Submit to Water Review for Water Propose a Special Issue

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Impacts of Landscape Change on Water Resources

Print Special Issue Flyer
Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Hydrology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 January 2020) | Viewed by 43978

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special issue Impacts of Landscape Change on Water Resources book cover image

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Manoj K. Jha

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Civil Engineering, North Carolina A&T State, University, Greensboro, NC 27411, USA
Interests: water cycle; field and watershed modeling; water resource engineering and management; climate change and land-use change impacts on hydrology and water resources; evaluation of BMPs for sediment and nutrients; extreme hydrological events (floods and droughts); uncertainties in modeling and assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In order to manage our valuable water resources, it is imperative to understand the degree of vulnerabilities and resiliency to changes in landscape. Continuous changes in land use and land cover can have many drivers, including population growth, urbanization, demand for food, evolution of socio-economic structure, policy regulations, and climate variability. Potential impacts due to these changes could range from changes in water availability (due to changes in losses of water to evapotranspiration and recharge) to degradation in water quality (increased erosion, salinity, chemical loadings, and pathogens). Fields studies are conducted to understand this complexity at local scales, while analyses at regional or watershed scales adopt modeling and simulation strategies. A range of tools, including hydrological, biophysical, ecosystem models are used (stand alone or in combination) to investigate important questions regarding impacts in order to inform the decision making process. These decision analysis tools identify landscape-change impacts, risks, and uncertainties to provide guidance to make key management decisions. In this Special Issue, we will include research and discussion topics from field investigations, as well as analytical and modeling studies to better understand the connection between landscape change and water resources at various scales.

Prof. Dr. Manoj K. Jha
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

land use change
water resources
water availability
water quality
modeling tools
impact assessment

Published Papers (9 papers)

Download All Papers

Editorial

Jump to: Research

6 pages, 204 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Impacts of Landscape Changes on Water Resources

by Manoj K. Jha

Water 2020, 12(8), 2244; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12082244 - 10 Aug 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 7532

Abstract

Changes in land use and land cover can have many drivers, including population growth, urbanization, agriculture, demand for food, evolution of socio-economic structure, policy regulations, and climate variability. The impacts of these changes on water resources range from changes in water availability (due to changes in losses of water to evapotranspiration and recharge) to degradation of water quality (increased erosion, salinity, chemical loadings, and pathogens). The impacts are manifested through complex hydro-bio-geo-climate characteristics, which underscore the need for integrated scientific approaches to understand the impacts of landscape change on water resources. Several techniques, such as field studies, long-term monitoring, remote sensing technologies, and advanced modeling studies have been contributing to better understanding the modes and mechanisms by which landscape changes impact water resources. Such research studies can help unlock the complex interconnected influences of landscape on water resources for quantity and quality at multiple spatial and temporal scales. In this Special Issue, we published a set of eight peer-reviewed articles elaborating on some of the specific topics of landscape changes and associated impacts on water resources. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Landscape Change on Water Resources)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

18 pages, 5312 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Flooding Urban Landscapes: Analysis Using Combined Hydrodynamic and Hydrologic Modeling Approaches

by Manoj K. Jha and Sayma Afreen

Water 2020, 12(7), 1986; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12071986 - 14 Jul 2020

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3703

Abstract

The frequency and severity of floods have been found to increase in recent decades, which have adverse effects on the environment, economics, and human lives. The catastrophe of such floods can be confronted with the advance prediction of floods and reliable analyses methods. This study developed a combined flood modeling system for the prediction of floods, and analysis of associated vulnerabilities on urban infrastructures. The application of the method was tested on the Blue River urban watershed in Missouri, USA, a watershed of historical significance for flood impacts and abundance of data availability for such analyses. The combined modeling system included two models: hydrodynamic model HEC-RAS (Hydrologic Engineering Center—River Analysis System) and hydrologic model SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool). The SWAT model was developed for the watershed to predict time-series hydrograph data at desired locations, followed by the setup of HEC-RAS model for the analysis and prediction of flood extent. Both models were calibrated and validated independently using the observed data. The well-calibrated modeling setup was used to assess the extent of impacts of the hazard by identifying the flood risk zones and threatened critical infrastructures in flood zones through inundation mapping. Results demonstrate the usefulness of such combined modeling systems to predict the extent of flood inundation and thus support analyses of management strategies to deal with the risks associated with critical infrastructures in an urban setting. This approach will ultimately help with the integration of flood risk assessment information in the urban planning process. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Landscape Change on Water Resources)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 3617 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Scaling-Up Conservation Agriculture Production System with Drip Irrigation by Integrating MCE Technique and the APEX Model

by Tewodros Assefa, Manoj Jha, Abeyou W. Worqlul, Manuel Reyes and Seifu Tilahun

Water 2019, 11(10), 2007; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11102007 - 27 Sep 2019

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4131

Abstract

The conservation agriculture production system (CAPS) approach with drip irrigation has proven to have the potential to improve water management and food production in Ethiopia. A method of scaling-up crop yield under CAPS with drip irrigation is developed by integrating a biophysical model: APEX (agricultural policy environmental eXtender), and a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) technique. Topography, land use, proximity to road networks, and population density were considered in identifying potentially irrigable land. Weather and soil texture data were used to delineate unique climate zones with similar soil properties for crop yield simulation using well-calibrated crop model parameters. Crops water demand for the cropping periods was used to determine groundwater potential for irrigation. The calibrated APEX crop model was then used to predict crop yield across the different climatic and soil zones. The MCE technique identified about 18.7 Mha of land (16.7% of the total landmass) as irrigable land in Ethiopia. Oromia has the highest irrigable land in the nation (35.4% of the irrigable land) when compared to other regional states. Groundwater could supply a significant amount of the irrigable land for dry season production under CAPS with drip irrigation for the various vegetables tested at the experimental sites with about 2.3 Mha, 3.5 Mha, 1.6 Mha, and 1.4 Mha of the irrigable land available to produce garlic, onion, cabbage, and tomato, respectively. When comparing regional states, Oromia had the highest groundwater potential (40.9% of total potential) followed by Amhara (20%) and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples (16%). CAPS with drip irrigation significantly increased groundwater potential for irrigation when compared to CTPS (conventional tillage production system) with traditional irrigation practice (i.e., 0.6 Mha under CTPS versus 2.2 Mha under CAPS on average). Similarly, CAPS with drip irrigation depicted significant improvement in crop productivity when compared to CTPS. APEX simulation of the average fresh vegetable yield on the irrigable land under CAPS with drip irrigation ranged from 1.8–2.8 t/ha, 1.4–2.2 t/ha, 5.5–15.7 t/ha, and 8.3–12.9 t/ha for garlic, onion, tomato, and cabbage, respectively. CAPS with drip irrigation technology could improve groundwater potential for irrigation up to five folds and intensify crop productivity by up to three to four folds across the nation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Landscape Change on Water Resources)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

27 pages, 3953 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Spatially Reconfiguring Erosion Hot Spots to Reduce Stream Sediment Load in an Upland Agricultural Catchment of South Korea

by Kwanghun Choi, Ganga Ram Maharjan and Björn Reineking

Water 2019, 11(5), 957; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11050957 - 07 May 2019

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3208

Abstract

Upland agricultural expansion and intensification cause soil erosion, which has a negative impact on the environment and socioeconomic factors by degrading the quality of both nutrient-rich surface soil and water. The Haean catchment is a well-known upland agricultural area in South Korea, which generates a large amount of sediment from its cropland. The transportation of nutrient-rich sediment to the stream adversely affects the water quality of the Han River watershed, which supports over twenty million people. In this paper, we suggest a spatially explicit mitigation method to reduce the amount of sediment yield to the stream of the catchment by converting soil erosion hot spots into forest. To evaluate the effectiveness of this reconfiguration, we estimated the sediment redistribution rate and assessed the soil erosion risk in the Haean catchment using the daily based Morgan–Morgan–Finney (DMMF) model. We found that dry crop fields located in the steep hill-slope suffer from severe soil erosion, and the rice paddy, orchard, and urban area, which are located in a comparatively lower and flatter area, suffer less from erosion. Although located in the steep hill-slope, the forest exhibits high sediment trapping capabilities in this model. When the erosion-prone crop lands were managed by sequentially reconfiguring their land use and land cover (LULC) to the forest from the area with the most severe erosion to the area with the least severe erosion, the result showed a strong reduction in sediment yield flowing to the stream. A change of 3% of the catchment’s crop lands of the catchment into forest reduced the sediment yield entering into the stream by approximately 10% and a change of 10% of crop lands potentially resulted in a sediment yield reduction by approximately 50%. According to these results, identifying erosion hot spots and managing them by reconfiguring their LULC is effective in reducing terrestrial sediment yield entering into the stream. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Landscape Change on Water Resources)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

23 pages, 19050 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Different Spatial Configuration Units for the Spatial Optimization of Watershed Best Management Practice Scenarios

by Liang-Jun Zhu, Cheng-Zhi Qin, A-Xing Zhu, Junzhi Liu and Hui Wu

Water 2019, 11(2), 262; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11020262 - 02 Feb 2019

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 5031

Abstract

Different spatial configurations (or scenarios) of multiple best management practices (BMPs) at the watershed scale may have significantly different environmental effectiveness, economic efficiency, and practicality for integrated watershed management. Several types of spatial configuration units, which have resulted from the spatial discretization of a watershed at different levels and used to allocate BMPs spatially to form an individual BMP scenario, have been proposed for BMP scenarios optimization, such as the hydrologic response unit (HRU) etc. However, a comparison among the main types of spatial configuration units for BMP scenarios optimization based on the same one watershed model for an area is still lacking. This paper investigated and compared the effects of four main types of spatial configuration units for BMP scenarios optimization, i.e., HRUs, spatially explicit HRUs, hydrologically connected fields, and slope position units (i.e., landform positions at hillslope scale). The BMP scenarios optimization was conducted based on a fully distributed watershed modeling framework named the Spatially Explicit Integrated Modeling System (SEIMS) and an intelligent optimization algorithm (i.e., NSGA-II, short for Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II). Different kinds of expert knowledge were considered during the BMP scenarios optimization, including without any knowledge used, using knowledge on suitable landuse types/slope positions of individual BMPs, knowledge of upstream–downstream relationships, and knowledge on the spatial relationships between BMPs and spatial positions along the hillslope. The results showed that the more expert knowledge considered, the better the comprehensive cost-effectiveness and practicality of the optimized BMP scenarios, and the better the optimizing efficiency. Thus, the spatial configuration units that support the representation of expert knowledge on the spatial relationships between BMPs and spatial positions (i.e., hydrologically connected fields and slope position units) are considered to be the most effective spatial configuration units for BMP scenarios optimization, especially when slope position units are adopted together with knowledge on the spatial relationships between BMPs and slope positions along a hillslope. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Landscape Change on Water Resources)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

21 pages, 6143 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Issues of Meander Development: Land Degradation or Ecological Value? The Example of the Sajó River, Hungary

by László Bertalan, Tibor József Novák, Zoltán Németh, Jesús Rodrigo-Comino, Ádám Kertész and Szilárd Szabó

Water 2018, 10(11), 1613; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10111613 - 09 Nov 2018

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 6653

Abstract

The extensive destruction of arable lands by the process of lateral bank erosion is a major issue for the alluvial meandering type of rivers all around the world. Nowadays, land managers, stakeholders, and scientists are discussing how this process affects the surrounding landscapes. Usually, due to a land mismanagement of agroforestry activities or urbanization plans, river regulations are designed to reduce anthropogenic impacts such as bank erosion, but many of these regulations resulted in a degradation of habitat diversity. Regardless, there is a lack of information about the possible positive effects of meandering from the ecological point of view. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to investigate a 2.12 km long meandering sub-reach of Sajó River, Hungary, in order to evaluate whether the process of meander development can be evaluated as a land degradation processes or whether it can enhance ecological conservation and sustainability. To achieve this goal, an archive of aerial imagery and UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle)-surveys was used to provide a consistent database for a landscape metrics-based analysis to reveal changes in landscape ecological dynamics. Moreover, an ornithological survey was also carried out to assess the composition and diversity of the avifauna. The forest cover was developed in a remarkable pattern, finding a linear relationship between its rate and channel sinuosity. An increase in forest areas did not enhance the rate of landscape diversity since only its distribution became more compact. Eroding riverbanks provided important nesting sites for colonies of protected and regionally declining migratory bird species such as the sand martin. We revealed that almost 70 years were enough to gain a new habitat system along the river as the linear channel formed to a meandering and more natural state. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Landscape Change on Water Resources)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 1961 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Improved Soil Temperature Modeling Using Spatially Explicit Solar Energy Drivers

by Jonathan J. Halama, Bradley L. Barnhart, Robert E. Kennedy, Robert B. McKane, James J. Graham, Paul P. Pettus, Allen F. Brookes, Kevin S. Djang and Ronald S. Waschmann

Water 2018, 10(10), 1398; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10101398 - 09 Oct 2018

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3450

Abstract

Modeling the spatial and temporal dynamics of soil temperature is deterministically complex due to the wide variability of several influential environmental variables, including soil column composition, soil moisture, air temperature, and solar energy. Landscape incident solar radiation is a significant environmental driver that affects both air temperature and ground-level soil energy loading; therefore, inclusion of solar energy is important for generating accurate representations of soil temperature. We used the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Oregon Crest-to-Coast (O’CCMoN) Environmental Monitoring Transect dataset to develop and test the inclusion of ground-level solar energy driver data within an existing soil temperature model currently utilized within an ecohydrology model called Visualizing Ecosystem Land Management Assessments (VELMA). The O’CCMoN site data elucidate how localized ground-level solar energy between open and forested landscapes greatly influence the resulting soil temperature. We demonstrate how the inclusion of local ground-level solar energy significantly improves the ability to deterministically model soil temperature at two depths. These results suggest that landscape and watershed-scale models should incorporate spatially distributed solar energy to improve spatial and temporal simulations of soil temperature. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Landscape Change on Water Resources)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 2388 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Modeling Landscape Change Effects on Stream Temperature Using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool

by Mamoon Mustafa, Brad Barnhart, Meghna Babbar-Sebens and Darren Ficklin

Water 2018, 10(9), 1143; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10091143 - 27 Aug 2018

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3905

Abstract

Stream temperature is one of the most important factors for regulating fish behavior and habitat. Therefore, models that seek to characterize stream temperatures, and predict their changes due to landscape and climatic changes, are extremely important. In this study, we extend a mechanistic stream temperature model within the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) by explicitly incorporating radiative flux components to more realistically account for radiative heat exchange. The extended stream temperature model is particularly useful for simulating the impacts of landscape and land use change on stream temperatures using SWAT. The extended model is tested for the Marys River, a western tributary of the Willamette River in Oregon. The results are compared with observed stream temperatures, as well as previous model estimates (without radiative components), for different spatial locations within the Marys River watershed. The results show that the radiative stream temperature model is able to simulate increased stream temperatures in agricultural sub-basins compared with forested sub-basins, reflecting observed data. However, the effect is overestimated, and more noise is generated in the radiative model due to the inclusion of highly variable radiative forcing components. The model works at a daily time step, and further research should investigate modeling at hourly timesteps to further improve the temporal resolution of the model. In addition, other watersheds should be tested to improve and validate the model in different climates, landscapes, and land use regimes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Landscape Change on Water Resources)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 4567 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cumulative Effects of Low Impact Development on Watershed Hydrology in a Mixed Land-Cover System

by Nahal Hoghooghi, Heather E. Golden, Brian P. Bledsoe, Bradley L. Barnhart, Allen F. Brookes, Kevin S. Djang, Jonathan J. Halama, Robert B. McKane, Christopher T. Nietch and Paul P. Pettus

Water 2018, 10(8), 991; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10080991 - 27 Jul 2018

Cited by 29 | Viewed by 4812

Abstract

Low Impact Development (LID) is an alternative to conventional urban stormwater management practices, which aims at mitigating the impacts of urbanization on water quantity and quality. Plot and local scale studies provide evidence of LID effectiveness; however, little is known about the overall watershed scale influence of LID practices. This is particularly true in watersheds with a land cover that is more diverse than that of urban or suburban classifications alone. We address this watershed-scale gap by assessing the effects of three common LID practices (rain gardens, permeable pavement, and riparian buffers) on the hydrology of a 0.94 km² mixed land cover watershed. We used a spatially-explicit ecohydrological model, called Visualizing Ecosystems for Land Management Assessments (VELMA), to compare changes in watershed hydrologic responses before and after the implementation of LID practices. For the LID scenarios, we examined different spatial configurations, using 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% implementation extents, to convert sidewalks into rain gardens, and parking lots and driveways into permeable pavement. We further applied 20 m and 40 m riparian buffers along streams that were adjacent to agricultural land cover. The results showed overall increases in shallow subsurface runoff and infiltration, as well as evapotranspiration, and decreases in peak flows and surface runoff across all types and configurations of LID. Among individual LID practices, rain gardens had the greatest influence on each component of the overall watershed water balance. As anticipated, the combination of LID practices at the highest implementation level resulted in the most substantial changes to the overall watershed hydrology. It is notable that all hydrological changes from the LID implementation, ranging from 0.01 to 0.06 km² across the study watershed, were modest, which suggests a potentially limited efficacy of LID practices in mixed land cover watersheds. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Landscape Change on Water Resources)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Impacts of Landscape Change on Water Resources

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Published Papers (9 papers)

Editorial

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI