Abstract:
Growing recognition of human impacts on streamflow regimes has prompted significant efforts to incorporate modules representing water management activities into hydrological models for more accurate simulation of various processes and forecast of extreme events. However, data limitations lead to the situation that most water management modules require simplifying assumptions, which may introduce unforeseen biases in modeling results. We demonstrate a framework designed to identify modules that can realistically capture human impacts on streamflow. Our framework considers reservoirs, irrigation, water supply, and inter-basin water transfers, and is tested with the Mississippi River basin, with comprehensive analysis of the simulated flow regime. Water management modules are incorporated into a rainfall-runoff model in a stepwise manner. After each subsequent incorporation we examine results at various locations to interpret improvements that are attributed to a specific human activity. Regions which do not show any improvements after incorporating a module provide directions for future research, as the cause may be a lack of structural components, insufficient data for representing specific processes, and/or the impact is trivial. To demonstrate our framework, we leverage state-of-the-art datasets and water management modules that are computationally efficient, compatible with current generation hydrological models, and minimally impacted by simplifying assumptions.
Bio:
Anav Vora is a 4th-year doctoral candidate working with Dr. Ximing Cai in the Water Resources Engineering and Science (WRES) area within Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research focus is on modeling the effects of human water management activities on streamflow. Prior to UIUC, Anav gained a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Surat, India in 2019 and a master’s degree in Water Resources Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India in 2021.
