The Effect of Storage on Runoff from a Headwater Subarctic Shield Basin

Abstract

Canadian Shield runoff production processes have been investigated, but research is needed beyond the hillslope scale to determine the influences on the volume and timing of runoff from headwater basins to higher-order streams. Such research will permit an understanding of the magnitude of climate change impacts at the watershed scale, where changes in the hydrologic regime are felt most by water resource users. To this end, water budget terms were measured over different portions of a headwater lake basin north of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, during the spring snowmelt of 1998 to determine the relative importance of each component as water moved through the basin. Evaporation made up 16% and runoff 70% of the snowmelt from upland areas. Upland ponding of water during the melt increased the evaporative loss. Headwater lake storage deficits are very important in the timing and volume of runoff that is transmitted downstream: 53% of basin meltwater went to meeting the storage deficit in the lake so that only 7% of the meltwater was routed out of the basin. These results imply that topology of shield headwater basins, notably the location of lakes and antecedent water levels in lakes, are important in determining the runoff response. As storage deficits in surface waters will cause changes over space in runoff response and timing, it may be inappropriate to consider the snowpack or rainfall volume in isolation when forecasting runoff volume. These results are important for water management and hydrological modeling applications of northern shield basins.