Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 14117 |
| Journal | Sustainability (Switzerland) |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 21 |
| Publication status | Published - 29 Oct 2022 |
Abstract
Small reservoirs play an important role in providing water to rural communities. Increased construction of small reservoirs to mitigate the effects of droughts leads to a High-density Reservoirs Network (HdRN) of small reservoirs, which can potentially modify the streamflows both in dry and wet periods. However, there is a lack of understanding of the interannual behavior of flow retention and the impact of future increases in the number of small reservoirs, mainly for HdRN in dryland catchments. This research aims to determine the possible impact of the increase in the number of small reservoirs on dry hydrological networks, evaluating the annual flows generated at the outlet of a dryland watershed for scenarios with different densities of small reservoirs (number of reservoirs per area). The study area was the Conceição river catchment (3347 km2) in the semiarid of Brazil. The hydrological model of the study area was developed in SWAT. The model obtained appropriate results for daily streamflows, with values of 0.63, 0.81, and 0.53% for NSE, KGE, and PBIAS, respectively. The current density of small reservoirs in the region was estimated at 0.068 reservoirs per square kilometer (res/km2). Eight expansion scenarios were defined for densities between 0.1 res/km2 and 3.0 res/km2. The results showed that the influence of the HdRN on runoff reduction mostly occurs for a probability of exceedance between 1% and 10% of month flows and is very small for months with very high peaks of flow. The reduction in the outlet flow due to the increase in the number of small reservoirs was stronger during dry years (up to 30%) than during wet years (up to 8%), and it tended to increase in years with a consecutive lack of rain (from about 7% in the first year to about 20% in the last year and in the worst scenario), which may intensify the period of extended droughts. This research provides insights about the impact of the increase in the number of small reservoirs on the interannual variability of flow retention, and the understanding of the influence of small reservoirs on runoff reduction may help water resources agencies better prepare for hydrologic extremes (droughts and floods).
Keywords
- dryland hydrology, hydrological droughts, small reservoirs, SWAT
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Computer Science(all)
- Computer Science (miscellaneous)
- Social Sciences(all)
- Geography, Planning and Development
- Energy(all)
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Engineering(all)
- Building and Construction
- Environmental Science(all)
- Environmental Science (miscellaneous)
- Energy(all)
- Energy Engineering and Power Technology
- Computer Science(all)
- Hardware and Architecture
- Computer Science(all)
- Computer Networks and Communications
- Environmental Science(all)
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Sustainable Development Goals
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In: Sustainability (Switzerland), Vol. 14, No. 21, 14117, 29.10.2022.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of Dense Networks of Reservoirs on Streamflows at Dryland Catchments
AU - Rabelo, Udinart Prata
AU - Costa, Alexandre C.
AU - Dietrich, Jörg
AU - Fallah-Mehdipour, Elahe
AU - Van Oel, Pieter
AU - Lima Neto, Iran Eduardo
N1 - Funding Information: This study was supported by the Foundation for Scientific and Technological Development of the State of Ceará (FUNCAP) (PNE0112–00042.01.00/16) and the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) (155814/2018–4; 402514/2021-1).
PY - 2022/10/29
Y1 - 2022/10/29
N2 - Small reservoirs play an important role in providing water to rural communities. Increased construction of small reservoirs to mitigate the effects of droughts leads to a High-density Reservoirs Network (HdRN) of small reservoirs, which can potentially modify the streamflows both in dry and wet periods. However, there is a lack of understanding of the interannual behavior of flow retention and the impact of future increases in the number of small reservoirs, mainly for HdRN in dryland catchments. This research aims to determine the possible impact of the increase in the number of small reservoirs on dry hydrological networks, evaluating the annual flows generated at the outlet of a dryland watershed for scenarios with different densities of small reservoirs (number of reservoirs per area). The study area was the Conceição river catchment (3347 km2) in the semiarid of Brazil. The hydrological model of the study area was developed in SWAT. The model obtained appropriate results for daily streamflows, with values of 0.63, 0.81, and 0.53% for NSE, KGE, and PBIAS, respectively. The current density of small reservoirs in the region was estimated at 0.068 reservoirs per square kilometer (res/km2). Eight expansion scenarios were defined for densities between 0.1 res/km2 and 3.0 res/km2. The results showed that the influence of the HdRN on runoff reduction mostly occurs for a probability of exceedance between 1% and 10% of month flows and is very small for months with very high peaks of flow. The reduction in the outlet flow due to the increase in the number of small reservoirs was stronger during dry years (up to 30%) than during wet years (up to 8%), and it tended to increase in years with a consecutive lack of rain (from about 7% in the first year to about 20% in the last year and in the worst scenario), which may intensify the period of extended droughts. This research provides insights about the impact of the increase in the number of small reservoirs on the interannual variability of flow retention, and the understanding of the influence of small reservoirs on runoff reduction may help water resources agencies better prepare for hydrologic extremes (droughts and floods).
AB - Small reservoirs play an important role in providing water to rural communities. Increased construction of small reservoirs to mitigate the effects of droughts leads to a High-density Reservoirs Network (HdRN) of small reservoirs, which can potentially modify the streamflows both in dry and wet periods. However, there is a lack of understanding of the interannual behavior of flow retention and the impact of future increases in the number of small reservoirs, mainly for HdRN in dryland catchments. This research aims to determine the possible impact of the increase in the number of small reservoirs on dry hydrological networks, evaluating the annual flows generated at the outlet of a dryland watershed for scenarios with different densities of small reservoirs (number of reservoirs per area). The study area was the Conceição river catchment (3347 km2) in the semiarid of Brazil. The hydrological model of the study area was developed in SWAT. The model obtained appropriate results for daily streamflows, with values of 0.63, 0.81, and 0.53% for NSE, KGE, and PBIAS, respectively. The current density of small reservoirs in the region was estimated at 0.068 reservoirs per square kilometer (res/km2). Eight expansion scenarios were defined for densities between 0.1 res/km2 and 3.0 res/km2. The results showed that the influence of the HdRN on runoff reduction mostly occurs for a probability of exceedance between 1% and 10% of month flows and is very small for months with very high peaks of flow. The reduction in the outlet flow due to the increase in the number of small reservoirs was stronger during dry years (up to 30%) than during wet years (up to 8%), and it tended to increase in years with a consecutive lack of rain (from about 7% in the first year to about 20% in the last year and in the worst scenario), which may intensify the period of extended droughts. This research provides insights about the impact of the increase in the number of small reservoirs on the interannual variability of flow retention, and the understanding of the influence of small reservoirs on runoff reduction may help water resources agencies better prepare for hydrologic extremes (droughts and floods).
KW - dryland hydrology
KW - hydrological droughts
KW - small reservoirs
KW - SWAT
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85142707714&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/su142114117
DO - 10.3390/su142114117
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85142707714
VL - 14
JO - Sustainability (Switzerland)
JF - Sustainability (Switzerland)
SN - 2071-1050
IS - 21
M1 - 14117
ER -