When and Where does Irrigation Water Originate? Leveraging Stable Water
Isotopes and Synthetic Aperture Radar to Assess the Complex Hydrology of
a Snow-Dominated Catchment in Southwestern Montana
Abstract
Many agricultural regions around the world rely on melt from mountainous
snowpacks for irrigation. As climate change-induced snow droughts
intensify, water resource managers will need more efficient and accurate
methods to characterize the snowmelt cycle and forecast water
availability. Here, we integrate in-situ and remotely-sensed data to
assess the relative contributions of groundwater and the current
season’s snowmelt to irrigation water supply for water year 2023 (WY,
Oct 1 – Sep 30) for a montane headwater catchment in southwestern
Montana (423 km 2, elevation ranges between 1465 m and
3270 m). We analyze Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data to
approximate dates of snowmelt runoff onset at 10 m resolution every
twelve days. We find that the watershed’s median date of snowmelt runoff
onset in WY 2023 was April 20. To assess relative contributions to
streamflow, we compare stable water isotope ratios (δH
2, δO 18) from biweekly stream water
samples at low elevations against monthly samples of snow and
groundwater. We find that stream water below the highest diversion point
is predominantly composed of groundwater. The maximum contribution from
snowmelt was measured in May at 22%. Results demonstrate alignment
between two disparate approaches for estimating snowpack contribution to
stream flow. While our work focuses on a catchment in Montana, the
approaches used are potentially applicable globally for agricultural
regions that rely on snowmelt for irrigation, particularly in poorly
instrumented areas.