Flood inundation modelling generally involves two steps. The first involves the use of a hydrologic model, such as RORB, to estimate the design flood hydrograph for a given design storm event. These models require several inputs, such as design rainfalls (i.e. duration, intensity & temporal pattern), losses, baseflow and routing parameters; each of which has an associated degree of uncertainty ...

Water is a fundamental resource in freshwater ecosystems, and streamflow plays pivotal role driving riverine ecology biodiversity. Ecologically functional flows, managed hydrographs that are meant to reproduce the primary components of natural hydrograph, touted as potential way forward restore ecological functions highly modified rivers, while also balancing human water needs. A major challeng...

The magnitude, frequency, duration, timing, and rate of change of hydrologic conditions regulate ecological processes in aquatic ecosystems. Conditions are typically characterized using annual-based hydrologic indices derived from daily and/or monthly stream flow data. In this study, we present an alternative approach to identify hydrologic indices based on storm hydrographs. Hydrologic indices...

The prediction of diffuse herbicide losses to surface waters using process-based models is data and time demanding. There is a need for simpler and more efficient catchment screening tools. We developed and tested a new proxy for screening catchments for their vulnerability to diffuse herbicide losses relying on widely available river flow data only. The proxy combines the fast flow index (FFI)...

Oxygen and hydrogen isotopes in snow were measured in weekly profiles during the growth and decline of a sloped subalpine snowpack, southern Idaho, 2011–2012. Isotopic steps (10‰, δO; 80‰, δD) were preserved relative to physical markers throughout the season, albeit with some diffusive smoothing. Melting stripped off upper layers without shifting isotopes within the snowpack. Meltwater is in is...

Monitoring of stable water isotopes (18O and 2H) in precipitation and surface waters in the Mackenzie River basin of northern Canada has created new opportunities for researchers to study the complex hydrology and hydroclimatology of this remote region. A number of prior studies have used stable isotope data to investigate aspects of the hydrological regime of the wetland-dominated terrain near...

To estimate the amount of evapotranspiration in a river basin, the "short period water balance method" was formulated. Then, by introducing the "complementary relationship method," the amount of evapotranspiration was estimated seasonally, and with reasonable accuracy, for both small and large areas. Moreover, to accurately estimate river discharge in the low water season, the "weighted statist...

Riparian areas link streams with their terrestrial catchments and decrease water pollution by trapping sediments from upland sources before they reach streams or lakes. Livestock grazing in riparian areas is a controversial practice. If not properly managed, cattle can cause degradation to both the riparian zone and adjacent water body. Vegetative, soil microtopographical, microchannel and hydr...