A Joint Evaluation of Streamflow Drought and Standard Precipitation Indices in Aegean Region, Turkey

Water is an invaluable substance that ensures the life cycle and causes hydrologic events worldwide. Water deficit, also known as drought, is a naturally occurring disaster that affects the hydrometeorologic and/or climatic responses in time and space. In this study, the meteorologic and hydrologic droughts in Buyuk Menderes, Kucuk Menderes, and Gediz basins in Turkey are investigated. The streamflow drought index (SDI) and standard precipitation index (SPI) are used considering different time windows. To achieve this, the monthly streamflow at Cicekli-Nif, Besdegirmenler-Dandalas, Bebekler-Rahmanlar, and Kocarli-Koprubasi hydrometric stations together with monthly precipitation at 14 meteorologic stations during 1973-2020 (47 years) are used. The SDI and SPI with 1, 3, 6, and 12 months moving average are then used to express the association between the meteorologic and hydrologic droughts in the basin. Results showed that the SDI depicts no abnormal situations, while the SPI rates in the 1980s and 2010s indicated severe droughts. It was concluded that the inner parts of the basins are prone to frequent droughts, and there is a concordance between SPI and SDI patterns at the basin level. However, minor discrepancies between SPI and SDI do exist and probably originated from temporal delays and water abstraction.