Using the SWAT+ model to assess the conditions of water inflow to a reservoir in an uncontrolled agricultural catchment. Case Study of the Nanan Reservoir in the Lake Taabo catchment (Côte d'Ivoire)

Abstract

In this study, the agro-hydrological model Soil and Water Assessment Tool + (SWAT+) is used to simulate runoff in an uncontrolled agricultural catchment with paddy fields irrigated by plots submersion. The objectives are to evaluate the ability of this new, improved version of the SWAT model to reproduce the flows in a complex catchment and to analyse the evolution of these flows over the historical period 1986-2020 (35 years). Sensitivity analysis, calibration and validation were carried out with monthly flow data. The decision tables for irrigation operations and reservoir water release were filled in the SWAT+ Editor to establish the reservoir water balance. The Mann-Kendall trend test with the threshold of the standard normal statistic = 1.96, was applied to the time series of flows to the Nanan Reservoir. The results reveal that SWAT+ is more sensitive to eight parameters, including the new CN3_SWF parameter (-0.04329), which gave the user control of the soil saturation level. Good performances were obtained during calibration and validation, respectively: NSE (0.78; 0.69); R² (0.81; 0.70); PBIAS (-18.58; -23.9) and RSR (0.47; 0.56), with a tendency to slightly overestimate flows. The analysis shows that flows to the Nanan Reservoir are highly variable yearly, with a non-significant upward trend (|Z|=1.3<1.96) from 1986 to 2020. The water balance reveals that the runoff inflow generated will compensate for water withdrawals for irrigation of the Nanan paddy scheme during this period. Furthermore, this study provides a methodological framework for SWAT+ reservoir model calibration in an uncontrolled catchment.