Impact of climate change on the water balance of the Thaya basin

Abstract

<p>The Thaya is a trans-national river basin that is situated in the Czech Republic and Austria. Different human activities in the basin and multiple water uses increase the water demand. This increase, combined with the recent droughts events in 2017 and 2018, has recently resulted in reconsidering the water management strategies for future climates. This contribution aims to evaluate the effect of climate change on the water balance of the Thaya. The aim is to apply two different hydrological models in an identical setting (the same model inputs, scenarios, and regional and water use data) and to identify water availability and its change under various climate and water use scenarios. The assessments compare BILAN and TUWmodel hydrological models coupled with the WATERRES water use module and a large sample of climate projections (the CMIP5 and CMIP6 models), which represent various socioeconomic pathways combined with projections of possible changes in water use. The results will demonstrate an insight into how the water balance in different parts of the Thaya basin has changed in the past and what are the possible effects of climate change on these water resources in the future.</p>

Changes in water balance components of river basins in the Slovak Republic and Ukraine

“…In the region of Slovakia, a number of scientific papers have been dedicated to the study of changes in water runoff and water balance resulting from climate change. These papers include research conducted by Garaj et al (2019), Halmová et al (2022), Holko et al (2001, Parajka et al (2023), Pekárová et al (2005;2009a;2009b;2010a;2010b), Petrovič et al (2010), and Sleziak et al (2021. For instance, Garaj et al (2019) examined the Topľa river basin situated in eastern Slovakia and discovered a significant decrease in the runoff coefficient from 0.34 to 0.29 during the period of 1961-2017.…”