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Smart licensing and environmental flows: Modeling framework and sensitivity testing.
- Source :
- Water Resources Research; Dec2011, Vol. 47 Issue 12, pW12524-W12524, 15p
- Publication Year :
- 2011
-
Abstract
- Adapting to climate change is just one among many challenges facing river managers. The response will involve balancing the long-term water demands of society with the changing needs of the environment in sustainable and cost effective ways. This paper describes a modeling framework for evaluating the sensitivity of low river flows to different configurations of abstraction licensing under both historical climate variability and expected climate change. A rainfall-runoff model is used to quantify trade-offs among environmental flow (e-flow) requirements, potential surface and groundwater abstraction volumes, and the frequency of harmful low-flow conditions. Using the River Itchen in southern England as a case study it is shown that the abstraction volume is more sensitive to uncertainty in the regional climate change projection than to the e-flow target. It is also found that "smarter" licensing arrangements (involving a mix of hands off flows and "rising block" abstraction rules) could achieve e-flow targets more frequently than conventional seasonal abstraction limits, with only modest reductions in average annual yield, even under a hotter, drier climate change scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- RIVERS
STREAMFLOW
CLIMATE change
WATER consumption
GROUNDWATER
MANAGEMENT
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00431397
- Volume :
- 47
- Issue :
- 12
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Water Resources Research
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 75167314
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2011WR011194