Abstract
This study analyzes the response of various hydrological parameters and future water availability against anticipated climate variations in snow dominated alpine catchment in Austria. The parameters assessed are base flow, environmental flow, total flow, evapotranspiration, and snow cover duration. The distributed hydrological modeling system PREVAH is developed to assess the impacts through the combination of various climate change scenarios produced under the framework of the European project PRUDENCE. The model results clearly indicate an apparent shift from observed trends in monthly, seasonal and annual values. The mean annual changes observed by all model scenarios range between 45% to 60% decrease in snow cover duration, 15% to 20% increase in evapotranspiration, 5% to 15% decrease in base flow, and 15% to 25% decrease in total runoff values. However, mean annual changes observed in available water are marginal, just ranging from -3% to +2%. All regional model projections show more or less the same identical pattern of changes in analyzed parameters.
Highlights
The mid-20th century, considered as an era of industrialization, has led to unprecedented use of fossil fuels which are a major cause for releases of anthropogenic greenhouse gases [1]
Several researchers already concluded that climatic variability alters the snow storage which subsequently affects timing and flow volumes in alpine catchments
It is clearly highlighted that under the current situation, most of the base flow is produced in spring and early summer months
Summary
The mid-20th century, considered as an era of industrialization, has led to unprecedented use of fossil fuels which are a major cause for releases of anthropogenic greenhouse gases [1]. Anticipated seasonality change may bring severe complications for adjacent lowland areas [3,4,5,6,7] It may affect constant water availability, hydropower generation, water tourism etc. Numerous other studies are raising concerns over reliability of water supply sources and acknowledge severe complications for water management systems [4, 8]. In such context, the present study analyzes catchment flow component’s sensitivity towards future climate change scenarios and subsequent impact on water availability. Laghari et al.: Water Availability in Snow Dominated Regions under Projected Climatic Variability allocation and development, and future water resource planning and management
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