The impact of water use and climate change on hydrological processes in the Haihe River basin

Keywords: CWatM, MODFLOW, water use, climate change
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Monday
Session Start / End Time: 2/28/2022 09:40 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/28/2022 11:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 64

Abstract

The hydrological process is of great significance for water resources planning and management to maintain a healthy ecosystem and society development. Due to climate change and economic growth, the increasing human water use has altered hydrological processes, spatial and temporal patterns of water resources, and water quality. In this study, the Community Water Model (CWatM) coupled with MODFLOW was used to evaluate the changes in hydrological processes caused by the increased water use and climate change. We calibrated the CWatM for the historical streamflow at a monthly time step based on the objective function of a modified version of the Kling-Gupta Efficiency (KGE). Using the calibrated model, we explored future streamflow from 2021 to 2100 driven by the ensemble of nine CMIP6 global climate model outputs. The results indicate that: (1) water use can lead to a drop by 80% in streamflow at the outlet of the river basin, and domestic and industrial water use has a greater impact on streamflow compared to irrigation; (2) the impact of water use on surface water is larger compared to groundwater; and (3) during the flood season, climate change could increase streamflow at the outlet by about 1.5 times, while there is a more significant impact of water use on streamflow during the dry season. The findings from this study are of great help for developing management policies to improve the sustainability of the Haihe River Basin ecosystem under a changing climate.