Application of the US-EPA’s HAWQS model to predict future climate impacts on hydrological processes

ABSTRACT

Climate change could add a variety of uncertainties to hydrological processes and water resources. Very limited efforts have been devoted to applying the US-EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)’s Hydrologic and Water Quality System (HAWQS) model for predicting climate change impacts on hydrological processes at the basin scale. Here, we applied the model to project the next 50 years’ (from 2021 to 2070) hydrological processes at the Yazoo River basin in Mississippi, USA. Simulations showed that over the next 50 years, there are no significant trends in monthly precipitation, ET, runoff and discharge; only 2% of the annual precipitation percolated into the deep aquifer; and dry seasons become dryer and wet seasons become wetter. These findings provide very useful information to stakeholders for water resource management. Our study further suggests that the HAWQS model is a user-friendly and time-saving tool for basin-scale hydrological modelling.

KEYWORDS:

• Hydrological processes
• HAWQS
• water budget
• Yazoo River basin

Acknowledgements

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the United State Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data will be available by the authors upon request.