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CHANGING WATER BALANCE OVER TIME IN RUSH CREEK, EASTERN CALIFORNIA, 1860–1992 1
Author(s) -
Kondolf G. Mathias.,
Vorster Peter
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
jawra journal of the american water resources association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.957
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1752-1688
pISSN - 1093-474X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-1688.1993.tb03241.x
Subject(s) - tributary , baseflow , hydrology (agriculture) , irrigation , environmental science , streams , water balance , hydropower , structural basin , ecosystem , drainage basin , water resource management , streamflow , geology , geography , ecology , computer network , paleontology , cartography , geotechnical engineering , computer science , biology
Rush Creek, the principal tributary to Mono Lake, has undergone profound hydrologic modifications as a result of flow regulation for hydroelectric generation and irrigation, diversions for irrigated agriculture, and diversions for water export to the City of Los Angeles. Lower Rush Creek (the lowermost 13 km downstream of Grant Lake Reservoir) was dry by 1970, but now receives flow as a result of court‐ordered efforts to restore former ecological conditions. Using available historic data and recent field measurements, we constructed the water balance for Lower Rush Creek, identifying six distinct historical periods characterized by very different patterns of gain and loss. The hydrologic patterns must be understood as a basis for modeling ecosystem response to stream‐flow alteration. A gradually gaining stream under natural conditions, the advent of irrigation diversions caused the middle reaches of Lower Rush Creek to be often completely dry, while irrigation‐recharged springs still maintained a baseflow in the downstream “Meadows” ranch. Increased water exports from the basin subsequently reduced irrigation and dried up the springs.