Method of Distinguishing Hydrologic Drought for Water Supply System

It is very common to design water supply system to adjust runoff. Thus it will not meet the practical needs if only the hydrologic drought in natural basin is studied. In practice the natural water balance and water deficits must be researched, i. e. . the adjusting effects of the water supply sys- tem such as a reservoir should be considered, and the drought event be distinguished according to the special system. The problem of drought identification under adjusted runoff was investigated in this study. By considering water transfer during different periods, a method to distinguish hydrologic drought for the water supply system was developed, and a standard drought severity index SWDSI was proposed. The method has been applied in Pan Jiakou water supply system in China. From 1953 to 1997,a total of 14 hydrologic droughts were identified in the water supply system, among which there were 3 severe droughts, 6 moderate droughts and 5 light droughts. The results are in good agreement with the historic drought records.