Great Rivers Partnership Basin % Runoff Change

A Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC, Gao et al 2009) model was used to simulate the effect of changing vegetation on land surface hydrology. Multi–decadal simulations were conducted to investigate the change in the water balance and flood characteristics in these six river basins. The changes in local runoff at each grid cell as vegetation changes from present condition to best-case reforestation scenario (provided by the World Resources Institute - 2014). Only runoff generated locally at the grid cell is considered with no contribution from upstream area. Positive numbers on the map indicate an increase in local runoff in the best-case reforestation scenario and vice versa. The map has a spatial resolution of 0.25º×0.25º (approximately 25 km × 25 km) and data is only shown in six of the river basins around the globe where the Great Rivers Partnership works: Mississippi (North America), Magdalena and Tapajos (South America), Ogooue (Africa), and Mekong and Yangtze (Asia). Changes are shown for the mean daily runoff, and for display purposes, summarized to the basin level for each basin mentioned above. The raw data is available upon request. Gao, H., Tang, Q., Shi, X., Zhu, C., Bohn, T., Su, F., Sheffield, J., Pan, M., Lettenmaier, D., and Wood, E. F. (2009). Water Budget Record from Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) Model Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document. Dept. Civil and Environmental Eng., Univ. Washington, Seattle, WA, 09-18. Surface Hydrology Group, University of Washington (2013). Variable Infiltration Capacity Model. Available online at http://www.hydro.washington.edu/Lettenmaier/Models/VIC/.