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Water Quality in Reservoirs Under a Changing Climate

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Book cover Water Scarcity in the Mediterranean

Part of the book series: The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry ((HEC,volume 8))

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Abstract

The importance of water resources stored in reservoirs on a global scale is not matched with a sound knowledge of the possible impacts of climate change on reservoir water quality. This is especially relevant in the Mediterranean regions, where most countries rely on reservoirs to fulfill their water supply needs, and virtually all climate models predict increasing water shortage in the next 20 years. In this chapter, we summarize recent findings that will help to fill this gap in knowledge. Recently, a close coupling between streamflow entering reservoirs and its hypolimnetic oxygen content has been empirically established for a wide range of systems. In brief, high streamflow maintains anoxia at comparatively low levels. Therefore, we can expect a reduction in water quality following future reductions in runoff. To illustrate these effects, we analyzed a 44 year data set of oxygen measurements from Sau Reservoir in Spain to detect possible effects of climate variability on the extent of deep-water anoxia. In addition, we show that a trend of decreasing streamflow, related to climate change, has increased the risk of anoxia in the reservoir during the last decade. From these results, we propose a framework for climate change impact studies on reservoir water quality using streamflow and labile organic matter as master drivers. Finally, we identify the research required to improve our understanding of how reservoirs will behave in a changing climate, and give some guidelines on how to manage Mediterranean reservoirs under future “scarcity” conditions.

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Correspondence to Rafael Marcé .

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Marcé, R., Armengol, J. (2009). Water Quality in Reservoirs Under a Changing Climate. In: Sabater, S., Barceló, D. (eds) Water Scarcity in the Mediterranean. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry(), vol 8. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/698_2009_38

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