Base Flow Variation and Attribution Analysis Based on the Budyko Theory in the Weihe River Basin

Abstract

The composition and change of runoff are closely related to climate change and human activities. To design effective watershed water resources management measures, there is a need for a clear understanding of the impact of climate change and human activities on baseflow and surface runoff. The purpose of this essay is to quantify their impact on the annual total stream flow, surface runoff, and base flow in the Weihe River Basin (WRB) using a two-stage annual precipitation partitioning method, wherein the surface runoff and base flow are separated from the measured total flow by using a one-parameter digital filter method for which the common filter parameter value is 0.925. The stream flow records were split into two periods: 1960–1970 (pre-change period) and 1971–2005 (post-change period) based on the hydrological breakpoints detected. We found that climate change and human activities have different impacts on base flow and surface runoff. We attributed the decrease in surface runoff due to climate change accounting for 76–78%, while we determined that human activities were responsible to the decrease in base flow accounting for 59–73% of the total observed change. We concluded that both climate change and human beings contributed to the hydrologic change through different hydrological processes: climate change dominated the surface runoff change, while human influences controlled the base flow change. To achieve the expected goals of ecological restoration, appropriate measures must be taken by watershed management in the WRB to mitigate the likely impacts of climate change on water hydrology.

Exploring the Driving Factors of Remote Sensing Ecological Index Changes from the Perspective of Geospatial Differentiation: A Case Study of the Weihe River Basin, China

“…However, urbanization and industrialization have increased the pressure on the eco-environment quality in the Weihe River Basin. In addition, soil erosion, serious water pollution, and ecological degradation limit the sustainable development of the study area [ 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ]. The combined influence of multiple factors has accelerated the urgent need to improve the eco-environment quality in the Weihe River Basin.…”

Baseflow Variation in Southern Taiwan Basin

“…Many studies have discussed the impacts of climate change and human activities on hydrological change, mainly in arid and semi-arid regions [18,58,65,69,70]. Because these regions are located inland and have less precipitation, the impact of climate change on the hydrological environment is small, and thus the ecological environment and human daily water use depend strongly on rivers.…”

Analysis of Variation Trend and Driving Factors of Baseflow in Typical Yellow River Basins

“…Baseflow change mainly depends on the rainfall process, soil and geological indicators, and hydrological characteristics of the basin, and is also affected by the spatial distribution of vegetation and evapotranspiration in the basin; baseflow also increases or decreases depending on human activities [9][10][11]. Mu et al [12] used a single-parameter digital filtering method to separate baseflow in the Weihe River basin, and found that climate change dominated the surface streamflow variations, while human activities controlled the baseflow variations. Wilby et al [13] calculated the influence of climate change on baseflow using a large-scale hydrological model and found that the dominant factors of the change in baseflow were different in different periods.…”