Assessment and modelling of the influence of man-made networks on the hydrology of a small watershed: implications for fast flow components, water quality and landscape management

Up to now, most watershed models have been focused on the representation of ‘natural’ flow and transport processes. In this paper, we discuss the role of man-made networks, such as ditches, roads, hedge rows and hedges, underground drainage by buried pipes, etc. The influence of such features on the hydrology of a watershed may be of particular importance if the aim of the modelling is to predict the effect of landscape management or the fate of contaminants, e.g. pesticides, when a rain event occurs very soon after their spreading on the soil surface. It is likely that such artificial networks may act as conduits or short-circuits for the transport of contaminants, either dissolved or sorbed on soil particles, by-passing some of the retardation mechanisms such as sorption in the soil, retention of surface runoff by grass verges, biodegradation in the unsaturated zone, etc. We first present a small watershed on which the study was conducted, the Kervidy, which is a 5 km2 ‘bocage’ catchment in Brittany, France. The man-made networks were observed and their extent and functioning described. We then included the potential hydraulic role of these networks in a distributed watershed model (TOPOG, [J. Hydrol. 150 (1993) 665]). This modified model, ANTHROPOG, was run, for comparison, with and without the man-made network; sensitivity tests were also made to assess the hydrologic importance of these networks. It was shown that they can have a very significant effect on the functioning of a watershed. We conclude on the relevance of the improved distributed model for the management of rural landscapes, and on the type of additional data needed to calibrate the model with parameters representative of the true processes.