2 Advances in characterizing groundwater, surface water, and their interactions

This session focuses on characterizing groundwater, surface water, and their interactions through fieldwork, modeling, and data synthesis. We welcome submissions addressing flow, transport, water quality, and water levels under both typical and extreme conditions.

Sunday, 22 March 2026
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
CCC, Room 25

Exploring the Variability of Baseflow Drought Responses Across New England

Paper number: 2-10
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 11:00 AM – 11:20 AM

Authors

Abstract

Understanding baseflow dynamics is essential for evaluating the resilience of watershed ecosystems to climate change, particularly during groundwater drought. Recent studies have emphasized the importance of groundwater-derived baseflow during snowmelt and its critical role during prolonged lowflow periods. However, baseflow dynamics often display significant variability within individual watersheds, and baseflow droughts can lag behind meteorological droughts. In New England, evaluating baseflow dynamics is particularly important given the intensification of hydroclimatic variability, underscoring the necessity of both subannual and interannual analyses.

In this study, we compare patterns and trends in paired diel air and stream temperature data, along with lake water level data, to explore intra-annual and interannual dynamics associated with lowflow periods and meteorological droughts. We demonstrate the effectiveness of these methods in monitoring baseflow drought responses across various temperate locations with different flow regimes. Our findings indicate that the spatiotemporal responses of baseflow differ throughout New England stream networks, reflecting either stable groundwater flux or signaling low-dynamic-storage reservoirs and the impending disconnection of groundwater sources. As NE regulators do use surface-water expressions as indicators of regional hydrologic drought, we hope that this analysis and presentation of methods can support improved estimates and predictions of drought resilience.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 58, No. 2

doi: 10.1130/abs/2026NE-411346

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