LIANG Li-li 1, GONG Jia-guo 2, YE Yun-tao 2, XU Hai-qing 1

1. Beijing IWHR Technology Co., Ltd, IWHR, Beijing 100038, China
2. State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, IWHR, Beijing 100038, China

Abstract: Climate change and human activities remarkably affect water resources in watersheds, which challenge the traditional method of water resources assessment. In connection with the problems of distortion of water quantity restoration, the separate assessment of water quality and quantity, as well as groundwater and surface runoff, and other issues of traditional water resources assessment method in a changing environment in ungauged areas, this paper adopts an assessment method of water resources based on the distributed hydrological model of SWAT, and then explores its assessment principle, key steps, and the applicability in ungauged areas. Taking a northwest inland watershed -- mountainous area of the Manas River basin as an example, it compares the differences of the results between the traditional water resources assessment method and the adopted method based on SWAT model. The results show that the adopted method has more significant advantages on the accuracy of assessment results, the integrity of assessment objects and elements of water cycle, the flexibility of the assessment period of water resources assessment in ungauged area. Using a distributed hydrological model based on physical mechanism may be helpful to achieve the dynamic, efficient and rapid water resources assessment.

Key words: SWAT model, water resources assessment, ungauged area, Manas River basin

Published in: Journal of China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (Vol. 12 No. 1, 2014)