Articles | Volume 25, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-429-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-429-2021
Research article
 | 
28 Jan 2021
Research article |  | 28 Jan 2021

Progressive water deficits during multiyear droughts in basins with long hydrological memory in Chile

Camila Alvarez-Garreton, Juan Pablo Boisier, René Garreaud, Jan Seibert, and Marc Vis

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Cited articles

Agboma, C. O. and Lye, L. M.: Hydrologic memory patterns assessment over a drought-prone Canadian prairies catchment, J. Hydrol. Eng., 20, 1–11, https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)HE.1943-5584.0001106, 2015. 
Alvarez-Garreton, C.: CAMELS-CL explorer, available at: http://camels.cr2.cl/ (last access: 31 May 2020), 2018. 
Alvarez-Garreton, C., Mendoza, P. A., Boisier, J. P., Addor, N., Galleguillos, M., Zambrano-Bigiarini, M., Lara, A., Puelma, C., Cortes, G., Garreaud, R., McPhee, J., and Ayala, A.: The CAMELS-CL dataset: catchment attributes and meteorology for large sample studies – Chile dataset, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 5817–5846, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-5817-2018, 2018. 
Alvarez-Garreton, C., Lara, A., Boisier, J. P., and Galleguillos, M.: The Impacts of Native Forests and Forest Plantations on Water Supply in Chile, Forests, 10, 473, https://doi.org/10.3390/f10060473, 2019. 
Anderson, M. G. and Burt, T. P.: Role of Topography in Controlling Throughflow Generation, Earth Surf. Process., 3, 331–344, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3290030402, 1978. 
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Short summary
The megadrought experienced in Chile (2010–2020) has led to larger than expected water deficits. By analysing 106 basins with snow-/rainfall regimes, we relate such intensification with the hydrological memory of the basins, explained by snow and groundwater. Snow-dominated basins have larger memory and thus accumulate the effect of persistent precipitation deficits more strongly than pluvial basins. This notably affects central Chile, a water-limited region where most of the population lives.
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