Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
4th International Conference on Water Resources and Wetlands, Tulcea, Romanya, 5 - 09 Eylül 2018, ss.255-261
Wetlands in Turkey, the majority of which are protected by international agreements and national legislations are subject to persistent risks in terms of water availability due to several climatic and anthropogenic factors. Gediz river flowing in a basin of ca. 17500 km2 is the major source of environmental water for sustaining the wetland ecosystem in the Gediz delta, despite the already deteriorated hydrologic conditions in this greatly modified river basin. Due to its significance for carrying water for different uses, ranging from dense settlement patterns and industries to intensive farming activities, the Gediz river has always been prompted in scientific research and managerial decision-making by targeting water management in the basin. Yet, this high competence for water among the involved sectors other than the environment itself has somehow led to disregard of the wetland as a biodiversity hot-spot at the most downstream. The flow gauging network that has been engaged in the basin for years does not fully help represent the hydrology of the wetland due to the spatially remote measurements in basin upstream and/or the limited length of the flow records captured. The presented study implements an integrated approach, through regression relationships with physical and hydro-meteorological basin characteristics, for estimating the hydrologic flow character of the wetland in its immediate vicinity and then assessing the altering requirements of the wetland area through estimated environmental flow conditions. The study unfolds the presence of any statistical trend in environmental flow series as well as providing comparative analyses between different segments of the historical time series.