Regional Patterns of Baseflow Variability in Mexican Subwatersheds

One of the challenges faced by subwatershed hydrology is the discovery of patterns associated with climate and landscape variability with the available data. This study has three objectives: (1) to evaluate the annual recession curves; (2) to relate the recession parameter (RP) with physiographic characteristics of 21 Mexican subwatersheds in different climate regions; and (3) to formulate a Baseflow (BF) model based on a top-down approach. The RP was calibrated utilizing the largest magnitude curves. The RP was related to topographical, climate and soil variables. A non-linear model was employed to separate the baseflow which considers RP as a recharge rate. Our results show that RP increases with longitude and decreases with latitude. RP displayed a sustained non-linear behavior determined by precipitation rate and evapotranspiration replace the P/E parts with \(\frac{P}{E}\) over years and subwatersheds. The model was fit to a parameter concurrent with invariance and space-time symmetry conditions. The dispersion of our model was associated with the product of replace the P/E parts with \(\frac{P}{E}\) by the aquifer’s transmissivity. We put forward a generalized baseflow model, which made the discrimination of baseflow from direct flow in subwatersheds possible. The proposed model involves the recharge-storage-discharge relation and could be implemented in basins where there are no suitable ground-based data