Towards separation of climate and land use effects on hydrology: data analysis of the Googong and

Land use changes associated with agricultural practices can have notable effects on streamflow in rural catchments. Of special concern in many rural catchments are the increase in farm dam density from the 1970s and extensive groundwater extraction for irrigation, contributing to a decrease in streamflow. Changes in streamflow caused by land use changes, however, are easily veiled by fluctuating climate variability because the impacts of land use changes on streamflow can be comparatively small compared with those due to climate variance. Additional factors exacerbating the separation of land use change impacts from the effects of climate variability on streamflow are the lack of good quality streamflow records, especiall