Relevance of spatio-temporal rainfall variability regarding groundwater management challenges under global change: case study in Doñana (SW Spain)

Abstract

Rainfall is the major contribution for groundwater recharge in arid and semiarid climates, therefore a key factor in water resources estimation. This work presents the results of an in-depth study in Don ˜ana National Park concerning groundwater recharge behavior over a long period . The spatio-temporal kriging algorithm was used as a supportive tool to improve the reconstruction of the spatio-temporal rainfall variability. One of the main findings was that monthly recharge estimations range between 21 and 91% of the maximum rainfall, being overestimated in areas that also demonstrate spatial heterogeneity in rainfall distribution. In the light of these results, for water management purposes in the Mediterranean area, rainfall spatio-temporal scale is a critical aspect and it must be taken into account in groundwater reservoir allocation. Moreover, it is highlighted that local studies of rainfall and recharge, in an area of high ecological fragility, are essential to developing management strategies that prevent climate change effects and guarantee optimal conditions for groundwater resources in the future.

Clustering Groundwater Level Time Series of the Exploited Almonte-Marismas Aquifer in Southwest Spain

“…The main difference between the two sub-periods is that the clustering spatial distribution is more irregular in the second one. This could be attributed to an increase in the number of pumping wells (grey zones in Figure 3), in addition to climate change effects that could reduce the recharge rate [45]. It is difficult to compare our GWL classes ( Figures 3 and 4) with the ones obtained from the 15 year series through visual inspection by UPC [16] and, in addition, those published in Manzano et al [44].…”

“…The main difference between the two sub-periods is that the clustering spatial distribution is more irregular in the second one. This could be attributed to an increase in the number of pumping wells (grey zones in Figure 3), in addition to climate change effects that could reduce the recharge rate [45].…”

Intra-annual variability of the Western Mediterranean Oscillation (WeMO) and occurrence of extreme torrential precipitation in Catalonia (NE Iberia)

“…Episodes involving ≥ 100 mm in 24 h are more frequent but sometimes have no direct impact or quite a negligible effect, because other factors are the main drivers of floods, e.g. precipitation duration (Jang, 2015), initial soil moisture conditions and hydrological parameters (Norbiato et al, 2008;Martina et al, 2009). Furthermore, the area affected by episodes of ≥ 100 mm in 24 h is sometimes local and is therefore not easily associated with advective synoptic patterns (Gilabert and Llasat, 2018).…”

“…These torrential events can cause dangerous floods and can have serious social and economic consequences, even human casualties, in the Mediterranean regions, e.g. in eastern Spain (Olcina et al, 2016;Kreibich et al, 2017;Nakamura and Llasat, 2017;Martin-Vide and Llasat, 2018) and in southern Spain (Gil-Guirado et al, 2019;Naranjo-Fernández et al, 2020). Climatological studies on torrential precipitation frequency and intensity are therefore relevant with regard to improving emergency plans and mitigating flood damage.…”

Rainfall decrease and red deer rutting behaviour: Weaker and delayed rutting activity though higher opportunity for sexual selection

“…In the last decades, Doñana has suffered an important increase in aridity and seasonality due to climate warming [56][57][58][59][60][61]. In addition, the increase of water extraction from aquifers for urban and agricultural use has also contributed to aridity and habitat fragmentation [62][63][64][65][66][67].…”