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Assessment of water balance of the semi-arid region in southern San Joaquin

valley California using Thornthwaite and Mather's model

Article in Journal of Environmental Hydrology · January 2012

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 JOURNAL OF
ENVIRONMENTAL HYDROLOGY
The Electronic Journal of the International Association for Environmental Hydrology
On the World Wide Web at http://www.hydroweb.com
VOLUME 20 2012

ASSESSMENT OF WATER BALANCE OF THE SEMI-ARID

REGION IN SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY CALIFORNIA
USING THORNTHWAITE AND MATHER’S MODEL

Sagarika Roy Department of Earth and Environmental Studies

Duke Ophori Montclair State University
Montclair, New Jersey, USA

Growing population and irrigation needs increase the demand for water requiring judicious
use of limited fresh water resources. The Paramount farm in Southern San Joaquin valley,
California, the world’s largest supplier of almonds, is facing a problem of water storage. The
resource is estimated by a water balance assessment approach using the Thornthwaite and
Mather (TM) models. The result shows that high soil moisture storage occurs from November
to February in the range of 25 to 36 mm, but least in May to August as evapotranspiration is
a maximum in May-July. This study also illustrates that there is highest recharge of soil
moisture in November to January. To avoid crop water stress, irrigation should occur when
the absolute value of accumulated potential water loss is maximum in the months of May to
July. The water balance calculation shows that the maximum annual runoff is from January
to March and October to December. There is an annual water deficit of 135 mm and an annual
surplus of about 2 mm at the farm. This area has a period of moisture surplus from November
to February and the remaining months are the period of deficit.

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 Semi-Arid Region Water Balance Sagarika and Ophori

INTRODUCTION
In semi-arid regions, water resources are limited and thereby the available groundwater for
irrigation and other water uses are severely constrained. Water demand for agriculture is visible
from arid to humid landscape. However, there is always the need for optimum use and planning of
water resources. Southern San Joaquin Valley belongs to semi-arid climatic regions, characterized
by limited water resources due to expanding urban, industrial and agricultural water demands. In
semi-arid regions, the actual evapotranspiration (AET) represents a key role of the hydrological
cycle. AET may account for more than 90 % of the precipitation (P) (Pilgrim et al., 1988; Huxman
et al., 2005). Drought in California is a matter of serious concern particularly when there are
extensive agricultural productions in Central Valley. The state experienced massive agricultural
loss of $ 308 million in 2008 due to water scarcity (California Dept. of Food and Agriculture,
2009). The Central Valley Project (CVP) allowed only 10% of water allowance to farmers in 2009
compared to 40% in 2008 and 50% in 2007. Farmers relied on the groundwater to accommodate
the water shortage provided by CVP. The water system especially in agricultural areas requires an
understanding through the water balance method. Water balance refers to the balance between
incoming water (precipitation) and outgoing water (evapotranspiration, groundwater discharge
and stream flow). Therefore, such budgeting exercise is used to evaluate the amount of precipitation
that becomes stream flow (or runoff), evapotranspiration, and drainage (or groundwater discharge).
Among the several methods for calculating water balance, Thornthwaite and Mather (1955, 1957)
introduced one of the most prominent method that is used widely. The water balance approach is
very helpful in finding out the annual periods of moisture deficit and moisture surplus for an entire
area. The long-term average monthly rainfall, long-term average PET, and soil-vegetation
characteristics are required to compute the water balance. LaBaugh et al. (1997) used isotopes and
hydrochemical tracers to study the water balance of a lake in North America. Mandal et al. (1999)
attempted Thronthwaite and Mather (TM) model for estimating soil-climatic water balance
throughout India for analyzing climatic indices, length of growing period of crops, and their
applications in agricultural research. Boulet et al. (2000) estimated simple water and energy
balance with a bulk mixed vegetation and bare soil using soil “bucket” and Soil-Vegetaion
Atmosphere Transfer (SVAT) model. However, the depth of the “bucket” or hydrologically active
depth were established to be critical when the water balance was translated to soil moisture (Boulet
et al. 2000). The objective of this study is to investigate the water balance of a region using the TM
model and to record the periods of moisture deficit and moisture surplus in the study area.

STUDY AREA AND DATA

The 402 km2 Paramount Farm located at the Lost Hill of Kern County in southern San Joaquin
valley of Central Valley, California (35 o30’N, 119 o39’W) (Figure 1). The valley occupies two-
thirds of the southern Central Valley in California. San Joaquin River flows in the northern part of
the San Joaquin Valley and drains to the San Francisco Bay. About 4 percent of the basin area is
urban. Although most of the basin’s populations focus on agricultural activities, Bakersfield is
well known for its oil fields. Southern San Joaquin is the world’s largest supplier of almonds with
more the 4,000 acres of almond orchards which is over 4 billion dollar industries. Geographically,
the southern part of the San Joaquin Valley is the Tulare Basin, bordered by the Sierra Nevada on
the east, the Tehachapi Mountains on the south, and Coast Ranges on the west. The northern extent
corresponds to the Kings River. Significant geographic features include the Tulare Lake Basin and
the Kettleman Hills. The main land use is agriculture, Bakersfield located south of study area was
known for oil fields.

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 Semi-Arid Region Water Balance Sagarika and Ophori

Hydrogeology
The hydrogeology of the study area is derived from the large, northwest trending; asymmetric
structural trough which comprises marine and continental sediments up to 10 km thick (Gronberg
and others, 1998). These sediments are significantly deposited largely by streams draining from
the mountains from time to time. The sediments in southern San Joaquin Valley are dominated by
coarse grains. The alluvial fans in this area are derived from the glaciated portion of the Sierra
Navada (Faunt, Hanson, and Belitz, 2009). Although, fine-grained sediments (clay, sandy clay,
sandy silt, and silt) are distributed throughout the San Joaquin Valley, stream (fluvial) and lake
(lacustrine) deposited sediments are susceptible to compaction. The Corcoran Clay forms a
separation in the basin-fill deposits into an upper unconfined to semi-confined zone and a lower
confined zone in southern San Joaquin Valley (Williamson and others, 1989, Burow et al., 2004).
Sierra Nevada raises to an elevation of more than 4,200 m (14,000 ft) in the east of the valley;
whereas, west of the valley area is bounded by the Coast Ranges, which are a series of parallel ridges
with moderate elevations (Mendenhall et al., 1916). During predevelopment, ground water
generally moved toward the center of the valley and northward to the San Francisco Bay; over the
prolong period of time, surface waters diversions from streams and ground-water fluctuations
have altered the natural flow. Development of the groundwater basin initiated the irrigation water
to percolate, which became the primary form of groundwater recharge and irrigation drawdown

Figure 1. Location of the study area in Southern San Joaquin Valley, California.

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 Semi-Arid Region Water Balance Sagarika and Ophori

became the primary form of ground-water discharge in the southern San Joaquin Valley (Davis et
al., 1959). The soil texture in southern San Joaquin valley comprises alluvial fans that are derived
from the glaciated parts of the Sierra Nevada. They are coarser grained than the alluvial fans to the
north (Faunt, Hanson, and Belitz, 2009, p. 2). Generally, thin, discontinuous lenses of fine-grained
sediments (clay, sandy clay, sandy silt, and silt) are distributed throughout the San Joaquin Valley
and demonstrate field capacity and soil moisture for various soil texture (Table 1).
The available water capacity of a soil is typically given as inches of water holding capacity per
foot of soil thickness. Ratliff et al., (1983) computed the field measurement of soil water
availability for each soil type shown in the Table 1. The rooting depth of the orchards is 6 feet. The
maximum soil water capacity is calculated as available water capacity times the rooting depth. If
the infiltrated water exceeds the maximum soil water capacity then the water contributes as
recharge to groundwater.
Available data
Within the study area, California Irrigation Management System (CIMIS) station is located at
Belridge in Kern County. The climatic stations contain daily measurements of wind speed, global
radiation, and daily minimum and maximum values of both air temperature and relative humidity.
These data are used to calculate the daily PET by the Penman-Monteith method. A soil map of the
southern San Joaquin Valley is obtained from United States Department of Agriculture, Natural
Resources Conservation Service (2007). There are 70 different types of topsoil identified in the
catchment. However many of the soil types are similar in description, therefore the 70 soils types
were reclassified into eleven major soil types (Table 1). A land use map is shown in Figure 2. The
vegetation is reclassified into almond orchards, pistachio crops, and other photosynthesis
vegetation. The classification also includes urban land, non-photosynthesis vegetation, soil, and
water.
Table 1. Estimated available water capacities for various soil-texture group.
Soil texture Available water capacity Maximum soil water
(inches per foot of capacity (inches)
thickness)

Sand 1.2 7.2

Loamy sand 1.9 11.4
Sandy loam 2.5 15
Loam 3.2 19.2
Silt loam 3.6 21.6
Sandy clay loam 3.5 21
Sandy clay 3.4 20.4
Clay loam 3.8 22.8
Silty clay loam 4.3 25.8
Silty clay 4.8 28.8
Clay 4.8 28.8

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 Semi-Arid Region Water Balance Sagarika and Ophori

METHODOLOGY
The Thornthwaite and Mather’s (TM ) Model
The TM model is one of the simplest models to determine water balance of the region from
individual fields to small watershed. Such model is use to determine a general estimate of water
balance regime for individual fields to small watersheds. The monthly potential evapotranspiration
computed using the following equation (Singh et al., 2004) :
a
 T
PET = 1.6 × C × 10 ×  (1)
 I
where PET is the potential evapotranspiration (mm month-1); T is the mean monthly temperature
(°C); I is the annual heat index for the 12 months in a year (I = Σi); i is the monthly heat index
(i = [T/5]1.514); a = 6.75 × 10-7 × I3 – 7.71 × 10-5 × I2 + 1.792 × 10-2 × I + 0.49239; and C is a
correction factor for each month (C = [m/30] × [d/12]), where m is the number of days in the month
and d is the monthly mean daily duration (number of hours between sunrise and sunset, expressed
as the average for the month).
P - PET, is a quantitative estimation of the water excess (+) or deficit (–), P as precipitation.
Accumulated potential water loss (APWL) is the potential deficiency of soil moisture associated
with low moisture contents of a soil below water holding capacity. Accumulated potential water
loss is increased 1) during dry seasons to meet the demands of PET when insufficient supply of
water, 2) reduced during wet seasons from soil moisture recharge, and 3) equals zero when soil
moisture equal to the available water holding capacity of the soil. The accumulated values APWL

Figure 2. Land use land cover classification.

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 Semi-Arid Region Water Balance Sagarika and Ophori

for each month, were calculated by running the sum of the daily P-PET values during the periods
when (P-PET) is negative value given in Table 2. Those months having positive (P-PET) haveAPWL
zero. The actual storage of soil moisture (STOR) for each month was calculated as follows:
STOR=AWC x eAWPL/AWC (2)
where AWC is the moisture storage capacity, also known as available water capacity of the soil,
which based upon the land use, soil texture and rooting depth as suggested by Thornthwaite &
Mather (1955, 1957). The results were summarized in Table 2.
∆SM month=STOR month-STOR previousmonth (3)
A negative value of∆SM means discharge of water from the storage because of evapotranspiration,
whereas a positive value of ∆SM implies infiltration of water into the soil that contribute to the soil
moisture storage.
The actual evapotranspiration (AET) was computed for all the months, as given in Equations (4)
and (5):
AET = ∆SM + P ∆SM < 0 (4)
AET = PET ∆SM> 0 (5)
where PET is the potential evapotranspiration.
The water deficit (DEF) was calculated for those months having negative value of P-PET as
follows
DEF = PET – AET (6)
Moisture surplus (SUR) is defined as the excess water that cannot be stored when soil moisture
storage attains its saturation; SUR is calculated using Equation (7):
SUR = P-PET (7)
No surplus exists if soil storage is not at its capacity. If moisture storage capacity of the soil
is just satisfied, then, SUR is obtained using Equation (8):
SUR = P-(AET + ∆SM) (8)
where ∆SM is the change in actual soil moisture storage. Studies show that actual runoff should
be equal to the available annual surplus (Singh et al., 2004). Considering the study area classified
in homogeneous land-use land cover occupying only agriculture of almond orchards; therefore,
the total amount of annual ET and runoff calculated from the monthly water balance. Thus, the
monthly runoff and the monthly AET from the farm are area-weighted values (Table 3).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Water Balance Computations
Within the study area, California Irrigation Management System (CIMIS) station is located at
Belridge in Kern County. The climatic stations contain daily measurements of wind speed, global
radiation, and daily minimum and maximum values of both air temperature and relative humidity.
These data are used to calculate the daily PET by the Penman-Monteith method. A soil map of the
southern San Joaquin Valley is obtained from United States Department of Agriculture, Natural
Resources Conservation Service (2007). There are 70 different types of topsoil identified in the

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 Semi-Arid Region Water Balance Sagarika and Ophori

Table 2. Calculation of accumulated potential water loss (APWL).

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total
P 13.716 39.624 3.556 5.842 0.254 0 0 0 0 3.302 5.842 26.416 98.552
PET 39.878 56.896 115.316 154.432 197.866 197.104 214.122 181.61 146.558 98.298 55.88 34.544 1492.504
P-PET -26.16 -17.27 -111.76 -148.59 -197.61 -197.10 -214.12 -181.61 -146.55 -94.99 -50.03 -8.128 -1393.95
APWL -36.06 -51.62 -111.5 -155.7 -197.86 -204.21 -213.1 -181.61 -151.89 -94.99 -53.08 -29.97 -1481.59

catchment. However many of the soil types are similar in description, therefore the 70 soils types
were reclassified into eleven major soil types (Table 1). A land use map is shown in Figure 2. The
vegetation is reclassified into almond orchards, pistachio crops, and other photosynthesis
vegetation. The classification also includes urban land, non-photosynthesis vegetation, soil, and
water.
The output can be compiled in a very useful manner by collating the data into long-term averages.
This is useful to track soil moisture status throughout the year in order to determine periods of soil
water deficit, soil water recharge, soil water utilization, and soil water surplus. Figure 6 demonstrated
the different status of soil moisture throughout the year. It was observed that the area-weighted
average annual deficit in the farm was 11.30 mm and the annual surplus was 0.14 mm. The area-
weighted average annual deficit in the watershed is 11.30 mm and the annual surplus is 0.14 mm.
These periods are shown in Figure 3.

CONCLUSION
This study uses TM water balance model to evaluate various component of water balance in
Paramount farm region. Such estimation of water balance components showed that the TM model
is useful in plant-soil-groundwater dynamics at a monthly scale. It is also helpful in finding out the
periods of moisture deficit and moisture surplus for the region. The model computes
evapotranspiration, runoff, soil moisture, and recharge separately on monthly basis. The TM model
uses rainfall data, temperature data, soils, land-use and rooting depth of almond orchard vegetation
for calculating the soil moisture deficit, soil moisture surplus, evapotranspiration, surface runoff
Table 3. Average monthly water balance computation for almond orchard (AWC= 63.5 mm).
P PET P-PET STOR ∆SM AET Deficit Surplus Runoff
Jan 13.716 39.878 -26.162 35.98729 -314.013 36.25273 3.625273 291.476 53.85943
Feb 39.624 56.896 -17.272 28.16631 -7.82098 51.72364 5.172364 0 120.0773
Mar 3.556 115.316 -111.76 10.96967 -17.1966 104.8327 10.48327 0 212.7351
Apr 5.842 154.432 -148.59 5.468867 -5.50081 140.3927 14.03927 0 0
May 0.254 197.866 -197.612 2.815485 -2.65338 179.8782 17.98782 0 0
Jun 0 197.104 -197.104 2.547556 -0.26793 179.1855 17.91855 0 0
Jul 0 214.122 -214.122 2.214739 -0.33282 194.6564 19.46564 0 0
Aug 0 181.61 -181.61 3.636566 1.421828 165.1 16.51 0 0
Sep 0 146.558 -146.558 5.807042 2.170476 133.2345 13.32345 0 0
Oct 3.302 98.298 -94.996 14.2269 8.419855 89.36182 8.936182 0 176.7349
Nov 5.842 55.88 -50.038 27.52609 13.2992 50.8 5.08 0 84.99591
Dec 26.416 34.544 -8.128 39.6096 12.0835 31.40364 3.140364 0 52.75404
Total 98.552 1492.504 -1393.95 178.9761 -310.39 1356.822 135.6822 291.48 701.1567
All figures are in mm. Soil : Sandy loam

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 Semi-Arid Region Water Balance Sagarika and Ophori

Table 4. Summary of P, PET, AET, and Runoff.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
P 13.72 39.62 3.56 5.84 0.25 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 3.30 5.84 26.42
PET 39.88 56.90 115.32 154.43 197.87 197.10 214.12 181.61 146.56 98.30 55.88 34.54
AET 36.25 51.72 104.83 140.39 179.88 179.19 194.66 165.10 133.23 89.36 50.80 31.40
Runoff 256.75 184.48 60.63 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 105.96 218.93 259.81

and other parameters. The average annual precipitation of the farm is 8.21 mm. February receives
the highest precipitation of 39.6 mm. Average PET of this region 124.3mm and the highest was
observed in July where the precipitation was zero. The range of AET is 45 to 246 mm/month. High
soil moisture storage was observed from November to February in the range of 25 to 36 mm, but
least in May to August as the ET process is maximum in May-July. This shows that there is highest
recharge of soil moisture in November to January. To avoid crop water stress, irrigation should
apply when the absolute value of APWL is maximum in the months of May to July. The water
balance calculation shows that the maximum annual runoff results from January to March and
October to December. The area-weighted total runoff was calculated as 1086.56 mm from the total
precipitation of 98.55 mm for the study period. The annual deficit in the watershed is 135.85 mm
and the annual surplus is 1.77 mm. This region undergoes a period of moisture deficit in the months
of May to July. Mid September to October are months of soil water recharge; From mid-
November to early February is the period of water surplus as the area is subjected to winter
precipitation. Winter months are subjected to surplus, whereas deficit in the remaining time of the
year shows strong exchange phenomenon among atmosphere, surface water, groundwater, energy
balance and water balance in the farm. Local populations are benefitted from such water balance
studies. This helps them to decide their crop calendar, irrigation requirements, and water
conservation based upon the periods of deficit or surplus.

Figure 3. Water balance status of the study area.

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 Semi-Arid Region Water Balance Sagarika and Ophori

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This paper was reviewed by Dr. Seth Xeflide of the Department of Land Sciences, at Old College
in Canada, and by Dr. Brijesh Kumar Yadav of the Department of Water Resources Engineering at
Indian Institute of Technology, India.

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ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE
Sagarika Roy
Department of Earth and Environmental Studies
Montclair State University
1 Normal Ave
Montclair, NJ 07043

Email: [email protected]

Journal of Environmental Hydrology 9 Volume 20 Paper 15 November 2012

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