Hydrological Modeling in temporary streams: A case study in Pardiela basin, Southern Portugal

Abstract

The project “Conservation and rehabilitation strategies for temporary Mediterranean river corridors: a case study on Pardiela basin, southern Portugal (Guadiana basin)", is being carried out,with the collaboration of researchers from diverse scientific areas, in order to increase the knowledge on temporary streams. The project includes different approaches at reach and basin scales, regarding the study of temporal interactions among different ecological components such as climate, morphology of stream corridor and hydrology. The obtained results were integrated in basin models: Mohid Land, an integrant part of the software Mohid River Network and in SWAT model. The outputs from Mohid Land model defined that there is 10% average of probability of total annual runoff occurrence in headwater reaches. This means that, in headwaters reaches,which represent the major area of the river basin, the percentage of time without runoff is close to 90%, exposing the ephemerality of temporary headwater reaches, the most fragile areas. The main issue related to temporary rivers is regarding water scarcity since rainfall is concentrated in small temporal events which makes water availability management a complex issue. The sustainable development at local and regional levels requires the improvement of conservation and rehabilitation strategies for this ecosystem.