Water Budget in a Tile Drained Watershed under Future Climate Change Using SWATDRAIN Model

Golmar Golmohammadi,Prasad Daggupatti,Pradeep Goel,Shiv Prasher,Ramesh Rudra,Ali Madani,Kourosh Mohammadi

doi:10.3390/cli5020039

Abstract

The SWATDRAIN model was developed by incorporating the subsurface flow model, DRAINMOD, into a watershed scale surface flow model, SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment tool), to simulate the hydrology and water quality of agricultural watersheds. The model is capable of simulating hydrology under different agricultural management and climate scenarios. As an application of the SWATDRAIN model, the impact of climate change on surface/subsurface flow was evaluated in the Canagagigue Creek watershed in southern Ontario, Canada. Using the assumption that there has been no change in land cover and land management, the model was applied to simulate annual, seasonal, and monthly changes in surface and subsurface flows at the outlet of the watershed under current and future climate conditions. The climate scenario under consideration in this study for 2015–2044 was derived from CGCM2 (Canadian Global Circulation Model 2), with A2 scenario for future climatic simulation. The SWATDRAIN model’s ability to predict the impacts of future climate change scenarios in agricultural watersheds due to monthly NSE (Nash Sutcliffe Efficiency), PBIAS (Percent Bias), and RSR (Root Mean Square Error) values of 0.74, 3.67, and 0.37, respectively, for the validation phase. The results showed that general climate change effects more spring and winter hydrology than summer hydrology. The results show that the annual flow is expected to increase in future, which will lead to an increase in the sediment loads in the stream.

Highlights

Changes in climate over a long time or in the short-term may exert extensive impacts on the natural hydrologic cycle and natural ecosystems, in freshwater supply and in the quality of water resource systems
Detailed information on the SWATDRAIN modeling approach can be found in previous studies [10,27]
This study presents the impact of climate change, based on projections from the CGCM2, A2 scenario on the hydrology of an agricultural watershed in the cold climate of Ontario

Summary

Introduction

Changes in climate over a long time or in the short-term may exert extensive impacts on the natural hydrologic cycle and natural ecosystems, in freshwater supply and in the quality of water resource systems. Some parts of the world may see significant reductions in precipitation, or major alterations in the timing of wet and dry seasons. Some recent examples of the impact of climate change on water resources include the melting of the permafrost in northern Quebec, rising sea levels in Atlantic Canada, the glacial retreat in British Columbia, and prolonged drought in the Prairies [3]. Analyzing the impact of climate change on hydrology and water quality in watersheds requires the use of hydrologic models that

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