Boardman et al. (2026) Groundwater hysteresis increasingly decouples flowing network length from streamflow as snow shifts to rain

Identification

• Journal: Hydrology and earth system sciences
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-08-14
• Authors: Elijah N. Boardman, Mark S. Wigmosta, Nicole Fernandez, J. A. Whiting, Adrian Adam Harpold
• DOI: 10.5194/hess-30-5145-2026

Research Groups

• Mountain Hydrology LLC
• Graduate Program of Hydrologic Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno
• Energy and Environment Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
• Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, ETH Zürich
• Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada, Reno

Short Summary

This study investigates the relationship between groundwater hysteresis and flowing stream network length (L) in response to climate change. The authors use a new version of the Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM) to simulate the effects of snow-to-rain transition on L-Q dynamics.

Objective

• Investigate the role of groundwater hysteresis in decoupling flowing network length from streamflow as snow shifts to rain.
• Examine how climate change affects the relationship between L and Q in mountain catchments.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: 27 km^2 Sagehen Creek Basin, California, USA
• Temporal Scale: Daily to seasonal timescales

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM) with a new bidirectional surface-groundwater coupling scheme.
• Data sources: Streamflow data from the Sagehen Creek Basin, specific electrical conductivity (EC) measurements at the streamflow gauge location.

Main Results

• Groundwater hysteresis significantly decouples L from Q across large variations in Q.
• The model reproduces observed stream network elasticity and seasonal anomalies in measured stream ionic concentration.
• Simulations predict that seasonal groundwater hysteresis would dampen storm-scale stream network elasticity, increasing L-Q hysteresis on daily to monthly timescales.

Contributions

• This study highlights the importance of considering groundwater hysteresis in conceptual models of stream networks, especially in a changing environment.
• The results provide new insights into the emergent hydrological behaviors that can be revealed by spatially distributed process-based hydrological modeling.

Funding

• This research was supported by [project/program name and reference code].

Citation

@article{Boardman2026Groundwater,
  author = {Boardman, Elijah N. and Wigmosta, Mark S. and Fernandez, Nicole and Whiting, J. A. and Harpold, Adrian Adam},
  title = {Groundwater hysteresis increasingly decouples flowing network length from streamflow as snow shifts to rain},
  journal = {Hydrology and earth system sciences},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.5194/hess-30-5145-2026},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-5145-2026}
}