Sciences Anomaly in the rainfall-runoff behaviour of the Meuse catchment. Climate, land-use, or land-use management?

Abstract. The objective of this paper is to investigate the time variability of catchment characteristics in the Meuse basin through its effect on catchment response. The ap-proach uses a conceptual model to represent rainfall-runoff behaviour of this catchment, and evaluates possible time-dependence of model parameters. The main hypothesis is that conceptual model parameters, although not measur-able quantities, are representative of specific catchment at-tributes (e.g. geology, land-use, land management, topogra-phy). Hence, we assume that eventual trends in model pa-rameters are representative of catchment attributes that may have changed over time. The available hydrological record involves ninety years of data, starting in 1911. During this period the Meuse catchment has undergone significant mod-ifications. The catchment structural modifications, althoug