Banad et al. (2026) Effects of Climate Change on Ecologically Sensitive Flows in the Goulburn River Basin, Australia

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

Identification

• Journal: Hydrological Processes
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-08-01
• Authors: Sudeep Banad, Rajat Choudhary, Yongping Wei, Rupesh Jayaram Patil, Chandrika Thulaseedharan Dhanya
• DOI: 10.1002/hyp.70666

Research Groups

• Australian National University (ANU)
• Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)

Short Summary

This study evaluates the impact of projected climate change on ecologically sensitive flow characteristics in the Goulburn River, Australia, using a calibrated Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. The results indicate increasing risks to habitat persistence and ecological processes under both RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios.

Objective

• Investigate how projected climate change may alter ecologically sensitive flow characteristics in the regulated Goulburn River, Australia

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Regional scale (Goulburn River catchment)
• Temporal Scale: Daily streamflow simulations for two future periods (2030–2050 and 2051–2080) relative to a baseline period (1980–2017)

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT)
• Data sources:
  • Bias-corrected temperature and precipitation projections from five CMIP5 General Circulation Models (GCMs)
  • Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5)

Main Results

• Declining low-flow persistence across multiple climate models and emission scenarios
• Changes in seasonal-flow magnitude, increased hydrological variability, and altered high-flow pulse characteristics under both RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios

Contributions

This study provides a transferable framework for evaluating climate-change impacts on ecologically sensitive components of river flow regimes, supporting adaptive environmental-flow management in regulated river systems.

Funding

• Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project DP150103657
• CSIRO's Climate Adaptation and Resilience Program

Citation

@article{Banad2026Effects,
  author = {Banad, Sudeep and Choudhary, Rajat and Wei, Yongping and Patil, Rupesh Jayaram and Dhanya, Chandrika Thulaseedharan},
  title = {Effects of Climate Change on Ecologically Sensitive Flows in the Goulburn River Basin, Australia},
  journal = {Hydrological Processes},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1002/hyp.70666},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70666}
}