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Intra-annual Distribution of Streamflow and Individual Impacts of Climate Change and Human Activities in the Dongijang River Basin, China

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Abstract

Individual impacts of climate change, land use/coverage change, the regulation of water reservoir and water use to intra-annual distribution of streamflow of the Dongjiang River basin, South China, are quantitatively separated. Data on precipitation, streamflow, regulation of water reservoirs, and water use are used in the analysis. Changes in the concentration degree and non-uniformity coefficient of intra-annual distribution of streamflow over time scales from daily to monthly are evaluated. Trend and change point analyses are applied to determine characteristics of intra-annual distribution of streamflow. By comparison with the difference among region precipitation, naturalized streamflow and observed streamflow, the contribution of main impact factors to the intra-annual distribution of streamflow are quantified. Results demonstrate the non-uniformity coefficient decreases with a negative logarithmic linear function of the time scale. Change points of the concentration degree and non-uniformity coefficient occurred in 1973 exhibited a significant downward trend. In the period posterior to the change point the former and the latter decrease approximately by 15–34 % and by 29–40 %, respectively. The decrease in concentration degree and non-uniformity coefficient is due to the regulation of water reservoirs and land use/cover change; while the increase is the result of water use and climate change. The individual contributions to the impact on the intra-annual distribution of streamflow from regulation of water reservoirs, land use/cover change, water use, and climate change are approximately −33.5, −9.0, 4.5 and 1.0 %. It is observed that the impacts of the regulations of the Xinfengjiang, Fengshuba, and Baipenzhu reservoirs account for −21, −10, and −2 %, respectively. There is an increasing tendency in the impacts of land use/cover change and water use in the past 30 years.

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Acknowledgments

Supported by the Open Research Fund of State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin (China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Grant NO: IWHR-SKL-201314), the State National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant NO: 51479217, 51210013, 51309104), and the Scholarship Fund of the China Scholarship Council (Grant NO: 201308440054), are gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. Xinjun Tu

    Present address: Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Texas A&M University, 2117, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Water Resources and Environment, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China

    Xinjun Tu, Xiaohong Chen & Qiang Zhang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing, 100038, China

    Xinjun Tu & Yong Zhao

  3. Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Water Security in Southern China of Guangdong High Education Institute, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China

    Xinjun Tu, Xiaohong Chen & Qiang Zhang

  4. Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Texas A&M University, 2117, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    Vijay P. Singh

  5. Zachry Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, 2117, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    Vijay P. Singh & Lu Chen

  6. College of Hydropower and Information Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Lu Chen

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Tu, X., Singh, V.P., Chen, X. et al. Intra-annual Distribution of Streamflow and Individual Impacts of Climate Change and Human Activities in the Dongijang River Basin, China. Water Resour Manage 29, 2677–2695 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-015-0963-5

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