Publication Details |
| Category | Text Publication |
| Reference Category | Journals |
| DOI | 10.5194/hess-30-2879-2026 |
Licence  |
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| Title (Primary) | From soil to stream: modeling the catchment-scale hydrological effects of increased soil organic carbon |
| Author | Heinz, M.; Holzkämper, A.; Kumar, R.
; Ledain, S.; Horton, P.; Schaefli, B. |
| Source Titel | Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |
| Year | 2026 |
| Department | CHS |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue | 9 |
| Page From | 2879 |
| Page To | 2911 |
| Language | englisch |
| Topic | T5 Future Landscapes |
| Data and Software links | https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17243147 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17515165 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7143584 |
| Supplements | Supplement 1 |
| Abstract | Droughts are increasingly threatening agricultural productivity. One potential adaptation is to increase the soil water retention capacity, which can be achieved by increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) through agricultural management. We investigated how increasing SOC affected catchment-scale hydrology including extremes. SOC increases were implemented via adjustments to soil hydraulic parameters (ρb, θPWP, θFC, θSat, Ksat) in a mesoscale hydrologic modeling (mHM) framework, following literature-reported effects. Our analysis focuses on the medium-sized, agriculturally dominated Broye catchment in Western Switzerland and four nested subcatchments, where we evaluated five SOC increase scenarios of varying depth and magnitude. At the catchment scale, increment of SOC resulted in higher soil water content (1.43 %–3.75 %) and slightly higher evapotranspiration (0.15 %–0.38 %), while subsurface runoff was reduced (0.27 %–0.70 % across all scenarios). These values represent overall net changes over 2016–2022; while at shorter timescales, the magnitude and even direction of effects varied seasonally and by subcatchment. Increased water retention meant more soil water was available for evapotranspiration and less for groundwater recharge and streamflow. Consequently, streamflows were slightly reduced, peak flows modestly attenuated while low flow responses depended on catchment characteristics and timing. In warmer and drier subcatchments, low flow frequency increased in some years, whereas in cooler and wetter subcatchments, conditions in spring and early summer produced a beneficial effect, slightly reducing low flow frequency. Overall, our analysis suggests that large-scale increases in SOC can provide hydrological benefits such as enhanced agricultural productivity and reduced peak flows, but may involve trade-offs through reduced groundwater recharge and thus water availability. |
| Heinz, M., Holzkämper, A., Kumar, R., Ledain, S., Horton, P., Schaefli, B. (2026): From soil to stream: modeling the catchment-scale hydrological effects of increased soil organic carbon Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 30 (9), 2879 - 2911 10.5194/hess-30-2879-2026 |
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