Bowen et al. (2025) The Role of Spatial Water Right Data in Understanding Anthropogenic Effects on the Water Balance

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-11-06
• Authors: James D. Bowen, Ginger B. Paige, Alice E. Stears, F. Nippgen
• DOI: 10.1111/1752-1688.70063

Research Groups

Not explicitly mentioned in the abstract. The study was conducted in two intensively irrigated headwater watersheds in Wyoming, implying expertise in hydrology and water resource management.

Short Summary

This study investigated the impact of anthropogenic water use, specifically water rights, on the water balance in two irrigated headwater watersheds in Wyoming using a hydrologic-allocation modeling framework. It found that full appropriative demand significantly decreases streamflow (54%) and watershed storage (6%) while increasing evapotranspiration (18%) during the growing season, with responses varying based on water right characteristics.

Objective

• To investigate the impact of anthropogenic water use on the water balance in two intensively irrigated headwater watersheds in Wyoming using geospatially comprehensive water right data within a watershed hydrologic-allocation modeling framework.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Two intensively irrigated headwater watersheds in Wyoming, down to sub-watershed scales.
• Temporal Scale: Growing season.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: A watershed hydrologic-allocation modeling framework.
• Data sources: Geospatially comprehensive water right data.

Main Results

• Under the full appropriative demand scenario, streamflow decreased by 54%, evapotranspiration increased by 18%, and watershed storage decreased by 6% during the growing season across both watersheds.
• The two study watersheds exhibited distinct responses to scenarios with incremental changes in potential return flow and appropriative demand, reflecting differences in water right network structure, spatial density, use, and appropriative demand.
• Significant relationships were found between changes in streamflow and factors such as trans-watershed transfers and water right spatial density.
• Resource distribution among water balance components varied by sub-watershed, with reduced variability observed at larger watershed scales.

Contributions

• Demonstrated the critical importance of geospatially comprehensive water right data for accurately incorporating anthropogenic water abstractions into hydrologic models.
• Provided a detailed analysis of how specific water right characteristics (e.g., network structure, spatial density, trans-watershed transfers) influence water balance components at watershed and sub-watershed scales.

Funding

Not mentioned in the abstract.

Citation

@article{Bowen2025Role,
  author = {Bowen, James D. and Paige, Ginger B. and Stears, Alice E. and Nippgen, F.},
  title = {The Role of Spatial Water Right Data in Understanding Anthropogenic Effects on the Water Balance},
  journal = {JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1111/1752-1688.70063},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.70063}
}