Trends in streamflow on the Humboldt River between Elko and Imlay, Nevada, 1950-99

Prudic, David E.; Niswonger, Richard G.; Plume, Russell W.

doi:10.3133/sir20055199

Cited by 5 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…In light of the large p ‐values symptomatic of low significance, this should not be surprising and suggests that no major systematic groundwater storage decreases have taken place in this basin; this is consistent with the more detailed findings of Prudic et al . ().…”

Section: Analysis and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Are the North American deserts expanding? Some climate signals from groundwater storage conditions

Brutsaert

2011

Ecohydrology

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The areal average underground water storage in a natural catchment is directly manifested by the low flow or baseflow features from that catchment. Accordingly, an analysis was conducted of the annual lowest flows of twelve prototype near‐pristine river basins with long streamflow records and minimal confounding human activities in four deserts of North America, namely the hot Chihuahua, Sonora, and Mojave deserts and the cold Great Basin desert. Except possibly for those in the Sonora Desert, the analysis has revealed no evidence that these few remaining pristine watersheds have undergone consistent or significant negative terrestrial water storage trends over the past century in their riparian aquifers and therefore no evidence of any increase in their aridity. Thus, if groundwater conditions in these deserts have been deteriorating, this suggests that it is likely attributable to human activities rather than to climate change. The situation in the Sonora Desert is unclear, on account of remaining questions regarding human impact. The reliability of the methodology is further probed by comparing the shorter term groundwater changes in all four deserts with well‐known concurrent sea surface temperature changes in the Pacific Ocean; the groundwater storage changes appear to be related, albeit weakly, to the El Nino‐Southern Oscillation and to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation; in the three hot deserts, the El Nino‐Southern Oscillation effect decreases with eastward distance from the Pacific Ocean, but not that of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Analysis and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Are the North American deserts expanding? Some climate signals from groundwater storage conditions

Brutsaert

2011

Ecohydrology

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“…The Humboldt River's hydrologic basin is found in a cold‐desert climate (Köppen‐Geiger: BWk/BSk), and is colonized by grasslands and patchy arborescent riparian vegetation (Figure 4). Increased precipitation related to Northern Pacific cyclonic fronts entering the Great Basin, as well as snowmelt relative to evapotranspiration, make the river flood‐prone between April and July (Grasso,1996; Prudic et al ., 2005; Shafer and Steenburgh, 2008), while the lowest flow is observed in September and October (Figure 3A). The trunk channel carries water almost perennially, whereas anabranch channels and abandoned meander loops (Figure 2) are inundated on a yearly to decadal basis depending on hydrographic stage and distance from the trunk channel.…”

Section: The Humboldt Rivermentioning

confidence: 97%

Planform‐asymmetry and backwater effects on river‐cutoff kinematics and clustering

Ielpi

Lapôtre

Finotello

et al. 2020

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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River bends occasionally meander to the point of cutoff, whereby a river shortcuts itself and isolates a portion of its course. This fundamental process fingerprints a river's long‐term planform geometry, its stratigraphic record, and biogeochemical fluxes in the floodplain. Although meander cutoffs are common in fast‐migrating channels, timelapse imagery of the Earth surface typically does not offer a long enough baseline for statistically robust analyses of these processes. We seek to bridge this gap by quantifying cutoff kinematics along the Humboldt River (Nevada) – a stream that, from 1994 to 2019, hosted an exceptionally high number of cutoffs (specifically, 174 of the chute type and 53 of the neck type). A coincidence between major floods and cutoff incidence is first suggestive of hydrographic modulation. Moreover, not just higher sinuosity but also upstream planform skewness is associated with higher cutoff incidence and channel widening for a sub‐population of chute cutoffs. We propose a conceptual model to explain our results in terms of channel‐flow structure and then examine the distances between adjacent cutoffs to understand the mechanisms governing their clustering. We find that both local and nonlocal perturbations together trigger the clustering of new cutoffs, over distances capped by the backwater length and over yearly to decadal timescales. Our research suggests that planform geometry and backwater controls might sway the occurrence of cutoff clusters – both local and nonlocal – thereby offering new testable hypotheses to explore the evolution of meandering‐river landscapes that have significant implications for river engineering and stratigraphic modelling. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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“…In contrast to statistical assessments, statistical models applied to streamflow depletion estimation typically attempt to quantify some relationship between groundwater pumping and long-term changes in streamflow and/or baseflow, often as one of several predictors. For instance, Holtschlag (2019) included irrigation in linear mixed models of summer water yield for many watersheds in Michigan, allowing them to determine whether it was an important predictor of streamflow; similar approaches have been used elsewhere (Burt et al 2002;Prudic et al 2006). Broadly, statistical assessments can identify potential drivers of streamflow depletion, and the links identified through assessment can then be represented and tested using more detailed approaches such as analytical, numerical, or statistical models.…”

Section: Statistical Assessments and Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying Streamflow Depletion from Groundwater Pumping: A Practical Review of Past and Emerging Approaches for Water Management

Zipper

Farmer

Brookfield

et al. 2022

J American Water Resour Assoc

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Groundwater pumping can cause reductions in streamflow (“streamflow depletion”) that must be quantified for conjunctive management of groundwater and surface water resources. However, streamflow depletion cannot be measured directly and is challenging to estimate because pumping impacts are masked by streamflow variability due to other factors. Here, we conduct a management‐focused review of analytical, numerical, and statistical models for estimating streamflow depletion and highlight promising emerging approaches. Analytical models are easy to implement, but include many assumptions about the stream and aquifer. Numerical models are widely used for streamflow depletion assessment and can represent many processes affecting streamflow, but have high data, expertise, and computational needs. Statistical approaches are a historically underutilized tool due to difficulty in attributing causality, but emerging causal inference techniques merit future research and development. We propose that streamflow depletion‐related management questions can be divided into three broad categories (attribution, impacts, and mitigation) that influence which methodology is most appropriate. We then develop decision criteria for method selection based on suitability for local conditions and the management goal, actionability with current or obtainable data and resources, transparency with respect to process and uncertainties, and reproducibility.

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Trends in streamflow on the Humboldt River between Elko and Imlay, Nevada, 1950-99

Cited by 5 publications

References 8 publications

Are the North American deserts expanding? Some climate signals from groundwater storage conditions

Are the North American deserts expanding? Some climate signals from groundwater storage conditions

Planform‐asymmetry and backwater effects on river‐cutoff kinematics and clustering

Quantifying Streamflow Depletion from Groundwater Pumping: A Practical Review of Past and Emerging Approaches for Water Management

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