How is Baseflow Index (BFI) impacted by  water resource management practices?

Bloomfield, John P.; Gong, Mengyi; Marchant, Benjamin P.; Coxon, Gemma; Addor, Nans

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-5355-2021

Articles | Volume 25, issue 10

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-5355-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-5355-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 25, issue 10

Research article

|

05 Oct 2021

Research article |

| 05 Oct 2021

How is Baseflow Index (BFI) impacted by water resource management practices?

John P. Bloomfield, Mengyi Gong, Benjamin P. Marchant, Gemma Coxon, and Nans Addor

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Final revised paper (published on 05 Oct 2021)
Preprint (discussion started on 27 May 2021)

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

RC1:
'Comment on hess-2021-259', Anonymous Referee #1, 24 Jun 2021

The paper with title " How is Baseflow Index (BFI) impacted by water resource management practices" is well written and within scope of HESS. This manucript highlights the controling factors for baseflow contribution. It speficiclyy look what i sthe impact of water resouces managmnet practice have on baseflow onctibution.

Specif commnets:

1. The paper does not go in deepth about the different water resouces managmnet practices and it relationhsip with baseflow contribution. Baseflow index calcaution itself have uncertainty as it was never verified with any filed data. So it would be nice to capture these uncertainty and discuss in the paper.

2. Paper also lack in discussion about practical implication of the finding of the paper.

3. Figure quality is so poor hard to read the values.

4. Line 135, " Figure 3c.... " there is kind of repration of same info.

5. Paper need bit more explantion aboit Lin's coeffiecit. please provide the equation.

6. Some where in text it reaured to give details aboit differnet model, e.g Model 1, Model 2 in Figure 5

7. I was very surpires Area of the catchmnet is not that import for the BFI? any comments

8. Line 409, " in addtion ....." why ?

9 Conclusion of this study is bit week, Need to rewrite.

10. Paper need some strengthning in Litrature.

Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2021-259-RC1
- AC1: 'Reply on RC1', John Bloomfield, 02 Jul 2021
  
  We would like to thank Anonymous Reviewer # 1 for their comments and provide a response in the attached supplement.
  
  Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2021-259-AC1
CC1:
'Comment on hess-2021-259', Mariaines Di Dato, 24 Jun 2021

In this paper, Bloomfield et al. study whether the water resources management activities affect baseflow by correlating the baseflow index with several catchment factors. Such correlations are analyzed by applying two statistical models (multiple linear regression and random forest) to the CAMELS-GB large-sample dataset.

The manuscript is very well written and suitable for publication in HESS.
Major comments
1. The baseflow generation dynamics are poorly described. In particular, the authors could discuss better the choice of the filters.

2. The authors could compare their results with previous work aiming to relate BFI with catchment characteristics (Beck et al. (2013), for instance).

Minor comments:

a. Please, avoid abbreviations like don’t, as in lines 145 and 146.

b. Ln. 177 BEI_CEH instead of BFI_CEH

Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2021-259-CC1
- AC2: 'Reply on CC1', John Bloomfield, 02 Jul 2021
  
  Response to Mariaines Di Dato
  Thank you for providing comments. We are pleased that you think that the paper is suitable for publication in HESS.
  Major comment 1
  
  With regard to the observations that improvements could be made to the description of “baseflow generation dynamics” and that “the authors could discuss better the choice of the filters [for estimating baseflow index (BFI)]”. We acknowledge that there is an extensive body of work and ongoing research related to understanding baseflow generation and the estimation of BFI. In that context, the target for the present study is to assess the effect of water resource management (WRM) practices on BFI using a previously published unique dataset (CAMELS-GB, Coxon et al., 2020a; 2020b) that contains two different estimates of BFI and a range of WRM co-variates (see lines 64-68 for specific aims of the work). Consequently, we did not actively choose the two BFI “filters” discussed in the current paper, they were the only two available for our analysis as part of the CAMELS-GB dataset.
  
  Notwithstanding that observation, on revising the paper, we will: i.) add new context to section 1, the Introduction, to describe baseflow generation dynamics and how these may be related to WRP, and ii.) add a note to section 2.2 placing the two BFI filters analysed in the paper (BFI based on the UK CEH method and the Lyne and Hollick digital filter) in the wider context of other BFI filters.
  Major comment 2
  
  As the reviewer observes there have been many studies that have investigated the relationships between catchment properties and BFI, including studies such as that of Beck et al. (2012). Given the aim of the present study has been to assess the effect of water resource management (WRM) practices on BFI we chose to focus discussion on the implications of the results related to WRM (Lines 431-457). However, we acknowledge that there will also be interest in the results in the context of other catchment characteristics and we will add an additional section to the Discussion in a revised version of the paper that will discuss the results in the context of previous work exploring and quantifying the relationships between catchment properties and BFI.
  
  Minor comment a
  
  Noted. We will amend in revised text.
  
  Minor comment b
  
  Noted. We will amend in revised text.
  References
  
  Beck, H. E., van Dijk, A. I. J. M., Miralles, D.G., de Jeu, R. A. M., Bruijnzeel, L. A. S., McVicar, T. R., and Schellekens, J.: Global patterns in base flow index and recession based on streamflow observations from 3394 catchments. Water Resources Res., 49, 7843-7863, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013WR013918, 2013
  
  Coxon, G., Addor, N., Bloomfield, J. P., Freer, J., Fry, M., Hannaford, J., Howden, N. J. K., Lane, R., Lewis, M., Robinson, E. L., Wagener, T., Woods, R.: Catchment attributes and hydro-meteorological timeseries for 671 catchments across Great Britain (CAMELS-GB). NERC Environmental Information Data Centre, [data set], available at: https://doi.org/10.5285/8344e4f3-d2ea-44f5-8afa-86d2987543a9 (last access: 8 April 2021), 2020a.
  Coxon, G., Addor, N., Bloomfield, J. P., Freer, J., Fry, M., Hannaford, J., Howden, N. J. K., Lane, R., Lewis, M., Robinson, E. L., Wagener, T., and Woods, R.: CAMELS-GB: Hydrometeorological time series and landscape attributes for 671 catchments in Great Britain, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 2459-2483, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2459-2020, 2020b.
  
  Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2021-259-AC2
RC2:
'Comment on hess-2021-259', Mariaines Di Dato, 23 Jul 2021

Due to a technical problem with the Copernicus login, I accidentally posted my review with a different account that was not considered the reviewer. I am copying my review with the official account, as requested by the Editor in order to complete the review process.

I am very sorry for this mistake and I apologize to the Authors and the Editors for the inconvenience.

In this paper, Bloomfield et al. study whether the water resources management activities affect baseflow by correlating the baseflow index with several catchment factors. Such correlations are analyzed by applying two statistical models (multiple linear regression and random forest) to the CAMELS-GB large-sample dataset.

The manuscript is very well written and suitable for publication in HESS.

Major comments

1. The baseflow generation dynamics are poorly described. In particular, the authors could discuss better the choice of the filters.

2. The authors could compare their results with previous work aiming to relate BFI with catchment characteristics (Beck et al. (2013), for instance).

Minor comments:

a. Please, avoid abbreviations like don’t, as in lines 145 and 146.

b. Ln. 177 BEI_CEH instead of BFI_CEH

Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2021-259-RC2
- AC3: 'Reply on RC2', John Bloomfield, 26 Jul 2021
  
  Response to Mariaines Di Dato
  
  Once again we would like to thank the reviewer for providing their insghtful comments and reiterate our previous response.
  We are pleased that you think that the paper is suitable for publication in HESS.
  Major comment 1
  
  With regard to the observations that improvements could be made to the description of “baseflow generation dynamics” and that “the authors could discuss better the choice of the filters [for estimating baseflow index (BFI)]”. We acknowledge that there is an extensive body of work and ongoing research related to understanding baseflow generation and the estimation of BFI. In that context, the target for the present study is to assess the effect of water resource management (WRM) practices on BFI using a previously published unique dataset (CAMELS-GB, Coxon et al., 2020a; 2020b) that contains two different estimates of BFI and a range of WRM co-variates (see lines 64-68 for specific aims of the work). Consequently, we did not actively choose the two BFI “filters” discussed in the current paper, they were the only two available for our analysis as part of the CAMELS-GB dataset.
  Notwithstanding that observation, on revising the paper, we will: i.) add new context to section 1, the Introduction, to describe baseflow generation dynamics and how these may be related to WRP, and ii.) add a note to section 2.2 placing the two BFI filters analysed in the paper (BFI based on the UK CEH method and the Lyne and Hollick digital filter) in the wider context of other BFI filters.
  Major comment 2
  
  As the reviewer observes there have been many studies that have investigated the relationships between catchment properties and BFI, including studies such as that of Beck et al. (2012). Given the aim of the present study has been to assess the effect of water resource management (WRM) practices on BFI we chose to focus discussion on the implications of the results related to WRM (Lines 431-457). However, we acknowledge that there will also be interest in the results in the context of other catchment characteristics and we will add an additional section to the Discussion in a revised version of the paper that will discuss the results in the context of previous work exploring and quantifying the relationships between catchment properties and BFI.
  Minor comment a
  
  Noted. Will amend in revised text.
  Minor comment b
  
  Noted. Will amend in revised text.
  References
  
  Beck, H. E., van Dijk, A. I. J. M., Miralles, D.G., de Jeu, R. A. M., Bruijnzeel, L. A. S., McVicar, T. R., and Schellekens, J.: Global patterns in base flow index and recession based on streamflow observations from 3394 catchments. Water Resources Res., 49, 7843-7863, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013WR013918, 2013
  
  Coxon, G., Addor, N., Bloomfield, J. P., Freer, J., Fry, M., Hannaford, J., Howden, N. J. K., Lane, R., Lewis, M., Robinson, E. L., Wagener, T., Woods, R.: Catchment attributes and hydro-meteorological timeseries for 671 catchments across Great Britain (CAMELS-GB). NERC Environmental Information Data Centre, [data set], available at: https://doi.org/10.5285/8344e4f3-d2ea-44f5-8afa-86d2987543a9 (last access: 8 April 2021), 2020a.
  
  Coxon, G., Addor, N., Bloomfield, J. P., Freer, J., Fry, M., Hannaford, J., Howden, N. J. K., Lane, R., Lewis, M., Robinson, E. L., Wagener, T., and Woods, R.: CAMELS-GB: Hydrometeorological time series and landscape attributes for 671 catchments in Great Britain, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 2459-2483, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2459-2020, 2020b.
  
  Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2021-259-AC3

Peer review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision

ED: Publish subject to revisions (further review by editor and referees) (26 Jul 2021) by Rohini Kumar

AR by John Bloomfield on behalf of the Authors (03 Sep 2021) Author's response Author's tracked changes Manuscript

ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (03 Sep 2021) by Rohini Kumar

RR by Anonymous Referee #2 (11 Sep 2021)

RR by Anonymous Referee #1 (16 Sep 2021)

ED: Publish as is (16 Sep 2021) by Rohini Kumar

Short summary

Groundwater provides flow, known as baseflow, to surface streams and rivers. It is important as it sustains the flow of many rivers at times of water stress. However, it may be affected by water management practices. Statistical models have been used to show that abstraction of groundwater may influence baseflow. Consequently, it is recommended that information on groundwater abstraction is included in future assessments and predictions of baseflow.