| Title: | Improvement of downstream flow by modifying SWAT reservoir operation considering irrigation water and environmental flow from agricultural reservoirs in South Korea |
| Authors: | Kim, J., J. Lee, J. Park, S. Kim and S. Kim |
| Year: | 2021 |
| Journal: | Water |
| Volume (Issue): | 13(18) |
| Pages: | |
| Article ID: | 2543 |
| DOI: | 10.3390/w13182543 |
| URL (non-DOI journals): | |
| Model: | SWAT (modified) & SWAT |
| Broad Application Category: | hydrologic only |
| Primary Application Category: | reservoirs, ponds, lakes and/or other impoundment effects |
| Secondary Application Category: | irrigation impacts or irrigation BMP scenarios |
| Watershed Description: | 366.5 km^2 Anseong River, located in northwest South Korea. |
| Calibration Summary: | |
| Validation Summary: | |
| General Comments: | |
| Abstract: | This study aims to develop a reservoir operation rule adding downstream environmental
flow release (EFR) to the exclusive use of irrigation water supply (IWS) from agricultural reservoirs
through canals to rice paddy areas. A reservoir operation option was added in the Soil and Water
Assessment Tool (SWAT) to handle both EFR and IWS. For a 366.5 km2 watershed including three
agricultural reservoirs and a rice paddy irrigation area of 4744.7 ha, the SWAT was calibrated and
validated using 21 years (1998–2018) of daily reservoir water levels and downstream flow data at
Gongdo (GD) station. For reservoir water level and streamflow, the average root means square
error (RMSE) ranged from 19.70 mm to 19.54 mm, and the coefficient of determination (R2) and
Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) had no effect on the improved SWAT. By applying the new reservoir
option, the EFR amount for a day was controlled by keeping the reservoir water level up in order
to ensure that the IWS was definitely satisfied in any case. The downstream mean wet streamflow
(Q95) decreased to 5.70 m3/sec from 5.71 m3/sec and the mean minimum flow (Q355) increased to
1.05 m3/sec from 0.94 m3/sec. Through the development of a SWAT reservoir operation module that
satisfies multiple water supply needs such as IWR and EFR, it is possible to manage agricultural
water in the irrigation period and control the environmental flow in non-irrigation periods. This
study provides useful information to evaluate and understand the future impacts of various changes
in climate and environmental flows at other sites. |
| Language: | English |
| Keywords: | soil and water assessment tool (SWAT); environmental flow system analysis; reservoir
operation module; irrigation water requirement |