Regulation of snow-fed rivers affects flow regimes more than climate change.

ABSTRACT: River flow is mainly controlled by climate, physiography and regulations, but their relative importance over large landmasses is poorly understood. Here we show from computational modelling that hydropower regulation is a key driver of flow regime change in snow-dominated regions and is more important than future climate changes. This implies that climate adaptation needs to include regulation schemes. The natural river regime in snowy regions has low flow when snow is stored and a pronounced peak flow when snow is melting. Global warming and hydropower regulation change this temporal pattern similarly, causing less difference in river flow between seasons. We conclude that in snow-fed rivers globally, the future climate change impact on flow regime is minor compared to regulation downstre

SUBMITTER: Arheimer B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5498529 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature