Assessing mountain block water storage changes in river basins using water balance and GRACE: A case study on Lake Urmia Basin of Iran

Abstract

Study regionLake Urmia Basin (LUB), northwestern Iran, encloses the largest salt lake in Iran, where severe drawdown of the lake water level is causing salt storms that threaten the health of the basin's inhabitants. Study focusDifferent in-situ and RS-based datasets are used to estimate the water storage change (WSC) in LUB and partition it into the basin floor WSC and mountain block WSC components. Water balance components for LUB were estimated for the 2001–2011 period, using RS-based datasets for precipitation, actual evapotranspiration, soil moisture and snow storage. Ground-based data were used for validation of RS data as well as water balance closure purpose. GRACE terrestrial water storage data were also used to validate the water balance method results. New hydrological insights for the regionGRACE results confirmed an average WSC of − 921 million cubic meters per year (MCM/yr) (−17.6 mm over the basin area). WSC time series in the basin floor (average: −913 MCM/yr, or −53 mm over the basin floor area) was estimated by summing the related water storage components, and then subtracted from the basin WSC to estimate the mountain block WSC time series (average: −8 MCM/yr, or −0.2 mm over the mountain block area). To evaluate its authenticity, the estimated mountain block WSC time series was then compared to mountain block rivers’ base flow and springs' discharge, showing a considerable correlation between the time series. Considering the faster water resources depletion in the basin floor (where anthropological factors are significant) than in the mountain block (where anthropological factors are rare), one can conclude that anthropological factors may have the primary role in deteriorating water resources conditions in the basin.