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Water Resources Research
Water Resources Research publishes original research articles and commentaries on hydrology, water resources, and the social sciences of water that provide a broad understanding of the role of water in Earth’s system.
Featured Article
Tracing Water from River to Aquifer
Credit: Andrea L. Popp
Featured Article
Combining Deep Learning Methods with Process-based Models
Credit: Bennett and Nijssen [2021], Figure 3
Featured Article
Widest-ever view of US lakes sees shifts in colors
Credit: Simon Topp
Featured Article
Revealing Complexity of Groundwater Flow with Hydrogeophysics
Credit: Grobbe et al. [2021], Figure 3
Featured Article
Satellites Detect Groundwater Recharge for San Joaquin Valley
Credit: Neely et al. [2021], Figure 2
Browse Articles
The Transience of Channel‐Spanning Logjams in Mountain Streams
- 28 April 2022
Key Points
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Logjam persistence (the median timespan over which a jam is present during the 11-year study) is 1–2.5 years
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Site persistence (the median timespan over which at least one jam is present in retentive sites) is 6–10 years
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Despite the transience of most logjams, the jams create persistent effects in channel planform and backwater storage
Spruce Beetle Outbreak Increases Streamflow From Snow‐Dominated Basins in Southwest Colorado, USA
- 26 April 2022
Key Points
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Streamflow increased in three of six mountain basins after a spruce beetle outbreak, while streamflow in control basins remained unchanged
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Among impacted basins, no single factor or basin characteristic fully explained variation in streamflow response to beetle kill
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Higher streamflow after spruce beetle contrasts with reported unchanged or lower streamflow after pine beetle in other Colorado basins
Sensitivity‐Oriented Clustering Method for Parameter Grouping in Water Network Model Calibration
- 25 April 2022
Key Points
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A parameter grouping method is presented to solve the underdetermination problem in water network model calibration
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Parameter grouping is divided into two stages to ensure high-sensitivity pipes in each group to promote the convergence of calibration
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The method is demonstrated to be of great improvement for the stability and accuracy of the calibration process
Thank You to Our 2021 Reviewers
- 24 April 2022
In‐Situ Quantification and Prediction of Water Yield From Southern US Pine Forests
- 23 April 2022
Key Points
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We quantified soil evapotranspiration (ET) and interception using high frequency time series of soil moisture profiles
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Water yield (precipitation minus ET) was well predicted by a model based on aridity, water table depth, and leaf area index
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Forest management can meaningfully influence regional water supply planning in the US southeastern coastal plain
Physics‐Informed Machine Learning Method for Large‐Scale Data Assimilation Problems
- 22 April 2022
Key Points
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The modified physics-informed machine learning PICKLE method for large-scale data assimilation is proposed
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PICKLE is orders of magnitude faster than traditional a posteriori probability method for the considered high-resolution Hanford model
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Trained for one set of boundary conditions, the PICKLE method can model data for different values of the boundary conditions
Multivariate Regional Frequency Analysis Using Conditional Extreme Values Approach
- 22 April 2022
Key Points
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Proposes a novel approach to multivariate regional flood frequency analysis based on the conditional extreme values model
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The potential of the approach is demonstrated through simulation experiments and application on watersheds in a flood-prone region of India
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Approach effectively models the joint distribution of extremes in regions of the support where a subset of variables exhibits extreme behavior
Establishment and Persistence of Trees Growing in the Channel of an Intermittent Stream in a Temperate, Karst Environment
- 22 April 2022
Key Points
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We describe, for the first time, trees growing in the channel of a disappearing stream in a temperate environment
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Sycamores have established during low-flow periods, altered channel morphology, and allowed other trees to establish in their wake
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We present a conceptual model of the flow-tree-sediment dynamics occurring in lower Sinking Creek that can be tested as part of future work
Retention Site Contribution Toward Silver Particle Immobilization in Porous Media
- 22 April 2022
Key Points
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Colloid retention assessment at six candidate retention sites showed depth invariant trends for variable saturation, velocity, and chemistry
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At the pore-scale the solid-water interface contributes the most to colloid retention, but only accounts for 0.5 of deposited mass
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xDLVO profiles at the interface-scale are in excellent agreement with pore-scale and Darcy-scale trends
QRF4P‐NRT Probabilistic Post‐processing of Near‐real‐time Satellite Precipitation Estimates using Quantile Regression Forests
- 6 May 2022
Key Points
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An ensemble postprocessor based on quantile regression forests for bias correction of satellite precipitation estimates is proposed
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The QRF4P-NRT remarkably improved raw satellite precipitation estimates and provide reliable ensemble outputs in a near-real-time way
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A static proxy of dynamic near-real-time predictor is an acceptable solution for operational application
An improved approach for estimating pan evaporation using a new aerodynamic mechanism model
- 5 May 2022
Key Points
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The improved aerodynamic model and its two sub-models have a high accuracy and stability under different turbulence conditions
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An experiment with water bodies heated naturally is designed for model validation and to explore the effect of water temperature
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Water evaporation rate could increase by 0.8 mm d−1 as mean water temperature rises by 1 °C
Probabilistic water demand forecasting using quantile regression algorithms
- 5 May 2022
Key Points
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A new family of probabilistic urban water demand forecasting algorithms is proposed based on concepts from the statistical learning field
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Seven algorithms from this family are extensively compared for probabilistic one-day ahead urban water demand forecasting
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One of the largest urban water flow datasets in the field is exploited and one of the largest sets of predictor variables is investigated
Evaluating spatial and temporal dynamics of river‐floodplain surface water connectivity using hydrometric, geochemical and microbial indicators
- 5 May 2022
Key Points
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Hydrologic connectivity is important to the function of river-floodplain systems, yet quantitative assessments of connectivity are limited
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We developed a quantitative metric of river-floodplain connectivity that improves understanding of hydrologic dynamics in these systems
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We observed the greatest heterogeneity in river-floodplain surface water connectivity at intermediate streamflows
Responses of Macroinvertebrate Assemblages to Flow in the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau: Establishment and Application of a Multi‐metric Habitat Suitability Model
- 5 May 2022
Key Points
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The multi-metric habitat suitability model uses integrated measures of entire assemblages to substitute for indices of individual taxa
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There is a unimodal relationship between macroinvertebrates and summer flow variations (0.11-1.99 m3·s-1) in the Lanmucuo River
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The response pattern of entire macroinvertebrate assemblages to flow differs dramatically from responses of individual taxa
Interpretable Framework of Physics‐guided Neural Network with Attention Mechanism: Simulating Paddy Field Water Temperature Variations
- 2 May 2022
Key Points
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Paddy-water temperature is simulated using the physics-guided neural network while considering the effect of the vegetation canopy
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A tuning method is proposed to cope with a trade-off between water temperature accuracy and physical consistency during training
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A global interpretation is given by attention mechanism weight comparison sensitivity analysis to rank the feature importance
Detection of tracer plumes using full‐waveform inversion of time‐lapse ground penetrating radar data: a numerical study in a high‐resolution aquifer model
- 26 April 2022
Key Points
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Time-lapse crosshole GdPR full-waveform inversion shows a potential to monitor high-resolution of ∼0.2m transport of tracer in aquifer
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Starting model strategies for FWI were tested in order to optimize plume reconstruction, to be used later for field datasets
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Good recovery of conductivity and especially of permittivity changes suggests to monitor adequate tracers by GPR FWI for transport imaging
Statistical attribution of the influence of urban and tree cover change on streamflow: a comparison of large sample statistical approaches
- 26 April 2022
Key Points
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We compare two common statistical attribution methods to contrast model assessments of the influence of land cover changes on streamflow
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Panel regression shows that mean and high streamflow increase due to urbanization, while a GLMs show no average association
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Neither the panel nor the single catchment regression approach revealed a significant average effect of tree cover changes on streamflow
Inferring suspended sediment carbon content and particle size at high‐frequency from the optical response of a submerged spectrometer
- 22 April 2022
Key Points
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We predict suspended sediment mean particle size and carbon content from the absorbance measured by a submerged spectrometer
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A global calibration for predicting mean particle size allows the use of a near-constant calibration instead of local calibrations
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In situ high-frequency information on suspended sediment properties enable measurement of non-stationary events at a small time scale
Probabilistic Characterization of Sweep and Ejection Events in Turbulent Flows and its Implications on Sediment Transport
- 29 March 2022
Key Points
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UMZs are referred to as the irregularly shaped regions of relatively similar streamwise velocity divided by the interfacial layer of high shear
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Conditional velocity decomposition is applied to the available direct numerical simulation (DNS) turbulent flow data after UMZ edges were identified
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Probabilistic characteristics of coherent structures such as the maximum height, wall-normal length and streamwise length can be determined
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Durations of sweep and ejections events are demonstrated to follow a lognormal distribution
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The occurrence ratio of sweep events in the large-scale motions (LSMs) is quantified from the DNS data
A new model for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated porous media
- Water Resources Research
- 513-522
- June 1976
Evaluating the use of “goodness‐of‐fit” Measures in hydrologic and hydroclimatic model validation
- Water Resources Research
- 233-241
- 1 January 1999
Validity of Cubic Law for fluid flow in a deformable rock fracture
- Water Resources Research
- 1016-1024
- December 1980
Electromagnetic determination of soil water content: Measurements in coaxial transmission lines
- Water Resources Research
- 574-582
- June 1980
Response of mean annual evapotranspiration to vegetation changes at catchment scale
- Water Resources Research
- 701-708
- 1 March 2001
Techniques of trend analysis for monthly water quality data
- Water Resources Research
- 107-121
- February 1982
Effective and efficient global optimization for conceptual rainfall‐runoff models
- Water Resources Research
- 1015-1031
- April 1992
The Millennium Drought in southeast Australia (2001–2009): Natural and human causes and implications for water resources, ecosystems, economy, and society
- Water Resources Research
- 1040-1057
- 6 February 2013
Key Points
- Drivers and impacts of Australia's record drought were analyzed
- Impacts accumulated and propagated through the water cycle at different rates
- Future droughts may not be managed better than past ones.
The WFDEI meteorological forcing data set: WATCH Forcing Data methodology applied to ERA‐Interim reanalysis data
- Water Resources Research
- 7505-7514
- 19 August 2014
Key Points
- Global three hourly meteorological forcing data at half-degree spatial resolution
- Covers 1979–2012
- Improvements compared to the WATCH forcing data
Water management: Current and future challenges and research directions
- Water Resources Research
- 4823-4839
- 20 June 2015
Macropores and water flow in soils revisited
- Water Resources Research
- 3071-3092
- 23 February 2013
Key Points
- Darcy-Richards is inadequate
- Stokes flow may be useful in some circumstances
- Still important questions to be resolved in soil physics
Methods and technologies to improve efficiency of water use
- Water Resources Research
- 29 July 2008
The Millennium Drought in southeast Australia (2001–2009): Natural and human causes and implications for water resources, ecosystems, economy, and society
- Water Resources Research
- 1040-1057
- 6 February 2013
Key Points
- Drivers and impacts of Australia's record drought were analyzed
- Impacts accumulated and propagated through the water cycle at different rates
- Future droughts may not be managed better than past ones.
The twenty‐first century Colorado River hot drought and implications for the future
- Water Resources Research
- 2404-2418
- 17 February 2017
Key Points
- Record Colorado River flow reductions averaged 19.3% per year during 2000–2014. One-third or more of the decline was likely due to warming
- Unabated greenhouse gas emissions will lead to continued substantial warming, translating to twenty-first century flow reductions of 35% or more
- More precipitation can reduce the flow loss, but lack of increase to date and large megadrought threat, reinforce risk of large flow loss
Plain Language Summary
Between 2000 and 2014, annual Colorado River flows averaged 19% below the 1906–1999 average, the worst 15-year drought on record. Approximately one-third of the flow loss is due to high temperatures now common in the basin, a result of human caused climate change. Previous comparable droughts were caused by a lack of precipitation, not high temperatures. As temperatures increase in the 21st century due to continued human emissions of greenhouse gasses, additional temperature-induced flow losses will occur. These losses may exceed 20% at mid-century and 35% at end-century. Additional precipitation may reduce these temperature-induced losses somewhat, but to date no precipitation increases have been noted and climate models do not agree that such increases will occur. These results suggest that future climate change impacts on the Colorado River will be greater than currently assumed. Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions will lead to lower future temperatures and hence less flow loss.
Combined Modeling of US Fluvial, Pluvial, and Coastal Flood Hazard Under Current and Future Climates
- Water Resources Research
- 16 December 2020
Key Points
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First complete high-resolution flood hazard analysis of conterminous US flood risk from all major sources (fluvial, pluvial, and coastal)
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In validation tests the model achieved Critical Success Index scores of 0.69–0.82, similar to many local custom-built 2D models
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By 2050, flood hazard increases for the Eastern seaboard and Western states, but decreases or changes little for the center and South-West
Plain Language Summary
We develop a method to estimate past, present, and future flood risk for all properties in the conterminous United States whether affected by river, coastal or rainfall flooding. The analysis accounts for variability within environmental factors including changes in sea level rise, hurricane intensity and landfall locations, precipitation patterns, and river discharge. We show that even for a conservative climate change trajectory we can expect locally significant changes in the land area at risk from floods by 2050, and by this time defenses protecting 2,200 km2 of land may be compromised. The complete dataset has been made available via a website (https://floodfactor.com/) created by the First Street Foundation in order to increase public awareness of the threat posed by flooding to safety and livelihoods.
The science and practice of river restoration
- Water Resources Research
- 5974-5997
- 24 July 2015
Key Points
- River restoration is a prominent area of applied water-resources science
- restoration includes connectivity, physical-biotic interactions, and history
- effective restoration requires collaboration among scientists and practitioners
Satellite Remote Sensing for Water Resources Management: Potential for Supporting Sustainable Development in Data‐Poor Regions
- Water Resources Research
- 9724-9758
- 29 October 2018
Key Points
- Satellite remote sensing is being incorporated into water resources management but is generally underutilized
- New and proposed missions have the potential to transform water resources management for sustainable development, especially in data-poor regions
- Ongoing challenges of accuracy, sampling, and continuity and capacity development need to be addressed, as well as new challenges of information volume and diversity
Quantifying renewable groundwater stress with GRACE
- Water Resources Research
- 5217-5238
- 16 June 2015
Key Points:
- Renewable groundwater stress is quantified in the world's largest aquifers
- Characteristic stress regimes are defined to determine the severity of stress
- Overstressed aquifers are mainly in rangeland biomes with some croplands
What Role Does Hydrological Science Play in the Age of Machine Learning?
- Water Resources Research
- 13 November 2020
Key Points
- Hydrology lacks scale-relevant theories, but deep learning experiments suggest that these theories should exist
- The success of machine learning for hydrological forecasting has potential to decouple science from modeling
- It is up to hydrologists to clearly show where and when hydrological theory adds value to simulation and forecasting
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