Water Management Plans Research Articles

The Challenge of Setting “Climate Ready” Ecological Targets for Environmental Flow Planning

Implementing environmental flows has emerged as a major river management tool for addressing the impacts of hydrologic alteration in large river systems. The “natural flow paradigm” has been a central guiding principle for determining important ecohydrological relationships. Yet, climate change and associated changes in rainfall run off relationships, seasonality of flows, disruptions to food webs and species life cycle cues mean these existing relationships will, in many circumstances, become obsolete. Revised thinking around setting ecological objectives is required to ensure environmental management targets are achievable, particularly in regions where water scarcity is predicted to increase. Through this lens “climate ready” targets are those that are robust to changing water availability or incorporate future adaptation options. Future objective setting should be based around the inclusion of changing climate and water availability, and the associated species and ecosystem vulnerabilities, and expected outcomes under different policy and adaptation options. This paper uses south eastern Australia as a case study region to review the extent to which current water management plans include climate considerations and adaptation in objective setting. Results show untested climate adaptation inclusions, and a general lack of acknowledgement of changing hydrological and ecological conditions in existing management plans. In response this paper presents a process for setting objectives so they can be considered “climate ready.”

Assessment of intrinsic aquifer vulnerability at continental scale through a critical application of the drastic framework: The case of South America

An assessment of the intrinsic aquifer vulnerability of South America is presented. The outcomes represent the potential sensitivity of natural aquifers to leaching of dissolved compounds from the land surface. The study, developed at continental scale but retaining regionally a high resolution, is based on a critical application of the DRASTIC method. The biggest challenge in performing such a study in South America was the scattered and irregular nature of environmental datasets. Accordingly, the most updated information on soil, land use, geology, hydrogeology, and climate at continental, national, and regional scale were selected from international and local databases. To avoid spatial discrepancy and inconsistency, data were integrated, harmonized, and accurately cross-checked, using local professional knowledge where information was missing. The method was applied in a GIS environment to allow spatial analysis of raw data along with the overlaying and rating of maps. The application of the DRASTIC method allows to classify South America into five vulnerability classes, from very low to very high, and shows an overall medium to low vulnerability at continental scale. The Amazon region, coastal aquifers, colluvial Andean valleys, and alluvial aquifers of main rivers were the areas classified as highly vulnerable. Moreover, countries with the largest areas with high aquifer vulnerability were those characterized by extended regions of rainforest. In addition, a single parameter sensitivity analysis showed depth to water table to be the most significant factor, while a cross-validation using existing vulnerability assessments and observed concentrations of compounds in groundwater confirmed the reliability of the proposed assessment, even at regional scale. Overall, although additional field surveys and detailed works at local level are needed to develop effective water management plans, the present DRASTIC map represents an essential common ground towards a more sustainable land-use and water management in the whole territory of South America.

Multivariate monthly water demand prediction using ensemble and gradient boosting machine learning techniques

Water management planning requires reliable and accurate water demand forecasting. Water demand prediction is affected by variables, such as climate, socio-economic, and demographic data. This paper investigates urban monthly average water demand prediction, using classical, ensemble, and gradient boosting-based machine learning models, using the available monthly water demand, climatic, economic, and demographic data. Three train-test data split schemes on water demand timeseries were considered to determine the effect of data size on water demand prediction. Sensitivity analysis was employed to reduce input feature dimensionality while maintaining model accuracy. A univariate timeseries (water demand only) produced R2 scores up to 0.91, which increased to 0.94 with the addition of calendar and climatic features. Increasing the training data size from 70% to 90% improved the RMSE and MAE scores by ensemble and gradient boosting methods, with the random forest and the AdaBoost models showing improvements of up to 69%. The sensitivity analysis revealed a successful input reduction scheme from a potential 17 input attributes to seven inputs. Gradient boosting models showed robust and faster execution time, especially with the increase in training data, which is attractive for medium-term urban water demand forecasting.

Recharge and Geochemical Evolution of Groundwater in Fractured Basement Aquifers (NW India): Insights from Environmental Isotopes (δ18O, δ2H, and 3H) and Hydrogeochemical Studies

Considering water as a limiting factor for socio-economic development, especially in arid/semi-arid regions, both scientific communities and policymakers are interested in groundwater recharge-related data. India is fast moving toward a crisis of groundwater due to intense abstraction and contamination. There is a lack of understanding regarding the occurrence, movement, and behaviors of groundwater in a fractured basement terrane. Therefore, integrated environmental isotopes (δ18O, δ2H, and 3H) and hydrogeochemical studies have been used to understand the recharge processes and geochemical evolution of groundwater in the fractured basement terranes of Gujarat, NW India. Our results show that the relative abundance of major cations and anions in the study basin are Ca2+ > Na+ > Mg2+ > K+ and HCO3− > Cl− > SO42− > NO3−, respectively. This suggests that the chemical weathering of silicate minerals influences the groundwater chemistry in the aquifer system. A change in hydrochemical facies from Ca-HCO3 to Na-Mg-Ca-Cl. HCO3 has been identified from the recharge to discharge areas. Along the groundwater flow direction, the presence of chemical constituents with different concentrations demonstrates that the various geochemical mechanisms are responsible for this geochemical evolution. Furthermore, the chemical composition of groundwater also reflects that the groundwater has interacted with distinct rock types (granites/granulites). The stable isotopes (δ18O and δ2H) of groundwater reveal that the local precipitation is the main source of recharge. However, the groundwater recharge is affected by the evaporation process due to different geological conditions irrespective of topographical differences in the study area. The tritium (3H) content of groundwater suggests that the aquifer is mainly recharged by modern rainfall events. Thus, in semi-arid regions, the geology, weathering, and geologic structures have a significant role in bringing chemical changes in groundwater and smoothening the recharge process. The findings of this study will prove vital for the decision-makers or policymakers to take appropriate measures to design water budgets as well as water management plans more sustainably.

Impacts of a saline water control project on aquaculture livelihoods in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta

PurposeDrought and salinity intrusion aggravated by climate change threaten agricultural livelihoods in Viet Nan's Mekong Delta. In response, authorities have built water management infrastructure for irrigation and salinity protection. This study assessed the impact of one such project, the Ba Lai dam in Ben Tre province, on the livelihoods of aquaculture farmers.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework to assess the impact of the Ba Lai dam on the livelihood capitals of 18 farming households in four communes, located both upstream and downstream of the dam.FindingsThe authors find that, apart from some positive effects, the dam has also brought negative environmental consequences, such as increased water pollution. The authors also find that farmers have responded to the changes by adapting their livelihood practices.Research limitations/implicationsThe samples were relatively small, encompassing four communes in Ben Tre province. On the other hand, this case study is instructive to the many ongoing infrastructure projects in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta.Social implicationsThe project have caused an increase in water-related social conflict.Originality/valueThe case of the Ba Lai dam provides a cautionary example for infrastructure-based water management plans, both in Viet Nam and more broadly. The study suggests the need to strengthen community participation and prioritize impacts of farmers' capital assets when constructing water management infrastructure for climate change adaptation.

Hydrochemical assessment of groundwater suitability for irrigation in the north-eastern blocks of Purulia district, India using GIS and AHP techniques

Purulia is a semi-arid, hard rock terrain. Water scarcity is a major threat prevailing here, but irrigation is been performed in many parts of the district mostly by the use of the surface and groundwater. Proper water management planning is very much essential in the region so that water can be utilised in the best way possible without causing much exploitation and waste. The various physicochemical parameters were measured in the field and in the laboratory for the collected 60 samples. The decreasing order of occurrences of the cations and anions in the groundwater of the study area are as; Ca+2 > Na+ > Mg+2 > K+ > Fe+2 and HCO3- > Cl− > SO4- > NO3- > F− respectively. According to the piper plot the water type are 80% Ca–HCO3, 19% mixed CaMgCl and 1% CaCl type. Gibbs diagram indicates that the rock-water interaction is the most dominating mechanism prevailing in this region. The groundwater suitability zones for irrigation purpose were performed using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and geographical information system (GIS). The final zonation map was prepared using the weighted analysis technique by using the nine irrigational water parameters. The zonation map indicated that 32.37% and 19.23% of the study area are highly and low suitability zones respectively. The results from this study would help the decision makers in the coming future for making water and irrigation management programs.

Trade-off informed adaptive and robust real options water resources planning

Planning water resource systems is challenged primarily by two realities. First, uncertainty is inherent in the predictions of future supplies and demands due for example to hydrological variability and climate change. To build societal resilience water planners should seek to enhance the adaptability and robustness of water resource system interventions. Second, water resource developments typically involve competing interests which implies considering the trade-offs and synergies implied by the highest performing combinations of development options is useful. This work describes a real options based planning framework that generates adaptive and robust water system design alternatives able to consider and trade-off different goals. The framework can address different types of uncertainties and suggests the highest performing designs across multiple evaluation criteria, such as financial costs and water supply service performance metrics. Using a global city’s water resource and supply system as a demonstration of the approach, we explore the trade-offs between a long-term water management plan’s infrastructure services (service resilience, reliability, vulnerability) and its financial costs under supply and demand uncertainty. The set of trade-off solutions consist of different investment plans which are adaptive and robust to future changing conditions. Results show that the highest performing plans lower net present value (NPV) of needed investments by up to 18%, while maintaining similar performance across the other objectives. The real option value of delaying investments as much as possible approaches up to 14% of total NPV.

Factors controlling the rise and fall of groundwater level during the freezing-thawing period in seasonal frozen regions

Freezing- and thawing-induced variations of groundwater level and the corresponding changes in water storage in the saturated zone have been observed in regions with a shallow water table. However, the vertical migration of water under the effect of the freezing-thawing process on shallow groundwater has not been accurately quantified and the influencing factors of groundwater level dynamics during the freezing-thawing period remain unclear. Reasonable representation of this process on the field scale is very important for improving our understanding of water budgets during the freezing-thawing cycle. In this study, we investigated the main factors controlling groundwater level fluctuations during the freezing-thawing period at two sites in Northeast China through comparative analyses of long-term field observations of air temperature, precipitation, snow depth, liquid soil water content, soil water temperature, and fluctuations of groundwater level. We found that the seasonal variations in groundwater table coincided with the soil frost freezing-thawing seasonal cycle, which exhibited a “V” shape. Freezing-induced groundwater decline occurred only when the maximum depth of effect of freezing and thawing overlapped with the maximum height of capillary rise in unconfined groundwater. Moreover, the decline was controlled by air temperature, snow cover, soil media properties, and soil water distribution. By comparing the change trends of groundwater level and calculating the water budget, the process of the rise of groundwater level could be further divided into three stages, during which groundwater was recharged by frost melt water and snowmelt water. Among them, snowmelt water had a limited contribution, accounting for less than 20% of the total recharge. The results have potential applications in the development of reasonable water-management plans for irrigation, using which soil salt can be washed out and suitable soil thermal and moisture conditions can be maintained for winter crops or farming in the next year.

Morphological, molecular, and biochemical study of cyanobacteria from a eutrophic Algerian reservoir (Cheffia).

The cyanobacteria management in water bodies requires a deep knowledge of the community composition. Considering the reliable and thorough information provided by the polyphasic approach in cyanobacteria taxonomy, here we assess the cyanobacterial community structure of the Cheffia reservoir from Algeria. Cyanobacteria were identified on the basis of morphological traits and next-generation sequencing (NGS); toxins-related genes were localized in addition to the identification of toxins; temperature and nutrient level of water samples were also determined. The polyphasic approach was essential for cyanobacteria investigation; 28 genera were identified through 16S rRNA metabarcoding with the dominance of taxa from Microcystis (34.2%), Aphanizomenon (20.1%), and Planktothrix (20.0%), and morphological analysis revealed the association in this water body of five species within the genus Microcystis: M. aeruginosa, M. novacekii, M. panniformis, M. ichthyoblabe, and M. flos-aquae. The presence of mcyE genotypes was detected; moreover, HPLC-PDA and LC-ESI-MS/MS revealed the production of microcystin-LR. Results obtained in our study are very important since this ecosystem is used for water supply and irrigation; as a consequence, a good water management plan is essential.

Nabaoy River Watershed potential impact to flooding using Geographic Information System remote sensing

<abstract> <p>Watersheds are naturally prone to environmental disasters such as flooding. The purpose of the study was to analyze the potential impact of flooding on the Nabaoy River Watershed using Geographic Information System (GIS) remote sensing. Secondary data for flood factors such as slope, elevation, land cover, surface run-off, rainfall, and soil were used and reclassified using the critical scale of factors of flood vulnerability ratings and weighting overlay using the GIS environment to create geospatial data on the potential impact to flooding. Data revealed the following percentages of the susceptibility of the watershed to flooding: very low (8.06%), very highly (19.79%), moderate (22.15%), high (22.84%), and low (27.16%). The main result showed that the upstream area of the Nabaoy river watershed such as Nabaoy, Napaan, Pawa, and Tag-osip was within low to very low flood vulnerability. Meanwhile, the inundation vulnerability intimidation on the downstream side of the Nabaoy river watershed such Cubay Sur, Motag, and low-lying areas of Nabaoy, Napaan, and Tag-osip have moderate to very highly susceptibility to flooding. The results obtained can help the concerned agencies and stakeholders to craft policy and water management plans, adaptive capacity, conservation measures, and resilience programs in response to severe flooding.</p> </abstract>

Can Governance at the Right Scale Increase Productivity? A Comparative Scoping Review

Enhancing productivity is a common rationale for devolution, outsourcing and new institutional configurations and a recurring theme in public administration reforms. Functions such as urban planning, infrastructure development, water management, and transportation planning have clear spatial characteristics wherein their governance ideally spans their functional use and/or management. These considerations have led to municipal amalgamations and two-tier governance in an effort to consolidate functions and build economies of scale and to the creation of special purpose, intermediate or regional bodies to manage public investments and deliver specialised services. While there is a growing urban literature on governance at the right scale in certain policy areas, far fewer studies explore these factors in lower density places (towns and rural and remote areas). Moreover, how effective and efficient governance might boost productivity both within the institution and more generally, across the local/regional economy is underexplored. This paper takes stock of how governance at the right scale might improve public sector productivity in different types of places—urban, rural and remote. It draws on theoretical, empirical and policy literature to explore how scale matters to public sector productivity and governance.

Longitudinal assessment of an integrated approach to large-scale common-pool water resource management: a case study of Nebraska’s Platte River basin

The state of Nebraska, USA employs a localized, integrated approach to managing water resources to address escalating quantity challenges. Here, we assess differences between agricultural water users’ perceptions of water management in a water-stressed area of Nebraska after a first round of water management planning and perceptions of three other stakeholder groups in Nebraska immediately after a second round of water management planning. We also demonstrate the value of augmenting Ostrom’s common-pool resource management design principles with locally relevant criteria to evaluate water management at regional and statewide governance scales. Data from a survey of Platte River basin agricultural producers in 2012 were combined with survey data collected in 2019 from Platte basin agricultural producers, Platte basin non-farm residents, and non-farm residents across Nebraska. There were significant increases from 2012 to 2019 in Platte basin producers’ perceptions of four criteria and significant decreases in their perceptions of four other criteria. The current system continues to work relatively well, but notable exceptions endure, including a significant decrease in the number of agricultural producers who agree that there is equitable treatment of water users and trust in water management agencies. Non-farm respondents were significantly less likely than producers to agree that the current water management system is working well with regard to enforcing water-use rules.

Indirect effects of Covid-19 on water quality

• Hand sanitizers and soaps are vigorously used for hand hygiene during Pandemic. • Use of alcohol and petrochemical based surfactant hazardous to ecology. • Blindly used of sanitizers, soaps and surfactant has disturbed the water quality. • Wastewater generation during COVID-19 pandemic may work as source for Sars-CoV-2. • Treatment of wastewater is necessary to reduces Sars-CoV-2 transmission. The provision of safe water and functioning waste management play key roles in preventing and combatting disease outbreaks such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Good water quality is needed for effective hygiene measures like washing hands as well as for lowering pathogen transmission. Almost all over the world, especially in developing countries, water is vulnerable and at high risk and surging insecurity with time. Effective water management, sanitation, and hygiene help to protect lives during the global COVID-19 pandemic. While sanitation and hygiene also disturb the quality and increase water consumption per capita to 40% comparatively and wastewater production in many developing countries. This rapid increase in water consumption puts direct pressure on water reservoirs and inadequate management of wastewater is also a serious threat to waterways, nowadays. Similarly, the quality of water bodies is significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the risk of transmission of COVID-19 through sewerage systems is recorded as low. Hence, the current review paper is planned to highlight the main concerns directly linked with the frequent usage of detergents/soaps and alcohol-based hand sanitizers on water quality and the post-pandemic handwashing habits to overcome the COVID-19 spread also threatening the water reserve by high consumption along with more wastewater production with less water reuse efficiency and collectively the pressure on drinking water facilities. This review also focuses on the indirect influence of COVID-19 on water quality through technical interventions among COVID-19, water pollution; soaps/detergents, and hand sanitizer and the complete water management plan for water security and safety from policymakers to end users after the viral revolution briefly.

Economic characterization of irrigated and livestock farms in The Po River Basin District

This article highlights the potential for collecting and processing territorial data in order to facilitate planning and programming that respond to real local problems and include the political and regulatory framework in force. A case study is explored that involves the joint use of two databases with institutional functions: the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) and the National Information System for Water Management in Agriculture (SIGRIAN). Both databases are managed by the Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA). Those data were used to calculate economic-structural indicators for irrigated and livestock farms located in the Po River Basin District and to run the socioeconomic analysis required to update the Water Management Plan. The updating of plans is governed by the Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC), which establishes the community framework for water and requires all Member States to review and update their Plan every six years. The first update deadline was December 2015 and the second one will be December 2021. The integrated use of two databases made it possible to identify farms according to two types of irrigation: collective or self-supplied. With collective irrigation (Irrigation Water Service), the farm is a user of a Local Agency for Water Management (LAWM) that collects and distributes irrigation water. With self-supplied irrigation, the individual farmers collect and distribute water themself. The analysis carried out demonstrates the need and opportunity to develop coordinated data collection and management systems, thereby strengthening and refining the monitoring and programming of water use in line with the real needs of the territory.

Land-Based Impact of Nutrient Loads and Eutrophication on an Ancient Mediterranean Natural Lake

In water management plans, all human impacts on the aquatic environment are quantified and evaluated. For this purpose, lake-related assessment methods of watersheds are needed. The aim of this study is to present the environmental condition along the watershed–lake continuum of Lake Baratz, located in the northeastern part of Sardinia. We provide a method to evaluate the impact of a small watershed area on the trophic state of this ancient Mediterranean natural lake. This study demonstrates the potentialities of coupling simple land structure-based models with empirical ones, allowing one to hierarchize, interpret, and predict the relationships among the watershed ecological unity and lake trophic conditions at multiple spatial and temporal scales. It also demonstrates how the impact of single and interacting nutrient stressors can have a different impact on the trophic status which, in particular, applies to autotrophs, constituting a key response in the ecosystem. We suggest that the stressor hierarchy should be considered as a way of prioritizing actions in the cost-effective implementation of conservation and management plans.

Germination and growth of horticultural crops irrigated with reclaimed water after biological treatment and ozonation

Integration of high water-volume and nutrient-rich industrial wastewater into the existing water management plan for agriculture could be a viable option to protect freshwater resources, mitigate water scarcity problems and support the agriculture sector. Hydroponics were set-up to study the effects of treated mixed industrial and domestic wastewater on physiological traits of lettuce and silverbeet. A sustainable hybrid biological-ozonation process was employed for the wastewater treatment. The studied process showed high treatment capacity by removing 96% COD, 92% diesel and 97% methylene blue compounds. Reclaimed streams were analysed for metals using ICP-MS instrument and the concentrations of all elements tested, exception of Cu, Mn, and Mo, fall within the permissible range for crop irrigation. The crops were grown using the effluents (with/without external nutrient) and compared to a recommended nutrient culture and tap water controls. Compared to the control, plants that received external nutrient had a comparable aerial biomass and vegetative growth, higher photosynthetic pigments but exhibited some root development impairments, probably due to high activity of H+, which promoted metal toxicities on plant roots. Under pH-controlled irrigation, an improvement in root growth was observed. The biomass of plants watered with only the treated wastewater were more than 50% higher than the yield in tap water control and plants exhibited high degree of root foraging. The root concentrations of the studied metals, particularly Al, Mn, Cu and Zn were higher than the corresponding shoot concentrations. Pearson correlation analysis showed a significant positive interaction (p<0.01) between K and other elements (Mg, Ca, Cu, Mn, Zn, Fe) in plant tissues, thus indicating its role in facilitating transportation of nutrients and photo-assimilates in plant. The results suggest a high suitability of the treated wastewater for growth of crops. Thus, the reuse of treated mixed industrial and domestic wastewater for irrigation can be considered a sustainable way to cope with the growing water stress across the globe and the water shortage in agriculture. The reuse potential for irrigation of crops depends on the quality of the reclaimed water and the treatment technologies used. With the limited research data available, further studies to elucidate the long-term implications of the irrigation is highly recommended.

Large-scale assessment of spatial variability in stream power distribution: An indicator of channel erosion and deposition potential

Channel morphodynamics, governed by erosion and deposition processes, constitute a relevant aspect of integrated water management planning, and development of sustainable fluvial projects. According to the Water Framework Directive, there is a need for hydromorphological recognition and channel geomorphic adjustment at the national level. Such a large scale excludes field measurements as the primary research method. Instead, methods that require less resources and are based on relatively simple process representations are required. The stream power (SP) concept, combining the effect of channel gradient and discharge, has been widely used for quantitative measurements in geomorphic works at different spatial scales, but not at the national level so far. The primary objective of this study was to estimate total and specific stream power, and detect erosion and deposition patterns along the river network in Poland. Given the dominant role of stream slope in SP spatial variations, the specific objective was to assess the vertical accuracy of high-resolution DEM representing water surface elevations along the river course, and to propose a method for extraction of elevation points along river reaches that increase the accuracy of DEM-derived stream slopes. We demonstrated that DEM generally overestimates the elevation by more than 0.5 m, significantly affecting the DEM-derived stream slope estimation. By extracting minimum water surface elevation from DEM within a 15 m radius from the target cell (river segment endpoint), a substantial improvement was achieved. The difference between the actual and DEM-derived water surface elevation dropped to 0.16 m. The results indicated that the distribution of dominating processes in Polish rivers is strongly governed by the character and origin of the terrain relief and lithological diversity. For regions with flat relief, most channels are generally in the state of equilibrium, whereas in upland and mountainous regions, erosion processes are dominant. This study demonstrates the potential use of the SP concept for mapping channel sensitivity to erosion and deposition dominance at a national scale, which can be relevant for integrated river catchment management.

Groundwater Impacts and Management under a Drying Climate in Southern Australia

The trend to a hotter and drier climate, with more extended droughts, has been observed in recent decades in southern Australia and is projected to continue under climate change. This paper reviews studies on the projected impacts of climate change on groundwater and associated environmental assets in southern Australia, and describes groundwater planning frameworks and management responses. High-risk areas are spatially patchy due to highly saline groundwater or low-transmissivity aquifers. The proportional reduction in rainfall is amplified in the groundwater recharge and some groundwater discharge fluxes. This leads to issues of deteriorating groundwater-dependent ecosystems, streamflow depletion, reduced submarine discharge, groundwater inundation and intrusion in coastal regions and reduced groundwater supply for extraction. Recent water reforms in Australia support the mitigation of these impacts, but groundwater adaptation is still at its infancy. Risk management is being incorporated in regional water and groundwater management plans to support a shift to a more sustainable level of use and more climate-resilient water resources in affected areas. The emerging strategies of groundwater trade and managed aquifer recharge are described, as is the need for a national water-focused climate change planning process.

Airborne Electromagnetic Signatures of an Ancient River in the Water‐Stressed Ganga Plain, Prayagraj, India: A Potential Groundwater Repository

AbstractThe rapid depletion and deterioration of groundwater in the Ganga River Basin requires an effective water management plan for sustained water availability. An airborne electromagnetic study in the Ganga‐Yamuna doab, India, supplemented with drilling and logging data to address the groundwater crisis, has unraveled exhaustive aquifer information with a discovery of 45 km long buried river, having dimensions comparable to those of Ganga and Yamuna. This ancient river, likely to be extending toward the Himalaya, is characterized by a porous and permeable structures and is hydrogeologically linked with Ganga and Yamuna rivers through an underlying principal aquifer, which might hold a great promise for management of the current declining groundwater resources in the region. Interestingly, the location of this major paleoriver falls within the region where a lost mythological river was believed to be flowing in the past. The results add a new physical dimension to this belief.

Framework for Monitoring the Spatiotemporal Distribution and Clustering of Drought Characteristics in Hunan Province

Drought is a widespread phenomenon in the context of global climate change. Owing to the geographical location of Hunan Province in the middle reaches of Yangtze River and the abundance of forests area in this region with a large population, there is a need to focus on the impacts of drought for devising policies. The spatiotemporal distribution scheme of a given area must be determined to plan water management and protect ecosystems effectively. This study proposes a framework for exploring the spatiotemporal distribution model of drought using comprehensive surveys of historical meteorological stations, which consists of two parts, namely the characteristics of drought extraction in the spatiotemporal distribution and drought models discovered by the clustering method. Firstly, we utilized the run theory to extract drought characteristics, such as drought duration, drought severity, and drought intensity. Secondly, the K-means clustering method was adopted to explore the distribution patterns on the basis of the drought characteristics. Lastly, the method was applied to Hunan Province. Results show that historical drought conditions can be monitored with their characteristics of spatiotemporal variability. Three drought distribution clusters exist in this region. Cluster 1 in western Hunan tends to be a long-term, low-intensity drought, cluster 2 in the southern part tends to be a short-term, high-intensity drought, and cluster 3 in the central part is prone to severe drought. The proposed framework is flexible as it allows parameters to be adjusted and extraction methods to achieve reasonable results for a given area.