Characterizing temporary hydrological regimes at a European scale

Kirkby, M. J.; Gallart, Francesc; Kjeldsen, Thomas; Irvine, Brian; Froebrich, J.; Porto, Antonio Lo

doi:10.5194/hessd-8-4355-2011

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 11 publications

(7 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Nevertheless, since most temporary streams are ungauged or poorly gauged, the methodology described above will be applicable to the relatively rare existing records from gauging stations. Rainfall-runoff models may be used to obtain simulated flow series for many sites at the monthly scale used, but there are two main difficulties: first, most models will not be able to simulate zero water discharges, so the identification of a discharge threshold equivalent to zero will be necessary to use the above-defined metrics (see also Kirkby et al, 2011); and second, simulated values will be natural ones not actual ones if these are affected by human activities.…”

Section: Stream Regime Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing a novel approach to analyse the regimes of temporary streams and their controls on aquatic biota

Gallart¹,

Prat²,

García‐Roger³

et al. 2011

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Temporary streams are those water courses that undergo the recurrent cessation of flow or the complete drying of their channel. The biological communities in temporary stream reaches are strongly dependent on the temporal changes of the aquatic habitats determined by the hydrological conditions. The use of the aquatic fauna structural and functional characteristics to assess the ecological quality of a temporary stream reach can not therefore be made without taking into account the controls imposed by the hydrological regime. This paper develops some methods for analysing temporary streams' aquatic regimes, based on the definition of six aquatic states that summarize the sets of mesohabitats occurring on a given reach at a particular moment, depending on the hydrological conditions: flood, riffles, connected, pools, dry and arid. We used the water discharge records from gauging stations or simulations using rainfall-runoff models to infer the temporal patterns of occurrence of these states using the developed aquatic states frequency graph. The visual analysis of this graph is complemented by the development of two metrics based on the permanence of flow and the seasonal predictability of zero flow periods. Finally, a classification of the aquatic regimes of temporary streams in terms of their influence over the development of aquatic life is put forward, defining Permanent, Temporary-pools, Temporary-dry and Episodic regime types. All these methods were tested with data from eight temporary streams around the Mediterranean from MIRAGE project and its application was a precondition to assess the ecological quality of these streams using the current methods prescribed in the European Water Framework Directive for macroinvertebrate communities

show abstract

Section: Stream Regime Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing a novel approach to analyse the regimes of temporary streams and their controls on aquatic biota

Gallart¹,

Prat²,

García‐Roger³

et al. 2011

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…hydrology, ecology and chemistry) of temporary streams [e.g. Dieter et al ., ; García‐Roger et al ., ; Kirkby et al ., ; Gallart et al ., ; De Girolamo et al ., , (submitted)]. The main focus of the MIRAGE Toolbox is to help professionals addressing the management of temporary streams from an interdisciplinary perspective by covering a wide range of the conditions that a temporary stream may experience.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

The Mirage Toolbox: An Integrated Assessment Tool for Temporary Streams

Prat

Gallart

Schiller

et al. 2014

River Research & Apps

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The assessment of the ecological status of water bodies, as requires by the European Water Framework Directive, can raise a number of problems when applied to temporary streams. These problems are because of the particular physical, chemical and biological conditions resulting from the recurrent cessation of flow or even the complete drying of the stream beds. In such non‐permanent water bodies, the reference quality standards developed for permanent streams may only be applicable under certain circumstances or may not be applicable at all. Work conducted within the collaborative EU‐funded project Mediterranean Intermittent River ManAGEment (MIRAGE) has addressed most of these difficulties and has used diverse approaches to solve them. These approaches have been brought together in the so‐called MIRAGE Toolbox. This toolbox consists of a series of methodologies that are designed to be used in a sequential manner to allow the establishment of the ecological and chemical status of temporary streams and to relate these findings to the hydrological status of the streams. The toolbox is intended to serve the following purposes: (i) the determination of the hydrological regime of the stream; (ii) the design of adequate schedules for biological and chemical sampling according to the aquatic state of the stream; (iii) the fulfillment of criteria for designing reference condition stations; (iv) the analysis of hydrological modifications of the stream regime (with the definition of the hydrological status); and (v) the development of new methods to measure the ecological status (including structural and functional methods) and chemical status when the stream's hydrological conditions are far from those in permanent streams. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

show abstract

Towards sustainable management of Mediterranean river basins: policy recommendations on management aspects of temporary streams

Nikolaidis

Demetropoulou

Froebrich³

et al. 2013

Water Policy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In 2011, the European Council stressed the significance of water quality for sustainable development in Europe and emphasized the need for better integration of the water policy objectives into the Common Agriculture Policy Water Policy 15 (2013) 830-849 reform in rural areas. Since 2000, the Water Framework Directive (WFD) has required the EU Member States to target good ecological status for their water bodies. However, the implementation of the Directive for the numerous Mediterranean temporary streams has been delayed indicating the need for elaboration of the tools and methods that address the special characteristics of such water bodies. This requirement has been addressed by the recently completed MIRAGE project. In the context of the recent publication of the European Commission's Blueprint to Safeguard Europe's Waters, the MIRAGE-proposed framework for the characterization of the ecohydrological dynamics and the systematic description of the measured impact for temporary rivers could bring considerable added value to the EU revision of all relevant water policies. The project recommends additions to WFD articles including an explicit definition of temporary rivers, adaptation of environmental objectives to their peculiarities and establishment of a proper method to determine the initial status and specific actions in River Basin Management Plans.

show abstract

Characterizing temporary hydrological regimes at a European scale

Cited by 3 publications

References 11 publications

Developing a novel approach to analyse the regimes of temporary streams and their controls on aquatic biota

Developing a novel approach to analyse the regimes of temporary streams and their controls on aquatic biota

The Mirage Toolbox: An Integrated Assessment Tool for Temporary Streams

Towards sustainable management of Mediterranean river basins: policy recommendations on management aspects of temporary streams

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About