Storage-Discharge Relationships under Forest Cover Change in Ethiopian Highlands

Abstract

Detecting the impacts of forest cover changes on hydrology is challenging given uncertainties in how changes will manifest in observed streamflow. Considering changes in the rate of change of observed streamflow (e.g., recession characteristics) may offer insights to hydrological shifts driven by forest cover change that are not seen when considering absolute changes of streamflow itself. This study assesses the impacts of forest cover changes on the storage–discharge relationships in three meso-scale watersheds in the highlands of Ethiopia based on a 30-year hydro-climatic and land cover change dataset. We analyze streamflow recessions and fitted parameters of a linear reservoir model to depict fundamental shifts in the storage–discharge relation for these watersheds. Our analysis shows that recession slopes and the total storages increase as natural forest covers decrease in the 273 km2 Woshi-Dimbira and 1980 km2 Upper-Didesa watersheds. The linear reservoir model storage coefficient parameter shows an increasing trend with time for the 41 km2 Sokoru watershed which is afforested, indicating faster drainage and reduction in storage. Our work highlights that considering storage–discharge relationships may be useful for assessing the impacts of forest cover change on water resources in regions where land use change is active and rapid.