Date of Award

2025

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Biological and Environmental Sciences (MSBES)

Department

Geosciences

First Advisor

Soni M. Pradhanang

Abstract

Rivers in Rhode Island (RI) are registering the impacts of a changing climate, seen through more frequent and severe extremes, including droughts and floods. Shifts in air temperature and precipitation are directly observable in the behavior of the rivers in the state. Establishing clear connections between changing climate patterns and hydrological responses is a necessary step for managing water resources in RI. This study analyzes seventy-five years (1950-2024) of climate and streamflow data to evaluate the impact of precipitation and temperature variability that have influenced major river systems in RI. Using standardized CLIMDEX indices to describe climate extremes and key Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration (IHA) characteristics to look at hydrologic behavior. The Mann-Kendall trends test and Sen’s slope estimator were applied to find the long-term trends and measure their magnitudes. Accordingly, the relationship between climate and streamflow variables was examined using Spearman’s rank correlation and simple linear regression. The results reveal that climate is getting warmer and wetter, especially after early 2000. High-flow indicators including annual maximum 1-day flow, high-pulse count, and Q5 increases significantly. This increment also aligns with precipitation indices like R95p, SDII and PRCPTOT. Likewise, the low-flow indicators, such as the baseflow index and Q95, showed mixed trends, implying that the baseflow dominates the overall flow regime of the basin. Overall, the rivers in RI are exhibiting the non-stationary hydroclimatic trend with the streamflow dynamics being governed by the change of temperature and precipitation.  As such, climate adaptive water resources planning and allocation is crucial.

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