Use of seasonal streamflow forecasts in water resources management

The interannual variability in streamflow presents challenges in managing the associated risks and opportunities of water resources systems. This paper investigates the use of seasonal streamflow forecasts to help manage three water resources systems in south-east Australia. The seasonal streamflow forecasts are derived from the serial correlation in streamflow and the relationship between El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and streamflow. This paper investigates the use of ENSO and serial correlation in reservoir inflow to optimise water restriction rules for an urban township and the use of seasonal forecasts of reservoir inflow to help make management decisions in two irrigation systems. The results show a marginal benefit in using seasonal streamflow forecasts in the three management examples. The results suggest that although the ENSO–streamflow teleconnection and the serial correlation in streamflow are statistically significant, the correlations are not sufficiently high to considerably benefit the management of conservative low-risk water resources systems. However, the seasonal forecasts can be used in the system simulations to provide an indication of the likely increases in the available water resources through an irrigation season, to allow irrigators to make more informed risk-based management decisions.