water and carbon -river exe case study (hydrology)

Question 1

what is the annual rainfall for the upper catchment?

Answer 1

.1295mm

Question 2

why is the rainfall high for the upper catchment?

Answer 2

.because it lies in the wet south-west of the UK

Question 3

what assumptions might be made referring to how the rainfall is processed?

Answer 3

.because of the rural nature, it is expected that much of the rainfall will infiltrate but much of the rainfall actually forms runoff

Question 4

why must most of the rainfall in the upper catchment form surface runoff?

Answer 4

.because of the underlying devonian sandstone is impermeable, the upland peat is already saturated and drainage ditches which have been built to drain the moorland

Question 5

what is the river regime of the river exe?

Answer 5

.not as flashy as to be expected

Question 6

why is the river regime not as flashy as what may be expected?

Answer 6

.because rainfall events occur relatively slowly and discharge recedes relatively slowly

Question 7

why do rainfall events and discharge receed occur slowly?

Answer 7

.because of the rural nature of the upper catchment, 82% of the catchment is either woodland or grassland

Question 8

what is the name of the tributary of the exe which has a reservoir on?

Answer 8

.river haddeo

Question 9

what is the name of the reservoir on the river haddeo?

Answer 9

.wimbleball reservoir

Question 10

what is the role of the wimbleball reservoir?

Answer 10

.supplies water to Exeter and elsewhere in east devon
.regulates the flow of the river smoothing out the more flashy peaks and troughs which might have been expected

Question 11

what other types of factors effect the regime of the river exe?

Answer 11

.human factors

Question 12

how do human factors effect the regime of the river exe?

Answer 12

.water is abstracted at a couple locations and used for agriculture