Articles | Volume 26, issue 17
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-4497-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-4497-2022
Research article
 | 
09 Sep 2022
Research article |  | 09 Sep 2022

Sources and mean transit times of stream water in an intermittent river system: the upper Wimmera River, southeast Australia

Zibo Zhou, Ian Cartwright, and Uwe Morgenstern

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Cited articles

Barua, S., Cartwright, I., Dresel, P. E., Morgenstern, U., McDonnell, J. J., and Daly, E.: Sources and mean transit times of intermittent streamflow in semi-arid headwater catchments, J. Hydrol., 604, 127208, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.127208, 2022. 
Benettin, P., Kirchner, J. W., Rinaldo, A., and Botter, G.: Modeling chloride transport using travel time distributions at Plynlimon, Wales, Water Resour. Res., 51, 3259–3276, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014WR016600, 2015. 
Beyer, M., Jackson, B., Daughney, C., Morgenstern, U., and Norton, K.: Use of hydrochemistry as a standalone and complementary groundwater age tracer, J. Hydrol., 543, 127–144, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.05.062, 2016. 
Birkel, C., Soulsby, C., and Tetzlaff, D.: Conceptual modelling to assess how the interplay of hydrological connectivity, catchment storage and tracer dynamics controls nonstationary water age estimates, Hydrol. Process., 29, 2956–2969, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.10414, 2015. 
Birks, S. J., Fennell, J. W., Gibson, J. J., Yi, Y., Moncur, M. C., and Brewster, M.: Using regional datasets of isotope geochemistry to resolve complex groundwater flow and formation connectivity in northeastern Alberta, Canada, Appl, Geochem., 101, 140–159, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2018.12.013, 2019. 
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Short summary
Streams may receive water from different sources in their catchment. There is limited understanding of which water stores intermittent streams are connected to. Using geochemistry we show that the intermittent streams in southeast Australia are connected to younger smaller near-river water stores rather than regional groundwater. This makes these streams more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and requires management of the riparian zone for their protection.
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