Abstract
The composition and change of runoff are closely related to climate change and human activities. To design effective watershed water resources management measures, there is a need for a clear understanding of the impact of climate change and human activities on baseflow and surface runoff. The purpose of this essay is to quantify their impact on the annual total stream flow, surface runoff, and base flow in the Weihe River Basin (WRB) using a two-stage annual precipitation partitioning method, wherein the surface runoff and base flow are separated from the measured total flow by using a one-parameter digital filter method for which the common filter parameter value is 0.925. The stream flow records were split into two periods: 1960–1970 (pre-change period) and 1971–2005 (post-change period) based on the hydrological breakpoints detected. We found that climate change and human activities have different impacts on base flow and surface runoff. We attributed the decrease in surface runoff due to climate change accounting for 76–78%, while we determined that human activities were responsible to the decrease in base flow accounting for 59–73% of the total observed change. We concluded that both climate change and human beings contributed to the hydrologic change through different hydrological processes: climate change dominated the surface runoff change, while human influences controlled the base flow change. To achieve the expected goals of ecological restoration, appropriate measures must be taken by watershed management in the WRB to mitigate the likely impacts of climate change on water hydrology.
Highlights
The global hydrologic cycle and distribution of water resources are changing on various scales due to climate change and human interference during the past decades [1,2,3].The changes in precipitation, temperature, wind speed, humidity, and solar radiation have caused decreases in streamflow in some regions [4,5]
The daily observed total streamflow was decomposed into surface runoff and base flow using the one-parameter digital filter method with the filter parameter value of 0.925 [37], which is widely used in the study area [40]
The base flow index was substantially influenced by human activities, climate change, precipitation, and evaporation [40]
Summary
The global hydrologic cycle and distribution of water resources are changing on various scales due to climate change and human interference during the past decades [1,2,3].The changes in precipitation, temperature, wind speed, humidity, and solar radiation have caused decreases in streamflow in some regions [4,5]. The global hydrologic cycle and distribution of water resources are changing on various scales due to climate change and human interference during the past decades [1,2,3]. Dam construction will affect the flow of the river [8,9]; dam and reservoir construction will reduce runoff [10,11]. Deforestation will lead to a decrease in interception capacity and an increase in runoff, while afforestation will lead to an increase in runoff infiltration, a decrease in runoff, and an increase in underground runoff [12,13]; Agricultural water management leads to reduced runoff or groundwater [14]. Quantifying the individual impacts of climate change and humans is important for mitigating the negative effects and adapting to novel environments in the future
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