Hydrological Drought Analysis for Bolu City with Streamflow Drought Index

Abstract

Hydrological drought refers to the decrease in the amount of water found in surface or groundwater resources and monitoring of this natural disaster is very important due to causing serious problems in drinking and irrigation water supply and hydroelectric energy production. In this study, hydrological drought analysis was made for two streams in Bolu city located in the Western Black Sea Region in the north of Turkey and 3, 6 and 12 month streamflow drought indices were calculated by using the Streamflow Drought Index method. For this aim, the streamflow data of Bolu stream - Beşdeğirmen and Ulusu - Afatlar streamflow monitoring stations were used. According to the results, extreme and severedroughts were determined for two stream flow stations and it is seen that drought periods varied between 1 and 9 years. The most severe and longest droughts were detected for Bolu stream - Beşdeğirmen station. Mild droughts are much higher than moderate, severe and extreme droughts. It has been observed that the severity and number of drought for Bolu stream - Beşdeğirmen station have increased in recent years. In order to reduce the effects of hydrological drought, hydrological drought should be monitored continuously and necessary precautions should be taken regarding the management of water resources. People should be informed about water consumption and so waste should be prevented. Interms of irrigation water, drip irrigation method should be used instead of flood irrigation or sprinkler irrigation methods. For this aim, farmers should be made aware of this issue. Alternative renewable energy sources or other energy sources should be used for reductions in hydroelectric energy production.