Intermittent river

Intermittent (or temporary) rivers cease to flow every year or at least twice every five years.[1] Such rivers drain large arid and semi-arid areas, covering approximately a third of the earth’s surface.[2] The extent of temporary rivers is increasing, as many formerly perennial rivers are becoming temporary because of increasing water demand, particularly for irrigation.[3] The combination of dry crusted soils and the highly erosive energy of the rain cause sediment resuspension and transport to the coastal areas.[4] They are among the aquatic habitats most altered by human activities.[5] During the summer even under no flow conditions the point sources are still active such as the wastewater effluents,[6] resulting in nutrients and organic pollutants accumulating in the sediment. Sediment operates as a pollution inventory and pollutants are moved to the next basin with the first flush.[7] Their vulnerability is intensified by the conflict between water use demand and aquatic ecosystem conservation.[8] Advanced modelling tools have been developed to better describe intermittent flow dynamic changes such as the tempQsim model.[9]

References

  1. (Tzoraki and Nikolaidis 2007)
  2. (Thornes, 1977)
  3. (De Girolamo, Calabrese et al. 2012)
  4. (Tzoraki, Nikolaidis et al. 2009)
  5. (Moyle 2013)
  6. (Perrin and Tournoud 2009; Chahinian, Bancon-Montigny et al. 2013)
  7. (Bernal, von Schiller et al. 2013)
  8. (Webb, Nichols et al. 2012)
  9. (Tzoraki et al., 2009)
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