During the Late Woodland Period in the American Southeast, the amount of space that any individual group could exploit began to shrink, due to the presence of other groups on the landscape. Resource expansion occurred to augment food supplies, resulting in increased exploitation of mussel beds. Because mussels can be extremely sensitive to the characteristics of the waterways they live in, the specific habitat requirements of these animals can be used to reconstruct the environments they were recovered from. In this thesis I use freshwater mussel assemblages to reconstruct hypothetical aquatic catchments and map them onto modern rivers in the Yazoo River Basin and the Tombigbee River Basin. These are used to test ethnographic models of exploited space. I also use detrended correspondence analysis to test if sites exist in mathematical space like they do in physical space along the Yazoo River basin, as observed in the Tombigbee River basin.

Water has always been a necessity for human beings. How individuals and populations have reacted to, adapted, and manipulated water is apparent in the archaeological record. Ancient urban water systems often utilized a number of components, including aqueducts, siphons, underground tunneling, and cisterns. This thesis proposes that Greco-Roman theaters were utilized as components of ancient urban water systems in specific environments, and that this theater type may be identified in the archaeological and literary record as a water catchment theater. The goal of my thesis was to define, describe, identify, and plot the distribution of water catchment theaters in order to compare their distribution with the environments where they were found. Previous research on Greco-Roman theaters has not focused on theaters as components of ancient urban water systems. Because of this deficiency, it was necessary to define what water catchment theaters were, describe the architectural traits that were found in water catchment theaters, and finally, using this information, identify water catchment theaters and look at their distribution throughout the Greco-Roman world. To meet my objective I created a new typology of water theaters based on extensive research and on-site visits to 30 theaters in five countries, surveyed and classified the 927 theaters found in Frank Sear's Roman Theatres: An Architectural Study, and plotted the distribution of water catchment theaters in relation to space, time, and climate. My study gives new insight into the uses of Greco-Roman theaters but also introduces new methods to examine these ancient buildings with relation to their potential roles in urban water systems.

No description available.

Climate warming has been extensively documented over the last few decades, with northern environments experiencing greater increases in temperature than lower and mid-latitudes. Impacts of climate warming include: an increase in the rain to snow ratio, changes in precipitation magnitude and timing, increased soil warming, permafrost thaw, latitudinal and altitudinal expansion of tree-line, proliferation of tall shrubs into tundra, intensification of the freshwater cycle, and changes to stream volume and water quality. However, forecasting how these changes will affect northern, high latitude environments is difficult due to a lack of process-based research across scales. Wolf Creek Research Basin (WCRB) in Southern Yukon is a well-established mesoscale alpine catchment comprised of three ecozones and has hydrometric and meteorological records spanning 25 years. In this thesis, extensive field campaigns generated hydrochemical, stable isotope, and high-frequency in-situ datasets that were analyzed in conjunction with historical data from WCRB to refine and advance existing conceptual models. These distinct datasets were collected within a nested experimental design to more precisely describe relationships between catchment conditions, ecohydrological processes and stream water quantity and quality beginning at the headwater scale and with scaling to the outlet of WCRB. Optical data was combined with dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations to assess source areas and in-stream dissolved organic matter (DOM) quality across landscape units. Headwater DOC concentrations and fluxes from 2015-2016 were compared to the previous decade to assess changing export. In situ sensors that record chromophoric DOM (CDOM) at high frequency were paired with discharge and conductivity measurements to assess concentration-discharge relationships at event, seasonal and annual scales. Conceptual models of conductivity and major ion transport were confirmed while high-frequency CDOM-Q insights refined our understanding of DOC movement. As vegetation community composition and characteristics change, it is expected that components of the water balance will be altered at both the canopy level and within the critical zone. Compartmentalization of water within the critical zone is increasingly important to provide insights into how water cycles within catchments. Dual isotope and lc-excess approaches showed that bulk and xylem water were significantly different from the LMWL and stream water isotopes of δ2H and δ18O. Meanwhile, an increasingly enriched xylem water isotope signal overlapped with bulk soil water values as the growing season continued, which suggests the opportunistic use of available mobile soil water. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Climate warming has been extensively documented over the last few decades, with northern environments experiencing greater increases in temperature than lower and mid-latitudes. Impacts of climate warming include: an increase in the rain to snow ratio, changes in precipitation magnitude and timing, increased soil warming, permafrost thaw, latitudinal and altitudinal expansion of trees and shrubs becoming taller and moving to new areas. Climate change has the capacity to then affect the cycling of water leading to differences in how much water is present in streams and possibly leading to decreasing in water quality. Models and other tools are used to forecast these changes but benchmarking outcomes is difficult because northern environments are less well studied than other, more accessible locations. New types of information, including water quality, isotope and optical datasets, were used to explore previous understanding of how processes interact in space and time.

Predictions that water shortages will constrain economic growth in South Africa by 2025 have led to increased concerns among water resource managers that there is a need for comprehensive water management strategies. To this extent the new South African Water Act requires that water resource allocation be approached in a more equitable and conservative way than in the past in order to sustain water resources for catchment development. This includes protection of the water resource base by the setting aside of a health Reserve for basic human needs and for the ecological functioning of rivers. At a time when water resource management is shifting from the practice of large dam construction to reconciling water demand with water supply in more holistic strategies, the Mkomazi Catchment in KwaZulu-Natal provides an opportunity to investigate some of the major issues that dominate contemporary water resource management. Presently (2001), there are no impoundments on the Mkomazi River and the catchment is generally underdeveloped. These factors have provided the impetus for the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry's proposed inter-basin transfer scheme to use the surplus flow in the Mkomazi Catchment to augment the water resources of the neighbouring Mgeni system. Impact-of-Iand-use and development scenario studies, using the ACRU agrohydrological modelling system, were performed to simulate the impacts of (a) baseline land cover, (b) present land use, (c) the first phase of the Mkomazi-Mgeni Transfer Scheme and (d) potential climate change on the hydrological dynamics of the Mkomazi Catchment. The results indicate that the change from baseline land cover conditions to present land use conditions has little impact on the annual water resources of the Mkomazi River. This is especially so in the upper catchment where there is little anthropogenic development and from where the planned inter-basin transfer will be made from the proposed Smithfield Dam. Although the impacts of commercial forestry and irrigation in the middle and lower catchment impose local stress on streamflow generation, they do not detract substantially from the main downstream flows. Evaluation of the impacts of the proposed Smithfield Dam on annual streamflow generation revealed that there is more than sufficient water in the upper Mkomazi Catchment to sustain the inter-basin transfer under present climatic conditions. However, under potential climate change the median annual Mkomazi streamflows at the estuary could be reduced by 46% if the dam was constructed, compared with a 22% reduction under present climatic conditions. The impacts of catchment development on the seasonal low flows within the Mkomazi Catchment indicated that those areas which are already heavily utilised by afforestation and, particularly, by irrigated land use are unlikely to be able to support any further large scale commercial agricultural development, even under present climatic conditions. Water management strategies for the Mgeni system will impact on potential water allocation within the Mkomazi Catchment. The results of the impacts studies were used to assess the water demand of the major water-use sectors and the availability of streamflows for further allocation was assessed. Present total annual water demands of Mkomazi streamflows is minimal. Even allowing for the environmental demand in the Mkomazi Catchment, as identified by the Building Block Methodology during an instream flow requirements workshop, as well as the first phase of the inter-basin transfer, there would be surpluses of 66%, 43%, 42% and 45% of streamflows, respectively, at the four instream flow requirement sites on the Mkomazi River. The results of the Mkomazi instream flow requirements workshop were revisited to assess the achievability of the recommended flows within the ACRU generated daily time series of streamflows for each of the scenarios simulated, at the each of the four instream flow requirement sites on the Mkomazi River. The results confirmed the need to ascertain the Mkomazi River's natural flow variability, and to assess how much alteration is likely under development of the Mkomazi Catchment. The Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration and Range of Variability Approach methodologies were used to determine which components of the streamflow regime would be most impacted by the inter-basin transfer. Hypothetical, yet realistic, upper and lower management target thresholds were applied to determine the range of variation experienced by the streamflow regime of the Mkomazi, under both pre- and post-dam construction conditions, and to evaluate a preliminary assessment of the characteristics of the streamflow regime required to meet environmental sustainability. The issues raised by potentially conflicting water uses within catchments in South Africa have indicated that any approach to address the increasing complexity of water resource problems, and the management thereof, requires effective hydrological modelling. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

With the emergence of the new field of resource economics, one now has the ability to value and to include natural resources in decision making. This thesis aims to explore the valuation of natural resources by reviewing the economic values, techniques, methods and ecological aspects of restoration. Assegaaibos mountain catchment in the Western Cape Province has been used as a case-study example. A cost-benefit analysis of the restoration of the mountain catchment, in terms of the direct benefits of water and tourism, has been performed. The costs of restoration were observed to see whether they outweighed the benefits (income) derived (water and tourism). The results show that the water and tourism benefits did outweigh the costs of a basic restoration scenario. However, the basic restoration scenario did not fulfil the ecological requirements of the project. The results also illustrated that in the moderate restoration scenario, costs only outweighed the benefits when a three percent discount rate was applied. With the optimistic restoration scenario, costs outweighed benefits only when an eight percent discount rate was used. In the comprehensive restoration scenario, costs were shown to outweigh by far the water and tourism benefits over a thirty-year time frame. However, it should be noted that the deterioration of the environment (accelerated erosion, reinvasion, reduced water quality) was not factored into the costs of failure to rehabilitate.

Southeast Australia have between 1997-2009 experienced a severe drought, referred to as the Millennium Drought. During these years the region experienced a 11.4% decline in mean annual rainfall, an unprecedented decrease in runoff and a decline in soil moisture and groundwater storage. The drought officially ended in 2010 when one of the strongest La Nina-events on record occurred. However, it is still unknown how the behaviour of the catchments changed during the drought and if this change persists in the years following the drought. Changes in catchment behaviour and fluxes are commonly determined using a catchment water balance, where the change in groundwater storage is assumed to be neglectable when studying longer periods of time. However, studies have showed that this assumption might be inaccurate for catchments that experience a climatic disturbance such as a severe drought. This study investigates if including the change in groundwater storage by using spatial groundwater head data can improve the catchment water balance. This was done by assuming that specific yields are unknown and to be determined in a calibration. An unknown scalar applied to the evapotranspiration was used to try to account for the uncertainties in the known fluxes and was also to be determined in the calibration. Two different calibration schemes were considered: one assuming no delay in groundwater head response to climate and one accounting for the delay. The fluxes were determined for the period before, during and after the drought. The results were analysed to determine if the catchments showed a change in behaviour during and after the drought. The results showed that when not accounting for the delayed response of the groundwater head, at least one of the specific yields in the catchments became infinitely small. Including the delayed groundwater head response did improve one of the catchments significantly by producing plausible specific yields for all geological units. A conclusion of this is that including the change in groundwater storage could improve the water balance. However, for it to do so a thorough analysis of the groundwater and subsurface needs to be conducted. Further, the water balance error was the third biggest flux after rainfall and actual evapotranspiration suggesting that the evapotranspiration scalar reduced the actual evapotranspiration too much. All fluxes did decrease during the drought, by how much differed between the catchments and the water balance components. Two of the catchments showed a change in behaviour during the drought that persisted in the years following the drought. The most likely fluxes to have caused this were the change in runoff and groundwater storage. The other two catchments showed a smaller change in behaviour during the drought and an indication that it was on its way back to the same state as before the drought. The likely fluxes to have caused the small change in behaviour was runoff and actual evapotranspiration. / Under åren 1997–2009 minskade den genomsnittliga årliga nederbörden över sydöstra Australien med 11.4% och den genomsnittliga årliga avrinningen var lägre än någonsin tidigare samtidigt som grundvattennivåerna sjönk. Denna torka brukar kallas the Millennium Drought och är den svåraste torkan i Australien i modern tid. Torkan tog officiellt slut 2010 då ett av de mest kraftfulla La Niña-fenomenen inträffade vilket bidrog till att april 2010 till mars 2012 var de blötaste två åren i australiensk historia. Trots att flera studier har gjorts kring torkan så är det ännu inte klarlagts hur avrinningsområdena i området påverkades och om de fortfarande är påverkade när torkan officiellt är över. Flödena inom ett avrinningsområde bestäms vanligtvis genom en vattenbalans. Då vattenbalansen över ett avrinningsområde studeras under en längre tid antas ofta att förändringarna i grundvattenmagasinen går att bortse från då grundvattennivån ofta återgår till samma stadie efter ett antal år. Nyare studier har dock visat att detta inte alltid är fallet vid exempelvis en svår torka och att det vid dessa fall inte är korrekt att anta att förändringen i grundvattenmagasinen är försumbar. I denna studie har en vattenbalans gjorts för fyra avrinningsområden i delstaten Victoria i Australien. Syftet har varit att avgöra om vattenbalansen kan förbättras om förändringen i grundvattenmagasinen inkluderas. Detta har gjorts genom att använda nyligen framtagen data för grundvattennivån i delstaten och antagit att den dränerbara porositeten är en okänd variabel. För att justera för osäkerheterna kring the kända flödena har en okänd faktor för evapotranspirationen inkluderats. De okända variablerna bestämdes i en kalibrering. Kalibreringen genomfördes för två olika kalibreringsscheman och för tre olika tidsperioder. Det ena kalibreringsschemat antog att grundvattnet direkt reagerade på effektiv nederbörd minus avrinning, medan den andra kalibreringsschemat tog hänsyn till en försenad reaktion. Kalibreringen gjordes för tidsperioderna innan, under och efter torkan. Resultaten visade att när ingen hänsyn togs till en eventuellt försenad reaktion av grundvatten så går värdet för dränerbar porositet i minst en geologisk enhet mot noll medan det andra värdet är rimligt. När hänsyn togs till en försenad reaktion av grundvattnet, fick fler avrinningsområde rimliga värden för dränerbar porositet för hela området. Slutsatsen som kan dras kring detta är att vattenbalansen kan förbättras om förändringen i grundvattenmagasinen inkluderas. Detta kräver dock en djupgående analys av grundvattnet och geologin i avrinningsområdet. Hur mycket flödena förändrades under och efter torkan varierar mellan avrinningsområdena och flödena, gemensamt var dock att alla flöden minskade under torkan. Två av avrinningsområdena påvisade en förändring i beteendet under torkan och de år som följde. Det är mest troligt att förändringarna i avrinning och grundvattenmagasinen har påverkat detta. De övriga två avrinningsområdena påvisade även de en förändring under torkan, om än mindre än för de föregående. Denna förändring ser även ut att vara på tillbakagående och att avrinningsområdet inom en snar framtid skulle kunna ha samma tillstånd som innan torkan. De mest troliga flödena som har påverkat dessa avrinningsområden är förändringar i avrinning och den faktisk evapotranspirationen.

Existing terrestrial carbon accounting models have mainly investigated atmosphere-vegetationsoil stocks and fluxes but have largely ignored the hydrological flux of organic carbon. It is generally assumed that biomass and soil carbon are the only relevant pools in a landscape ecosystem. However, recent findings have suggested that significant amounts of organic carbon can dissolve (dissolved organic carbon or DOC) or particulate (particulate organic carbon or POC) in water and enter the hydrological flux at the catchment scale. A significant quantity of total organic carbon (TOC) sequestered through photosynthesis may be exported from the landscape through the hydrological flux and stored in downstream stocks.¶ This thesis presents a catchment-scale case study investigation into the export of organic carbon through a river system in comparison with carbon that is produced by vegetation through photosynthesis. The Cotter River Catchment was selected as the case study. It is a forested catchment that experienced a major wildfire event in January 2003. The approach is based on an integration of a number of models. The main input data were time series of in-stream carbon measurements and remotely sensed vegetation greenness. The application of models to investigate diffuse chemical substances has dramatically increased in the past few years because of the significant role of hydrology in controlling ecosystem exchange. The research firstly discusses the use of a hydrological simulation model (IHACRES) to analyse organic carbon samples from stream and tributaries in the Cotter River Catchment case study. The IHACRES rainfall-runoff model and a regionalization method are used to estimate stream-flow for the 75 sub-catchments. The simulated streamflow data were used to calculate organic carbon loads from concentrations sampled at five locations in the catchment.¶ The gross primary productivity (GPP) of the vegetation cover in the catchment was estimated using a radiation use efficiency (RUE) model driven by MODIS TERRA data on vegetation greenness and modeled surface irradiance (RS). The relationship between total organic carbon discharged in-stream and total carbon uptake by plants was assessed using a cross-correlation analysis.¶ The IHACRES rainfall-runoff model was successfully calibrated at three gauged sites and performed well. The results of the calibration procedure were used in the regionalization method that enabled streamflow to be estimated at ungauged locations including the seven sampling sites and the 75 sub-catchment areas. The IHACRES modelling approach was found appropriate for investigating a wide range of issues related to the hydrological export of organic carbon at the catchment scale. A weekly sampling program was implemented to provide estimates of TOC, DOC and POC concentrations in the Cotter River Catchment between July 2003 and June 2004. The organic carbon load was estimated using an averaging method.¶ The rate of photosynthesis by vegetation (GPP) was successfully estimated using the radiation use efficiency model to discern general patterns of vegetation productivity at sub-catchment scales. This analysis required detailed spatial resolution of the GPP across the entire catchment area (comprising 75 sub-catchment areas) in addition to the sampling locations. Important factors that varied at the catchment scale during the sampling period July 2003 – June 2004, particularly the wildfire impacts, were also considered in this assessment. ¶ The results of the hydrologic modelling approach and terrestrial GPP outcome were compared using cross correlation and regression analysis. This comparison revealed the likely proportion of catchment GPP that contributes to in-stream hydrological flux of organic carbon. TOC Load was 0.45% of GPP and 22.5 - 25% of litter layer. As a result of this investigation and giving due consideration to the uncertainties in the approach, it can be concluded that the hydrological flux of organic carbon in a forested catchment is a function of gross primary productivity.

Devido à intensificação das atividades industriais e agrícolas, aliada ao grande crescimento urbano e ao aumento exponencial da população no último século, a pressão sobre os recursos hídricos se intensificaram drasticamente. Sendo assim, existe a necessidade de se buscar novas fontes de abastecimento público de água. A captação de água pluvial remonta a milhares de anos, no entanto, por se tratar de uma área onde os estudos são recentes, muitas dúvidas permeiam sobre o método a ser adotado para a implantação de sistemas de captação pluvial, de forma que garanta a saúde de seus usuários. Desta forma, procurando acrescentar cientificamente e analisar novas possibilidades para sistemas de aproveitamento de água pluvial, este projeto objetivou analisar e caracterizar a qualidade da água em diversos pontos em um sistema de captação, armazenamento e utilização de água pluvial, instalado no Laboratório de Ecologia Isotópica do CENA/USP no município de Piracicaba, SP. Foi construído um sistema em escala real contendo cinco recipientes de 100 L para o descarte de primeiras águas, totalizando aproximadamente 3,3 mm de água descartada, com duas cisternas de 5 mil litros cada para armazenar a água captada. Foram coletadas amostras de água em sete pontos do sistema totalizando 36 análises por evento pluviométrico. Os parâmetros analisados foram pH, condutividade elétrica (CE), nitrogênio total (NT), carbono inorgânico dissolvido (DIC), carbono orgânico dissolvido (DOC) e oxigênio dissolvido (OD). As análises de OD foram descontinuadas após a constatação de que o OD, nas diferentes etapas do sistema, não apresentavam diferenças estatísticas devido ao esquema utilizado na montagem do sistema. O pH coletado sempre apresentou valores mais altos que os valores da precipitação, tendendo a diminuir conforme a água captada era descartada atingindo uma média de pH de 6,1 quando a água encontrava-se nas cisternas. A CE e o NT apresentaram valores mais altos que os valores encontrados na precipitação com um decaimento significativo para cada etapa de descarte, assim como apresentaram correlação com a intensidade pluviométrica e o intervalo de estiagem entre eventos pluviométricos. O desvio padrão de CE tendeu a diminuir a cada etapa de descarte, demonstrando que o sistema de descarte atuava como um homogeneizador da água coletada, independente das características pluviométricas. Os parâmetros de DIC também apresentaram valores maiores que os encontrados na água de chuva, assim como apresentaram queda significativa conforme a quantidade de água descartada. Os parâmetros de DOC não apresentaram qualquer correlação com a quantidade de água descartada ou com os parâmetros pluviométricos. Concluiu-se que o sistema de descarte de primeiras águas tem um papel fundamental na qualidade final da água captada. Assim como, que a recomendação da ABNT, de descartar os primeiros 2 mm de chuva, condiz exatamente com o ponto onde se obtêm a melhor qualidade de água com o mínimo de perda. Foi possível constatar que o intervalo de estiagem e a intensidade pluviométrica influenciaram diretamente na qualidade da água que será coletada. / Due to increasing industrial and agricultural activities, coupled with the extensive urban growth and the exponential increase in population in the last century, the pressure on water resources has intensified dramatically. Thus, there is a need to seek new sources of public water supply. The collection of rainwater goes back thousands of years, however, because it is an area where the studies are recent, many questions permeate on the method to be adopted for the implementation of rainwater harvesting systems, as well as ensure health of its users. Thus, seeking to add scientifically and analyze new possibilities for harnessing rainwater systems, this project aims to analyze and characterize water quality at various points in a system of capture, store and use rainwater, at the Laboratory of Isotope Ecology CENA / USP in Piracicaba, SP. A system has been built in real scale with five drums of 100 L for discarding of first waters, totaling approximately 3.3 mm discarted water, with two cisterns of 5000 liters each to store the collected water. Were seven sampling points totaling 36 analyzes per rainfall event. Parameters of pH, electrical conductivity (CE), total nitrogen (TN), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved oxygen (OD) were analyzed. Analyses of OD were discontinued after the realization that the OD, in the different stages of the system, showed no statistical differences due to the layout of the system. The analyzed pH always showed a higher values than the precipitation and has tended to decrease as the collected water was discarded. Showing an average pH of 6.1 when the water reaches the cistern. The values of EC and NT were higher than the values found in precipitation and tended to decrease gradually in each stage of disposal system of the first water, as also showed a correlated pattern with the rainfall intensity and with the interval between rainfall events. The CE standard deviation tend to decrease at each step of the disposal system of the first water, demonstrating that the disposal system of the first water serves as a homogenizer of water captured, regardless of the rainfall characteristics. The parameters of DIC also showed higher values than those found in rain water, and showed a gradual decrease in each stage of disposal system of the first water. The parameters of DOC showed no correlation with the amount of discarted water or with the rainfall parameters. It was concluded that the disposal system of the first waters has a key role in the final quality of water abstracted. As well as the recommendation of ABNT, of discarding the first 2 mm of rain, matches exactly the point where you can get the best quality water with minimal loss. It was found that the drought period and the rainfall intensity directly influence the quality of water that will be collected.

The past few decades have seen, amongst other topical environmental issues, increased concerns regarding the imminent threat of global warming and the consequential impacts of climate change on environmental, social and economic systems. Numerous groundbreaking studies conducted independently and cooperatively have provided abundant and conclusive evidence that global climates are changing and that these changes will almost certainly impact natural and socio-economic systems. Increased global change pressures, which include, inter alia, climate change, have increased concerns over the supply of adequate quality freshwater. There is an inadequate body of knowledge pertaining to linking basic hydrological processes which drive water quality (WQ) variability with projected climate change. Incorporating such research into policy development and governance with the intention of developing adaptive WQ management strategies is also overlooked. Thus, the aim of this study was the assessment of projected climate change impacts on selected WQ constituents in the context of agricultural non-point source pollution and the development of the necessary adaptation strategies that can be incorporated into WQ management, policy development and governance. This assessment was carried out in the form of a case study in the Mkabela Catchment near Wartburg in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The research involved applying climate change projections derived from seven downscaled Global Circulation Models (GCMs) used in the Fourth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Report, in the ACRU-NPS water quality model to assess the potential impacts on selected water quality constituents (viz. sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus). Results indicated positive correlations between WQ related impacts and contaminant migration as generated from agricultural fertilizer applications. ACRU-NPS simulations indicated increases in runoff and associated changes in WQ variable generation and migration from upstream sources in response to downscaled GCM projections. However, there was limited agreement found between the simulations derived from the various downscaled GCM projections in regard to the magnitude and direction (i.e. percent changes between present and the future) of these changes in WQ variables. The rainfall distribution analyses conducted on a daily time-step resolution for each selected GCM also showed limited consistency between the GCM projections regarding rainfall changes between the present and the future. The implication was that since hydrological and climate change modelling can inform adaptation under climate change. However, adaptation to climate change in water quality management and policy development is going to require approaches that fully recognise the uncertainties presented by climate change and the associated modelling thereof. It was also considered crucial that equal attention be given to both climate change and natural variability, in order to ensure that adaptation strategies remain robust and effective under conditions of climate change and its respective uncertainties. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.