The impact of inflow reduction on typical wetland hydrology in arid and semi-arid regions

The existence of wetlands in arid and semi-arid areas depends on additional water supplyfrom surrounding areas, and the amount of inflow directly affects wetness of such wetlands.Reductions in inflow can result in impairment or even disappearance of these wetlands. In thispaper, the field hydrology model-DRAINMOD was used to simulate the effect of timing and amountof inflow on the dynamics of water table at a wet site. The duration and occurrence of high watertable periods were examined according to the wetland delineation criterion as proposed by U.S.Army Corps of Engineers (WES, 1987). Simulation results show that the timing of inflow cansignificantly affect the wetness of wetlands in arid and semi-arid areas, which affects delineation ofsuch wetlands.