Abstract
In aim to well understand of the association between climate change, variability and their impact on water resources availability, an analysis was conducted of the trends in rainfall and stream flows across the Cheliff basin in Algeria. Sen’s non-parametric estimator of slope was employed to estimate the extent of tendencies, whose statistical significance was measured by the Mann-Kendall (MK) and the Modified Mann-Kendall (MMK) test. Results showed that the annual rainfall had a statistically significant downward trend in the whole basin. The largest downward trend of -4.58 mm y-1 was recorded in the south eastern region of the case study area. Significant decline trends in annual stream flows were detected at up to -1.18 m3 s-1 y-1. It was concluded that climate change appears to have an adverse effects on the hydrological cycle involving all water resources in the case study area. The reduced precipitation clearly resulted in a downward trend in water inflow as shown by recorded decrease from 1025 to 815 Mm3 between 1968-2001 and 2009. The costs of a water shortage can be an impaired the environmental balance which will affect the various human activities especially domestic water supplies and agricultural economy. The results of the current study will help to enhance the management of natural resources in the Cheliff basin.
Highlights
Space-time variability in precipitation and stream flows play key roles in water resources management, in regions characterized by arid and semiarid climates
The analysis of trends has been widely used to assess the possible implications of climate change and variability in hydrological temporal series in different world regions (Kundzewicz et al, 2005; Raziei et al, 2014)
The Cheliff basin is located in the northwest of Algeria and lies between 34° and 36° N in latitude and between 0°12' and 3° 87' E in longitude
Summary
Space-time variability in precipitation and stream flows play key roles in water resources management, in regions characterized by arid and semiarid climates. The analysis of trends has been widely used to assess the possible implications of climate change and variability in hydrological temporal series in different world regions (Kundzewicz et al, 2005; Raziei et al, 2014). Yue et al (2002) have shown, for example, the power of the Mann-Kendall (MK) statistical test to detect changes in hydrological temporal series as, stream flow, temperature and rainfall. Precipitation has increased considerably in some areas of America, Europe and Asia (Muttiah and Wurbs, 2002; Solman, 2013) while decreasing in the Mediterranean region, the Sahel, south part of Africa and Southern regions of Asia at the various temporal and spatial scales (Tramblay et al, 2012; Kosanic et al, 2014). Like Morocco (Bahir et al, 2002) and other Mediterranean countries (Vicente-Serrano, 2006), have suffered from several periods of drought
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
