The use of historical data and global climate models to assess historical and future surface water and groundwater availability in the Trinity River Basin in Texas

Texas Water Journal
By: , and 

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Abstract

This paper describes the results of a study that was done by the USGS to assess recent (2017) water availability, forecast long-term trends in water availability, assess changes in water availability, and forecast future water availability in the Trinity River Basin in Texas. The Trinity River Basin surface water model and Trinity River alluvium aquifer (TRAA) groundwater model were created to evaluate future conditions under different global climate models (GCM). The results of this study show minimal overall changes in water availability for both surface water and groundwater. Trend analyses using historical data (1900–2017) indicated an increase of annual precipitation on the watersheds that drain into the reservoirs in Regional Water Planning Group C. However, the Trinity River Basin surface water model GCM ensemble mean annual precipitation indicates a downward trend, resulting in a downward trend in surface runoff. Additionally, the GCM ensemble mean for the Trinity River Basin surface water model and the TRAA groundwater model both indicate a downward trend in recharge while the TRAA model GCM ensemble mean indicates an upward trend in the amount of groundwater leaving the aquifer to rivers and streams resulting in an upward trend of cumulative storage change.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title The use of historical data and global climate models to assess historical and future surface water and groundwater availability in the Trinity River Basin in Texas
Series title Texas Water Journal
DOI 10.21423/twj.v14i1.7146
Edition 1
Volume 14
Year Published 2023
Language English
Publisher Texas Water Journal
Contributing office(s) Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center
Description 28 p.
First page 34
Last page 61
Country United States
State Texas
Other Geospatial Trinity River Basin
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