Hydrological Modeling and Management Practices to Augment Reservoir Capacity in Wadi Shueib Catchment Area-Jordan: Geo-Informatics Approach

Abstract

The available water resources information must be quantitatively considered with detailed hydrological processes for efficient water resources planning and management of a catchment. Although the primary source is surface water, most of the studies in the Middle-East region focus on groundwater. So, modelling the water cycle (e.g. rainfall-runoff modelling processes) in a catchment was not attentively in these studies. The changes in the hydrological cycle due to climate change could worsen the availability of water resources. The global projections regarding climate change have predicted an increase in drought and flood events. This investigation presents hydrological modelling and integrated water resources management in the Wadi Shueib catchment area, Jordon. One of the issues related to the catchment study is the periodic occurrence of drought, besides soil erosion and its deposition into the dam, coupled with increased water demands due to increased population and decreased irrigation capacity of the agricultural area. A total of six main components are addressed in this research: (i) The hydrological parameters and streamflow have been studied using four digital elevation models extracted through numerous platforms. (ii) Coupled Remote sensing data and water level observations for reservoir sustainability. (iii) Investigated the historical and future trend of precipitation data from five gauge stations using the Mann-Kendall (MK) test and Innovation Trend Analysis (ITA) and predicted the future using the ARIMA model. (iv) The hydrological model has been developed using SWAT to model and develop the area's streamflow. (v) Sl. No. (ii) and (iii) were used as inputs to determine the impact on drought conditions in the area. (vi) Experimental investigation by utilizing various vegetative covers under laboratory conditions to model the soil and water conservation processes. Various techniques such as trend analysis, wavelet analysis, and cross wavelet analysis are applied to evaluate the effects, with the ensemble, and fuzzy models are developed. In hydrological parameters and streamflow modelling, the ASTER GeoDEM shows the closest match to other DEMs in both the study areas. So this data was used as input for the streamflow modelling in the Wadi Shueib watershed. The precipitation trend using ITA detects a better trend than the MK test. Later, the SWAT model was parameterized, calibrated, and validated using observed streamflow data in the study area. The future streamflow was predicted up to 2030 using the calibrated model. The analysis of the historical data shows a decreasing trend in the Wadi Shueib catchment as there is a decreasing trend in inflow, causing water deficiency and increasing water stress. It was observed that maximum water defect is expected to occur ~ -0.7 m3/s from 2020 onwards. The water management practices using wheat straw cover gave interesting results to protect the land by reducing soil erosion and increasing infiltration. This technique can be used on the high soil erodible area in the watershed, reducing the sediment transport into the reservoir. Utilization of agricultural refuse is also another benefit from the practices.