The Challenge

In Texas, surface water in rivers is managed by different river authorities across the State. River authorities and entities along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Fort Worth District operate and maintain reservoirs for water conservation, water supply, and recreation. Water management strategies are based, in part, on period-of-record simulations of streamflow and reservoir storage and release. Temporal changes in streamflow from land-use changes, changes in climatic patterns, or other changes, may result in over- or under-estimation of streamflow in simulations, thus providing an inaccurate analysis on which to base water management strategies. Documenting trends in streamflow over time could better inform water managers of the appropriateness of period-of-record streamflow simulations for making water management decisions.

Our Solution

IHDS hydrologists

• Documented trends in long-term streamflow data at 114 selected USGS streamflow-gaging stations and 36 simulated reservoir-inflow stations
• Analyzed streamflow trends and streamflow-related variables through 2017 in these seven basins
• Wrote and released a USGS Scientific Investigations Report
• Compiled data from the study into a USGS data release