Measures for mitigating nutrient loads to aquatic ecosystems should have observable effects, e.g, in the Baltic region after joint first periods of nutrient management actions under the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BASP; since 2007) and the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD; since 2009). Looking for such observable effects, all openly available water and nutrient monitoring data since 2003 are compiled and analyzed for Sweden as a case study. Results show that hydro-climatically driven water discharge dominates the determination of waterborne loads of both phosphorus and nitrogen. Furthermore, the nutrient loads and water discharge are all similarly well correlated with the ecosystem status classification of Swedish water bodies according to the WFD. Nutrient concentrations, which are hydro-climatically correlated and should thus reflect human effects better than loads, have changed only slightly over the study period (2003-2013) and even increased in moderate-to-bad status waters, where the WFD and BSAP jointly target nutrient decreases. These results indicate insufficient distinction and mitigation of human-driven nutrient components by the internationally harmonized applications of both the WFD and the BSAP. Aiming for better general identification of such components, nutrient data for the large transboundary catchments of the Baltic Sea and the Sava River are compared. The comparison shows cross-regional consistency in nutrient relationships to driving hydro-climatic conditions (water discharge) for nutrient loads, and socio-economic conditions (population density and farmland share) for nutrient concentrations. A data-driven screening methodology is further developed for estimating nutrient input and retention-delivery in catchments. Its first application to nested Sava River catchments identifies characteristic regional values of nutrient input per area and relative delivery, and hotspots of much larger inputs, related to urban high-population areas.

  16. Landscape Controls of CH4 Fluxes in a Catchment of the Forest Tundra in Northern Siberia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flessa, H.; Rodionov, A.; Guggenberger, G.; Fuchs, H.; Magdon, P.; Shibistova, O.; Zrazhevskaya, G.; Kasansky, O.; Blodau, C.

    2007-12-01

    Soils have the capacity to both produce and consume atmospheric methane. The direction and the size of net- CH4 exchange between soils and atmosphere is mainly controlled by the soil aeration, temperature and the amount of bioavailable organic matter. All these factors are strongly influenced by distribution and seasonal dynamics of permafrost. Thus, distribution of permafrost and the thickness of the active layer can exert strong influence on CH4 dynamics in artic and northern boreal ecosystems. We analyzed the spatial and temporal variability of net-CH4 exchange within a catchment located in the Siberian forest tundra at the eastern shore of the lower Yenissej River to constrain the current function of this region as a sink or source of atmospheric CH4 and to gain insight into the potential for climatic change to alter the rate and form of carbon cycling and CH4 fluxes in this region. Net-fluxes of CH4 were measured from July to November 2003 and from August 2006 to July 2007 on representative soils of the catchment (mineral soils with different thawing depth, soils of bog plateaux) and on a thermokarst pond. In addition, dissolved CH4 in the stream draining the catchment was determined. Field observations, classification of landscape structures from satellite images and flux measurements were combined to estimate total catchment CH4 exchange. Nearly all soils of the catchment were net-sinks of atmospheric CH4 with annual CH4-C uptake rates ranging between 1.2 and 0.2 kg ha-1 yr-1. The active layer depth was the main factor determining the size of CH4 uptake. Total net-exchange of CH4 from the catchment was dominated by ponds that covered only about 2% of the catchment area. Due to high CH4 emission from these aquatic systems, the catchment was a net source of atmospheric CH4 with a mean annual emission of approximately 170 kg CH4-C ha-1. CH4 concentration in streams draining the catchment can help to identify areas with high CH4 production. The results suggest

  17. Predicting phosphorus concentrations in British rivers resulting from the introduction of improved phosphorus removal from sewage effluent

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bowes, Michael J.; Neal, Colin; Jarvie, Helen P.; Smith, Jim T.; Davies, Helen N.

    2010-01-01

    Phosphorus (P) concentration and flow data gathered during the 1990s for a range of British rivers were used to determine the relative contributions of point and diffuse inputs to the total P load, using the Load Apportionment Model (LAM). Heavily urbanised catchments were dominated by sewage inputs, but the majority of the study catchments received most of their annual phosphorus load from diffuse sources. Despite this, almost 80% of the study sites were dominated by point source inputs for the majority of the year, particularly during summer periods when eutrophication risk is greatest. This highlights the need to reduce sewage P inputs to improve the ecological status of British rivers. These modelled source apportionment estimates were validated against land-use data and boron load (a chemical marker for sewage). The LAM was applied to river flow data in subsequent years, to give predicted P concentrations (assuming no change in P source inputs), and these estimates were compared with observed concentration data. This showed that there had been significant reductions in P concentration in the River Thames, Aire and Ouse in the period 1999 to 2002, which were attributable to the introduction of P stripping at sewage treatment works (STW). The model was then used to forecast P concentrations resulting from the introduction of P removal at STW to a 2 or 1 mg l -1 consent limit. For the urbanised rivers in this study, the introduction of phosphorus stripping to a 1 mg l -1 consent level at all STW in the catchment would not reduce P concentrations in the rivers to potentially limiting concentrations. Therefore, further sewage P stripping will be required to comply with the Water Framework Directive. Diffuse P inputs may also need to be reduced before some of the highly nutrient-enriched rivers achieve good ecological status.

  18. Dissolved black carbon along the land to ocean continuum of Paraiba do Sul River, Brazil

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marques da Silva Junior, Jomar; Dittmar, Thorsten; Niggemann, Jutta; Gomes de Almeida, Marcelo; de Rezende, Carlos Eduardo

    2016-04-01

    Rivers annually carry 25-28 Tg of pyrogenic dissolved organic matter (or dissolved black carbon, DBC) into the ocean, which is equivalent to about 10% of the entire land-ocean flux of dissolved organic carbon (Jaffé et al., Science 340, 345-347). Objective of this study was to identify the main processes behind the release and turnover of DBC on a riverine catchment scale. As model system we chose the land to ocean continuum of Paraíba do Sul River (Brazil), the only river system for which long-term DBC flux data exist (Dittmar, Rezende et al., Nature Geoscience 5, 618-622). The catchment was originally covered by Atlantic rain forest (mainly C3 plants) which was almost completely destroyed over the past centuries by slash-and-burn. As a result, large amounts of wood-derived charcoal reside in the soils. Today, fire-managed pasture and sugar cane (both dominated by C4 plants) cover most of the catchment. Water samples were collected at 24 sites along the main channel of the river, at 14 sites of the main tributaries and at 21 sites along the salinity gradient in the estuary and up to 35 km offshore. Sampling was performed in the wet seasons of 2013 and 2014, and the dry season of 2013. DBC was determined on a molecular level as benzenepolycarboxylic acids after nitric acid oxidation (Dittmar, Limnology and Oceanography: Methods 6, 230-235). Stable carbon isotopes (δ13C) were determined in solid phase extractable dissolved organic carbon (SPE-DOC) to distinguish C4 and C3 sources. Our results clearly show a relationship between hydrology and DBC concentrations in the river, with highest DBC concentrations in the wet season and lowest in the dry season. This relationship indicates that DBC is mainly mobilized from the upper soil horizons during heavy rainfalls. A significant correlation between DBC concentrations and δ13C-SPE-DOC indicated that most of DBC in the river system originates from C3 plants, i.e. from the historic burning event of the Atlantic rain

  19. A multi-approach and multi-scale study on water quantity and quality changes in the Tapajós River basin, Amazon

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. L. B. Nóbrega

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available We analyzed changes in water quantity and quality at different spatial scales within the Tapajós River basin (Amazon based on experimental fieldwork, hydrological modelling, and statistical time-trend analysis. At a small scale, we compared the river discharge (Q and suspended-sediment concentrations (SSC of two adjacent micro-catchments ( <  1 km2 with similar characteristics but contrasting land uses (forest vs. pasture using empirical data from field measurements. At an intermediary scale, we simulated the hydrological responses of a sub-basin of the Tapajós (Jamanxim River basin, 37 400 km2, using a hydrological model (SWAT and land-use change scenario in order to quantify the changes in the water balance components due to deforestation. At the Tapajós' River basin scale, we investigated trends in Q, sediments, hydrochemistry, and geochemistry in the river using available data from the HYBAM Observation Service. The results in the micro-catchments showed a higher runoff coefficient in the pasture (0.67 than in the forest catchment (0.28. At this scale, the SSC were also significantly greater during stormflows in the pasture than in the forest catchment. At the Jamanxim watershed scale, the hydrological modelling results showed a 2 % increase in Q and a 5 % reduction of baseflow contribution to total Q after a conversion of 22 % of forest to pasture. In the Tapajós River, however, trend analysis did not show any significant trend in discharge and sediment concentration. However, we found upward trends in dissolved organic carbon and NO3− over the last 20 years. Although the magnitude of anthropogenic impact has shown be scale-dependent, we were able to find changes in the Tapajós River basin in streamflow, sediment concentration, and water quality across all studied scales.

  20. Water resources assessment in a poorly gauged mountainous catchment using a geographical information system and remote sensing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shrestha, Roshan; Takara, Kaoru; Tachikawa, Yasuto; Jha, Raghu N.

    2004-11-01

    Water resources assessment, which is an essential task in making development plans managing water resources, is considerably difficult to do in a data-poor region. In this study, we attempted to conduct a quantitative water resources assessment in a poorly gauged mountainous catchment, i.e. the River Indrawati catchment (1233 km2) in Nepal. This catchment is facing problems such as dry-season water scarcity and water use conflicts. However, the region lacks the basic data that this study needs. The data needed are supplemented from field surveys and global data (e.g. GTOPO30 DEM data, LandsatTM data and MODIS NDVI data). The global data have significantly helped us to draw out the information needed for a number of water-use scenarios. These data helped us determine that the available water quantity is enough at present to address the dry-season problems. The situation is not much worse for the immediate future; however, the threat of drought is noticed in a future scenario in which resources are consumed extensively. The study uses a geographical information system and remotely sensed data analysis tools extensively. Utilization of modern tools and global data is found effective for investigating practical problems and for detecting important features of water resources, even though the catchment is poorly gauged.

  1. Attributes for NHDPlus Catchments (Version 1.1) for the Conterminous United States: Normalized Atmospheric Deposition for 2002, Ammonium (NH4)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wieczorek, Michael; LaMotte, Andrew E.

    2010-01-01

    This data set represents the average normalized atmospheric (wet) deposition, in kilograms, of Ammonium (NH4) for the year 2002 compiled for every catchment of NHDPlus for the conterminous United States. Estimates of NH4 deposition are based on National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) measurements (B. Larsen, U.S. Geological Survey, written commun., 2007). De-trending methods applied to the year 2002 are described in Alexander and others, 2001. NADP site selection met the following criteria: stations must have records from 1995 to 2002 and have a minimum of 30 observations. The NHDPlus Version 1.1 is an integrated suite of application-ready geospatial datasets that incorporates many of the best features of the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) and the National Elevation Dataset (NED). The NHDPlus includes a stream network (based on the 1:100,00-scale NHD), improved networking, naming, and value-added attributes (VAAs). NHDPlus also includes elevation-derived catchments (drainage areas) produced using a drainage enforcement technique first widely used in New England, and thus referred to as "the New England Method." This technique involves "burning in" the 1:100,000-scale NHD and when available building "walls" using the National Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD). The resulting modified digital elevation model (HydroDEM) is used to produce hydrologic derivatives that agree with the NHD and WBD. Over the past two years, an interdisciplinary team from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), and contractors, found that this method produces the best quality NHD catchments using an automated process (USEPA, 2007). The NHDPlus dataset is organized by 18 Production Units that cover the conterminous United States. The NHDPlus version 1.1 data are grouped by the U.S. Geologic Survey's Major River Basins (MRBs, Crawford and others, 2006). MRB1, covering the New England and Mid-Atlantic River basins, contains NHDPlus

  2. Characterizing spatiotemporal variations of chromophoric dissolved organic matter in headwater catchment of a key drinking water source in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yihan; Yu, Kaifeng; Zhou, Yongqiang; Ren, Longfei; Kirumba, George; Zhang, Bo; He, Yiliang

    2017-12-01

    Natural surface drinking water sources with the increasing chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) have profound influences on the aquatic environment and drinking water safety. Here, this study investigated the spatiotemporal variations of CDOM in Fengshuba Reservoir and its catchments in China. Twenty-four surface water samples, 45 water samples (including surface water, middle water, and bottom water), and 15 pore water samples were collected from rivers, reservoir, and sediment of the reservoir, respectively. Then, three fluorescent components, namely two humic-like components (C1 and C2) and a tryptophan-like component (C3), were identified from the excitation-emission matrix coupled with parallel factor analysis (EEM-PARAFAC) for all samples. For spatial distributions, the levels of CDOM and two humic-like components in the reservoir were significantly lower than those in the upstream rivers (p CDOM and humic-like matters from the surrounding catchment. For temporal variations, the mean levels of CDOM and three fluorescent components did not significantly change in rivers, suggesting that perennial anthropic activity maybe an important factor impacting the concentration and composition of river CDOM but not the precipitation and runoff. However, these mean values of CDOM for the bulk waters of the reservoir changed markedly along with seasonal variations, indicating that the hydrological processes in the reservoir could control the quality and quantity of CDOM. The different correlations between the fluorescent components and primary water parameters in the river, reservoir, and pore water samples further suggest that the reservoir is an important factor regulating the migration and transformation of FDOM along with the variations of different environmental gradients.

  3. Mapping and quantifying groundwater inflows to Deep Creek (Maribyrnong catchment, SE Australia) using 222Rn, implications for protecting groundwater-dependant ecosystems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cartwright, Ian; Gilfedder, Benjamin

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Groundwater inflows in a chain-of-ponds river quantified. • Groundwater inflow vs. discharge relationship determined using Rn. • First long-term continuous Rn monitoring in a river indicates temporal changes to groundwater inflows. • Application to protection of groundwater-dependant ecosystems. - Abstract: Understanding groundwater inflows to rivers is important in managing connected groundwater and surface water systems and for protecting groundwater-dependant ecosystems. This study defines the distribution of gaining reaches and estimates groundwater inflows to a 62 km long section of Deep Creek (Maribyrnong catchment, Australia) using 222 Rn. During summer months, Deep Creek ceases to flow and comprises a chain of ponds that δ 18 O and δ 2 H values, major ion concentrations, and 222 Rn activities imply are groundwater fed. During the period where the river flows, the relative contribution of groundwater inflows to total river discharge ranges from ∼14% at high flow conditions to ∼100% at low flows. That the predicted groundwater inflows account for all of the increase in discharge at low flow conditions lends confidence to the mass balance calculations. Near-continuous 27 week 222 Rn monitoring at one location in the middle of the catchment confirms the inverse correlation between river discharge and relative groundwater inflows, and also implies that there are limited bank return flows. Variations in groundwater inflows are related to geology and topography. High groundwater inflows occur where the river is at the edge of its floodplain, adjacent to hills composed of basement rocks, or flowing through steep incised valleys. Understanding the distribution of groundwater inflows and quantifying the contribution of groundwater to Deep Creek is important for managing and protecting the surface water resources, which support the endangered Yarra pygmy perch

  4. The validity of flow approximations when simulating catchment-integrated flash floods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bout, B.; Jetten, V. G.

    2018-01-01

    Within hydrological models, flow approximations are commonly used to reduce computation time. The validity of these approximations is strongly determined by flow height, flow velocity and the spatial resolution of the model. In this presentation, the validity and performance of the kinematic, diffusive and dynamic flow approximations are investigated for use in a catchment-based flood model. Particularly, the validity during flood events and for varying spatial resolutions is investigated. The OpenLISEM hydrological model is extended to implement both these flow approximations and channel flooding based on dynamic flow. The flow approximations are used to recreate measured discharge in three catchments, among which is the hydrograph of the 2003 flood event in the Fella river basin. Furthermore, spatial resolutions are varied for the flood simulation in order to investigate the influence of spatial resolution on these flow approximations. Results show that the kinematic, diffusive and dynamic flow approximation provide least to highest accuracy, respectively, in recreating measured discharge. Kinematic flow, which is commonly used in hydrological modelling, substantially over-estimates hydrological connectivity in the simulations with a spatial resolution of below 30 m. Since spatial resolutions of models have strongly increased over the past decades, usage of routed kinematic flow should be reconsidered. The combination of diffusive or dynamic overland flow and dynamic channel flooding provides high accuracy in recreating the 2003 Fella river flood event. Finally, in the case of flood events, spatial modelling of kinematic flow substantially over-estimates hydrological connectivity and flow concentration since pressure forces are removed, leading to significant errors.

  5. Mycobacterial infection in Northern snakehead (Channa argus) from the Potomac River catchment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Densmore, Christine L.; Iwanowicz, L.R.; Henderson, A.P.; Iwanowicz, D.D.; Odenkirk, J.S.

    2016-01-01

    The Northern snakehead, Channa argus (Cantor), is a non-native predatory fish that has become established regionally in some temperate freshwater habitats within the United States. Over the past decade, Northern snakehead populations have developed within aquatic ecosystems throughout the eastern USA, including the Potomac River system within Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Since this species was initially observed in this region in 2002, the population has expanded considerably (Odenkirk & Owens 2007). In the Chesapeake Bay watershed, populations of Northern snakehead exist in the lower Potomac River and Rappahannock Rivers on the Western shore of the Bay, and these fish have also been found in middle or upper reaches of river systems on the Eastern shore of the Bay, including the Nanticoke and Wicomico Rivers among others. Over the past several years, many aspects of Northern snakehead life history in the Potomac River have been described, including range and dispersal patterns, microhabitat selection and diet (Lapointe, Thorson & Angermeier 2010; Saylor, Lapointe & Angermeier 2012; Lapointe, Odenkirk & Angermeier 2013). However, comparatively little is known about their health status including susceptibility to parasitism and disease and their capacity to serve as reservoirs of disease for native wildlife. Although considered hardy by fisheries biologists, snakehead fish have demonstrated susceptibility to a number of described piscine diseases within their native range and habitat in Asia. Reported pathogens of significance in snakehead species in Asia include snakehead rhabdovirus (Lio-Po et al. 2000), aeromonad bacteria (Zheng, Cao & Yang 2012), Nocardia (Wang et al. 2007) andMycobacterium spp. (Chinabut, Limsuwan & Chantatchakool 1990; ). Mycobacterial isolates recovered from another snakehead species (Channa striata) in the previous studies have included M. marinum and M. fortuitum, as identified through molecular

  6. Erosivity, surface runoff, and soil erosion estimation using GIS-coupled runoff-erosion model in the Mamuaba catchment, Brazil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marques da Silva, Richarde; Guimarães Santos, Celso Augusto; Carneiro de Lima Silva, Valeriano; Pereira e Silva, Leonardo

    2013-11-01

    This study evaluates erosivity, surface runoff generation, and soil erosion rates for Mamuaba catchment, sub-catchment of Gramame River basin (Brazil) by using the ArcView Soil and Water Assessment Tool (AvSWAT) model. Calibration and validation of the model was performed on monthly basis, and it could simulate surface runoff and soil erosion to a good level of accuracy. Daily rainfall data between 1969 and 1989 from six rain gauges were used, and the monthly rainfall erosivity of each station was computed for all the studied years. In order to evaluate the calibration and validation of the model, monthly runoff data between January 1978 and April 1982 from one runoff gauge were used as well. The estimated soil loss rates were also realistic when compared to what can be observed in the field and to results from previous studies around of catchment. The long-term average soil loss was estimated at 9.4 t ha(-1) year(-1); most of the area of the catchment (60%) was predicted to suffer from a low- to moderate-erosion risk (soil erosion was estimated to exceed > 12 t ha(-1) year(-1). Expectedly, estimated soil loss was significantly correlated with measured rainfall and simulated surface runoff. Based on the estimated soil loss rates, the catchment was divided into four priority categories (low, moderate, high and very high) for conservation intervention. The study demonstrates that the AvSWAT model provides a useful tool for soil erosion assessment from catchments and facilitates the planning for a sustainable land management in northeastern Brazil.

  7. Using stable isotope tracers to assess hydrological flow paths, residence times and landscape influences in a nested mesoscale catchment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Rodgers

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available δ18O measurements in precipitation and stream waters were used to investigate hydrological flow paths and residence times at nested spatial scales in the mesoscale (233 km2 River Feugh catchment in the northeast of Scotland over the 2001-2002 hydrological year. Precipitation δ18O exhibited strong seasonal variation, which although significantly damped within the catchment, was reflected in stream water at six sampling sites. This allowed δ18O variations to be used to infer the relative influence of soil-derived storm flows with a seasonally variable isotopic signature, and groundwater of apparently more constant isotopic composition. Periodic regression analysis was then used to examine the sub-catchment difference using an exponential flow model to provide indicative estimates of mean stream water residence times, which varied between approximately 3 and 14 months. This showed that the effects of increasing scale on estimated mean stream water residence time was minimal beyond that of the smallest (ca. 1 km2 headwater catchment scale. Instead, the interaction of catchment soil cover and topography appeared to be the dominant controlling influence. Where sub-catchments had extensive peat coverage, responsive hydrological pathways produced seasonally variable δ18O signatures in runoff with short mean residence times (ca. 3 months. In contrast, areas dominated by steeper slopes, more freely draining soils and larger groundwater storage in shallow valley-bottom aquifers, deeper flow paths allow for more effective mixing and damping of δ18O indicating longer residence times (>12 months. These insights from δ18O measurements extend the hydrological understanding of the Feugh catchment gained from previous geochemical tracer studies, and demonstrate the utility of isotope tracers in investigating the interaction of hydrological processes and catchment characteristics at larger spatial scales.

  8. Changes in water and sediment exchange between the Changjiang River and Poyang Lake under natural and anthropogenic conditions, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Jian Hua; Jia, Jianjun; Kettner, Albert J; Xing, Fei; Wang, Ya Ping; Xu, Xia Nan; Yang, Yang; Zou, Xin Qing; Gao, Shu; Qi, Shuhua; Liao, Fuqiang

    2014-05-15

    To study the fluvial interaction between Changjiang River and Poyang Lake, we analyze the observed changes of riverine flux of the mid-upstream of Changjiang River catchment, the five river systems of Poyang Lake and Poyang Lake basin. Inter-annual and seasonal variations of the water discharge and sediment exchange processes between Changjiang River and Poyang Lake are systematically explored to determine the influence of climate change as well as human impact (especially the Three Gorges Dam (TGD)). Results indicate that climate variation for the Changjiang catchment and Poyang Lake watershed is the main factor determining the changes of water exchanges between Changjiang River and Poyang Lake. However, human activities (including the emplacement of the TGD) accelerated this rate of change. Relative to previous years (1956-1989), the water discharge outflow from Poyang Lake during the dry season towards the Changjiang catchment increased by 8.98 km(3)y(-1) during 2003-2010. Evidently, the water discharge flowing into Poyang Lake during late April-late May decreased. As a consequence, water storage of Poyang Lake significantly reduced during late April-late May, resulting in frequent spring droughts after 2003. The freshwater flux of Changjiang River towards Poyang Lake is less during the flood season as well, significantly lowering the magnitude and frequency of the backflow of the Changjiang River during 2003-2010. Human activities, especially the emplacement and operation of the TGD and sand mining at Poyang Lake impose a major impact on the variation of sediment exchange between Changjiang main river and Poyang Lake. On average, sediments from Changjiang River deposited in Poyang Lake before 2000. After 2000, Changjiang River no longer supplied sediment to Poyang Lake. As a consequence, the sediment load of Changjiang River entering the sea increasingly exists of sediments from Lake Poyang during 2003-2010. As a result, Poyang Lake converted from a

  9. Scaling the flood regime with the soil hydraulic properties of the catchment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peña Rojas, Luis Eduardo; Francés García, Félix; Barrios Peña, Miguel

    2015-04-01

    The spatial land cover distribution and soil type affect the hydraulic properties of soils, facilitating or retarding the infiltration rate and the response of a catchment during flooding events. This research analyzes: 1) the effect of land cover use in different time periods as a source of annual maximum flood records nonstationarity; 2) the scalability of the relationship between soil hydraulic properties of the catchment (initial abstractions, upper soil capillary storage and vertical and horizontal hydraulic conductivity) and the flood regime. The study was conducted in Combeima River basin in Colombia - South America and it was modelled the changes in the land uses registered in 1991, 2000, 2002 and 2007, using distributed hydrological modelling and nonparametric tests. The results showed that changes in land use affect hydraulic properties of soil and it has influence on the magnitude of flood peaks. What is a new finding is that this behavior is scalable with the soil hydraulic properties of the catchment flood moments have a simple scaling behavior and the peaks flow increases with higher values of capillary soil storage, whereas higher values, the peaks decreased. Finally it was applied Generalized Extreme Values and it was found scalable behavior in the parameters of the probability distribution function. The results allowed us to find a relationship between soil hydraulic properties and the behavior of flood regime in the basin studied.

  10. Reservoir-flooded river mouth areas as sediment traps revealing erosion from peat mining areas - Jukajoki case study in eastern Finland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tahvanainen, Teemu; Meriläinen, Henna-Kaisa; Haraguchi, Akira; Simola, Heikki

    2016-04-01

    Many types of soil-disturbing land use have caused excess sedimentation in Finnish lakes. Identification and quantification of catchment sources of sediment material is crucial in cases where demands for remediation measures are considered. We studied recent (50 yr) sediments of four small rivers, all draining to a reservoir impounded in 1971. Catchments of two of the rivers had had peat mining activities from early 1980s until recently, exposing large areas of peat surfaces to erosion. The water level of the reservoir had risen to the river mouth areas of all rivers, while in each case, the river mouth areas still form riverine narrows separable from the main reservoir, hence collecting sedimentation from their own catchments. The original soils under the reservoir water level could readily be observed in core samples, providing a dated horizon under recent sediments. In addition, we used 137Cs-stratigraphies for dating of samples from original river bed locations. As expected, recent sediments of rivers with peat mining influence differed from others e.g. by high organic content and C:N ratios. Stable isotopes 13C and 15N both correlated with C:N (r = 0.799 and r = -0.717, respectively) and they also differentiated the peat-mining influenced samples from other river sediments. Principal components of the physical-chemical variables revealed clearer distinction than any variables separately. Light-microscopy revealed abundance of leafs of Sphagnum mosses in peat-mining influenced river sediments that were nearly absent from other rivers. Spores of Sphagnum were, however, abundant in all river sediments indicating their predominantly airborne origin. We find that combination of several physical-chemical characters rather than any single variable and microscopy of plant remains can result in reliable recognition of peatland-origin of sediment material when non-impacted sites are available for comparison. Dating of disturbed recent sediments is challenging. River

  11. Ecological studies on the freshwater fishes of the Alligator Rivers Region, Northern Territory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bishop, K.A.; Allen, S.A.; Pollard, D.A.; Cook, M.G.

    1986-01-01

    The tropical climate of the Alligator Rivers Region of the Northern Territory has a distinctive Wet-Dry cycle resulting in seasonal flows in the creeks and rivers of its catchments. The present study, begun during August 1978, aimed at developing an ecological monitoring system that would detect changes in freshwater fish communities brought about by recent uranium mining and processing in the lowlands of the region

  12. Monitoring of protected areas of the Lower Vistula River

    OpenAIRE

    Dawid Aleksander Szatten; Zbigniew Czerebiej

    2018-01-01

    The main aim of the research was to determine the quantitative and qualitative assessment of the condition of surface waters in the protected areas of the Lower Vistula River. The research included the analysis of the surface water monitoring network in the Lower Vistula catchment area in the water management cycle 2010-2015. The research subject was Lower Vistula on the section from the Wloclawek Reservoir (km 675) to the estuary of the river to the Gdańsk Bay (km 941). The most important re...

  13. Hydrological and hydraulic modelling of the Nyl River floodplain Part ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Catchment land-use and water resource developments may threaten the ecological integrity of the Nyl River floodplain, a world-renowned conservation area. The effect of developments on the water supply regime to the floodplain can be predicted by hydrological modelling, but assessing their ecological consequences ...

  14. Contrasting Climate Change Impact on River Flow from Glacierised Catchments in the Himalayan and Andes Mountains

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pellicciotti, F.; Ragettli, S.; Immerzeel, W. W. W.

    2016-12-01

    Glaciers and glacierised catchments in mountainous regions react to a changing climate in different manners depending on climate and glacier characteristics. Despite the key role of mountain ranges as natural water towers, their hydrological balance and future changes in glacier runoff associated with climate warming remain poorly understood because of high meteorological variability, physical inaccessibility and the complex interplay between climate, cryosphere and hydrological processes. We use a state-of-the art glacio-hydrological model informed by data from high altitude observations and the latest CMIP5 climate change scenarios to quantify the climate change impact on glaciers and runoff for two contrasting catchments vulnerable to changes in the cryosphere. The two catchments are located in the Central Andes of Chile and in the Nepalese Himalaya in close vicinity of densely populated areas. Although both sites are projected to experience a strong decrease in glacier area, they show remarkably different hydrological responses. Icemelt is on a rising limb in Langtang at least until 2041-2050 and starts to decrease afterwards, while in Juncal icemelt was already beyond its tipping point at the beginning of the 21st century. This contrasting response can be explained by differences in the elevation distribution of the glaciers in the two regions. In Juncal, many glaciers are melting up to the highest elevations already during the reference period (2000-2010) and increasing melt rates due to higher air temperatures cannot compensate the loss of glacier area. In Langtang, large sections of the glaciers at high elevations are currently not exposed to melt, but will be in the future, thus compensating for the loss of glacier area at lower elevations. As a result of these changes and projected changes in precipitation, in Juncal runoff will sharply decrease in the future and the runoff seasonality is sensitive to projected climatic changes. In Langtang, future water

  15. A micro case study of the legal and administrative arrangements for river health in the Kangaroo River (NSW).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mooney, C; Farrier, D

    2002-01-01

    Kangaroo Valley is a drinking water supply catchment for Kangaroo Valley village, parts of the Southern Highlands and Sydney. It is also a popular recreation area both for swimming and canoeing. Land use has traditionally been dominated by dairy farming but there has been significant and continuing development of land for hobby farms and rural residential subdivision. Dairy industry restructuring has affected the viability of some farms in the Valley and created additional pressure for subdivision. River health is a function of flows, water quality, riparian vegetation, geomorphology and aquatic habitat and riverine biota. River flows in the Kangaroo River are affected by water extraction and storage for urban water supply and extraction by commercial irrigators and riparian land holders which have a significant impact at low flows. Current water quality often does not meet ANZECC Guidelines for primary contact and recreation and the river is a poor source of raw drinking water. Key sources of contaminants are wastewater runoff from agriculture, and poorly performing on-site sewage management systems. Riparian vegetation, which is critical to the maintenance of in-stream ecosystems suffers from uncontrolled stock access and weed infestation. The management of land use and resulting diffuse pollution sources is critical to the long term health of the river. The Healthy Rivers Commission of New South Wales Independent Inquiry into the Shoalhaven River System Final Report July, 1999 found that the longer term protection of the health of the Kangaroo River is contingent upon achievement of patterns of land use that have regard to land capability and also to the capability of the river to withstand the impacts of inappropriate or poorly managed land uses. This micro case study of Kangaroo Valley examines the complex legal and administrative arrangements with particular reference to the management of diffuse pollution for river health. In the past, diffuse pollution has

  16. Discharge prediction in the Upper Senegal River using remote sensing data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ceccarini, Iacopo; Raso, Luciano; Steele-Dunne, Susan; Hrachowitz, Markus; Nijzink, Remko; Bodian, Ansoumana; Claps, Pierluigi

    2017-04-01

    The Upper Senegal River, West Africa, is a poorly gauged basin. Nevertheless, discharge predictions are required in this river for the optimal operation of the downstream Manantali reservoir, flood forecasting, development plans for the entire basin and studies for adaptation to climate change. Despite the need for reliable discharge predictions, currently available rainfall-runoff models for this basin provide only poor performances, particularly during extreme regimes, both low-flow and high-flow. In this research we develop a rainfall-runoff model that combines remote-sensing input data and a-priori knowledge on catchment physical characteristics. This semi-distributed model, is based on conceptual numerical descriptions of hydrological processes at the catchment scale. Because of the lack of reliable input data from ground observations, we use the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) remote-sensing data for precipitation and the Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM) for the terrestrial potential evaporation. The model parameters are selected by a combination of calibration, by match of observed output and considering a large set of hydrological signatures, as well as a-priori knowledge on the catchment. The Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation (GLUE) method was used to choose the most likely range in which the parameter sets belong. Analysis of different experiments enhances our understanding on the added value of distributed remote-sensing data and a-priori information in rainfall-runoff modelling. Results of this research will be used for decision making at different scales, contributing to a rational use of water resources in this river.

  17. Metal contamination budget at the river basin scale: an original Flux-Flow Analysis (F2A for the Seine River

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Lestel

    2007-11-01

    Full Text Available Material flow analysis and environmental contamination analysis are merged into a Flux-Flow analysis (F2A as illustrated for the metal circulation in the Seine River catchment. F2A combines about 30 metal flows in the anthroposphere (14 million people and/or metal fluxes in the environment (atmosphere, soils, and aquatic system originating from two dozens of sources. The nature and quality of data is very heterogeneous going from downscaled national economic statistics to upscaled daily environmental surveys.

    A triple integration is performed: space integration over the catchment (65 000 km2, time integration for the 1950–2000 trend analysed at 5 year resolution, and a conceptual integration resulting in two F2A indicators.

    Despite the various data sources an average metal circulation is established for the 1994–2003 period and illustrated for zinc: (i metal circulation in the anthroposphere is now two orders of magnitude higher than river outputs, (ii long term metal storage, and their potential leaks, in soils, wastedumps and structures is also orders of magnitude higher than present river fluxes. Trend analysis is made through two F2A indicators, the per capita excess load at the river outlet and the leakage ratio (excess fluxes/metal demand. From 1950 to 2000, they both show a ten fold improvement of metal recycling while the metal demand has increased by 2.5 to 5 for Cd, Cu, Cr, Pb and Zn, and the population by 50%.

  18. The water quality of the LOCAR Pang and Lambourn catchments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Neal

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available The water quality of the Pang and Lambourn, tributaries of the River Thames, in south-eastern England, is described in relation to spatial and temporal dimensions. The river waters are supplied mainly from Chalk-fed aquifer sources and are, therefore, of a calcium-bicarbonate type. The major, minor and trace element chemistry of the rivers is controlled by a combination of atmospheric and pollutant inputs from agriculture and sewage sources superimposed on a background water quality signal linked to geological sources. Water quality does not vary greatly over time or space. However, in detail, there are differences in water quality between the Pang and Lambourn and between sites along the Pang and the Lambourn. These differences reflect hydrological processes, water flow pathways and water quality input fluxes. The Pang’s pattern of water quality change is more variable than that of the Lambourn. The flow hydrograph also shows both a cyclical and 'uniform pattern' characteristic of aquifer drainage with, superimposed, a series of 'flashier' spiked responses characteristic of karstic systems. The Lambourn, in contrast, shows simpler features without the 'flashier' responses. The results are discussed in relation to the newly developed UK community programme LOCAR dealing with Lowland Catchment Research. A descriptive and box model structure is provided to describe the key features of water quality variations in relation to soil, unsaturated and groundwater flows and storage both away from and close to the river. Keywords: water quality, nitrate, ammonium, phosphorus, pH, alkalinity, nutrients, major elements, trace elements, rainfall, river, Pang, Lambourn, LOCAR

  19. A drifter for measuring water turbidity in rivers and coastal oceans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marchant, Ross; Reading, Dean; Ridd, James; Campbell, Sean; Ridd, Peter

    2015-02-15

    A disposable instrument for measuring water turbidity in rivers and coastal oceans is described. It transmits turbidity measurements and position data via a satellite uplink to a processing server. The primary purpose of the instrument is to help document changes in sediment runoff from river catchments in North Queensland, Australia. The 'river drifter' is released into a flooded river and drifts downstream to the ocean, measuring turbidity at regular intervals. Deployment in the Herbert River showed a downstream increase in turbidity, and thus suspended sediment concentration, while for the Johnstone River there was a rapid reduction in turbidity where the river entered the sea. Potential stranding along river banks is a limitation of the instrument. However, it has proved possible for drifters to routinely collect data along 80 km of the Herbert River. One drifter deployed in the Fly River, Papua New Guinea, travelled almost 200 km before stranding. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Assessment of climate change impact on hydrological extremes in two source regions of the Nile River Basin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. T. Taye

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The potential impact of climate change was investigated on the hydrological extremes of Nyando River and Lake Tana catchments, which are located in two source regions of the Nile River basin. Climate change scenarios were developed for rainfall and potential evapotranspiration (ETo, considering 17 General Circulation Model (GCM simulations to better understand the range of possible future change. They were constructed by transferring the extracted climate change signals to the observed series using a frequency perturbation downscaling approach, which accounts for the changes in rainfall extremes. Projected changes under two future SRES emission scenarios A1B and B1 for the 2050s were considered. Two conceptual hydrological models were calibrated and used for the impact assessment. Their difference in simulating the flows under future climate scenarios was also investigated.

    The results reveal increasing mean runoff and extreme peak flows for Nyando catchment for the 2050s while unclear trend is observed for Lake Tana catchment for mean volumes and high/low flows. The hydrological models for Lake Tana catchment, however, performed better in simulating the hydrological regimes than for Nyando, which obviously also induces a difference in the reliability of the extreme future projections for both catchments. The unclear impact result for Lake Tana catchment implies that the GCM uncertainty is more important for explaining the unclear trend than the hydrological models uncertainty. Nevertheless, to have a better understanding of future impact, hydrological models need to be verified for their credibility of simulating extreme flows.