Blog: What are baseflow droughts—and why should we care?
Last fall, UC Riverside’s Dr. Hoori Ajami co-authored a study looking at how long-term droughts are impacting river flows across the US. We asked Dr. Ajami and The Nature Conservancy’s lead river scientist, Dr. Bronwen Stanford, to tell us about the study and its implications. First, what is a “baseflow drought” and how is it distinct from a precipitation drought? Hoori Ajami: Water in a stream has two sources: precipitation and groundwater. “Baseflow” is groundwater’s contribution to a stream’s flow. We were specifically interested to see how a river’s baseflow changes after a precipitation drought. …”
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