Application of the Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration Software in Environmental Flow Setting 1
Application of the Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration Software in Environmental Flow Setting 1
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DOI：
10.1111/j.1752-1688.2007.00099.x
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发表时间：
2007-12
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Ruth E. Mathews;B. Richter
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Ruth E. Mathews;B. Richter
摘要：河流科学家越来越多地被要求就支持生态系统健康所需的水流数量和时间提供建议。对具有科学可信度的环境流量评估的需求以及进行深入研究的资源有限，这使得人们非常重视那些能够以低成本轻松应用的方法。水文改变指标（IHA）软件程序最初是由大自然保护协会在20世纪90年代开发的，用于快速处理每日水文记录，以便能够描述自然水况，并促进对人类引起的水流模式变化的评估。本文讨论了IHA软件的演变，包括最近对IHA的修订和补充，这些改进了它在环境流量设定过程中的实用性。借鉴世界各地开发的整体方法，IHA增加了计算对河流生态系统健康至关重要的五个水流成分特征的能力——极低流量、低流量、高流量脉冲、小洪水和大洪水。这些环境流量成分的一个实际优势是，基于它们的环境流量规定可以在大多数水资源管理环境中轻松实施。IHA经常被用作一次性的流量统计生成器，当与生态模型交互使用时，其价值会增加。本文介绍了一种将IHA输出与生态模型相联系的过程，以便在适应性管理背景下探索水流 - 生态关系，并通过其在华盛顿州格林河的应用进行了演示。IHA与生态模型结合使用，有助于创建和测试水流 - 生态假设，制定水和土地保护或恢复目标，以及制定有针对性的研究和监测计划，这些都是环境流量设定过程的重要组成部分。
Abstract: River scientists are increasingly asked to provide recommendations about the amount and timing of water flows needed to support ecosystem health. The need for scientifically credible environmental flow assessments and the limited availability of resources to conduct in‐depth studies place a premium on methods that can be readily applied at low cost. The Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration (IHA) software program was originally developed by The Nature Conservancy in the 1990s to quickly process daily hydrologic records to enable characterization of natural water conditions and facilitate evaluations of human‐induced changes to flow regimes. The evolution of the IHA software is discussed, including recent revisions and additions to the IHA that have improved its utility in environmental flow‐setting processes. Drawing from holistic methodologies developed around the world, the ability to calculate characteristics of five components of flow important to river ecosystem health – extreme low flows, low flows, high‐flow pulses, small floods and large floods – has been added to the IHA. A practical advantage of these environmental flow components is that an environmental flow prescription based upon them can be readily implemented in most water management settings. Frequently used as a one‐time generator of flow statistics, the value of the IHA increases when used interactively with ecological models. A process for linking IHA output to an ecological model to explore flow‐ecology relationships within an adaptive management context is presented and demonstrated through its application on the Green River, Washington. The IHA used in conjunction with ecological models facilitates the creation and testing of flow‐ecology hypotheses, formulation of water and land protection or restoration goals, and development of a focused research and monitoring program, all important components of environmental flow‐setting processes.