During the 20th century, the construction of dams and large reservoirs was a common approach by water managers to control hydrological variability and alleviate the effects of hydrological extremes (i.e. floods and droughts). However, the complex human-water relationships arising in response to reservoir construction can lead to unexpected (and often undesired) outcomes, which diverge from the original intentions. Sociohydrological models explicitly account for feedbacks between society, the environment, and water resources. As such, they provide opportunities to: i) uncover the dynamics of hydrological risks generated by the interplay of human and water systems, and ii) explore trade-offs in the management of water resources, thereby informing the decision-making process. This study develops a sociohydrological model for two diverse case studies in Australia, to explore the human-water interplays emerging from the occurrence of drought and flood events in an urban and rural context. The model is used to explore alternate water management scenarios with respect to trade-offs between: i) the environment vs. irrigation (Case Study 1); and ii) urban water supply vs. flood mitigation (Case Study 2). The model outcomes are compared to observed hydrological conditions, socioeconomic characteristics, and water management decisions. The findings show consistency between observations and simulations, and align with analysis from other studies, validating the model. Model results indicate the emergence of several sociohydrological phenomena in each case study. The comparison of the case study results shows: i) differences in the way rural and urban consumers respond to drought; and ii) that the role of reservoir operators is more significant in the urban setting. This study finds that the model can be a useful tool for water managers increase catchment understand, to explore the potential outcomes of alternative water management decisions, and to identify preferred trajectories across multiple hydrological and socioeconomic criteria. Keywords: sociohydrology, system dynamics
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-532780 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Frawley, Imogen |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för geovetenskaper |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | Examensarbete vid Institutionen för geovetenskaper, 1650-6553 ; 634 |
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