Climate Change and Associated Implications for the Water Policy Framework in the Basin of Venetikos

The impact of climate change on the hydrological regime and water resources in the basin of Venetikos has been assessed in this paper. Venetikos is a sub-basin of the Aliakmon River Basin, located in northern Greece. A monthly conceptual water balance model was calibrated using historical hydrometeorological data to determine changes in stream-flow runoff under two different equilibrium scenarios (UKHI, CCC) for year 2020, 2050 and 2100. The application of the two scenarios resulted in reduction of the mean winter and summer runoff values, and increase in maximum annual and decrease in minimum annual runoff values. Additionally, an increase of potential and actual evapo-transpiration was noticed due to temperature increase. As a result, a reduction of snow accumulation, as well as a decrease in spring runoff values and soil moisture are expected. A shift of the wet period towards December is remarked, resulting in severe prolongation of the dry period. Consequently, the water policy should be revised in order to address the above possible future changes.