The potential of water availability in Maros Watershed using Thornthwaite-Mather water balance method

Abstract

Abstract The consumption of water grows continuously along with the increasing the amount of population. The watershed as a reservoir is being the main hope for maintaining the availability of water sources. Estimating the potential of water availability can be done by using the Thornthwaite-Mather water balance method. This study was conducted to determine the potential of water availability in the Maros watershed. The Thornthwaite-Mather method uses a surplus and deficit approach through water balance equation. Potential evapotranspiration (Etp) was calculated using daily temperature average data while we assumed that the actual evapotranspiration (Eta) value is equal to ETp value if wet month, and in dry month equal to rainfall minus ?ST. The water storage to the ground (?ST) was computed from the value of water holding capacity (WHC) based on land area, vegetation type and soil type. The results of the analysis show that the average rainfall in the last five years (2014-2018) is 3005.7 mm year−1, while ETp, ETa, and ?ST are 1834.3 mm year−1, 1480.1 mm year−1 and 360 mm year−1, respectively. The water surplus in the Maros watershed reached 1678.1 mm year−1 with a deficit of 354.3 mm year−1.

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