A Review of the Application of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) in Karst Watersheds

Karst water resources represent a primary source of freshwater supply, accounting for nearly 25% the global population needs. aquifers have complex recharge characteristics, storage patterns, and flow dynamics. They also face looming stress depletion quality degradation due to natural anthropogenic pressures. This prompted hydrogeologists apply innovative numerical approaches better understand functioning karst watersheds support management. The Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is semi-distributed hydrological model that has been used simulate pollutant transport, among other applications, in basins including watersheds. Its code modified by adding distinctive features subsurface hydrology models more accurately aquifer discharge components. review summarizes discusses findings 75 SWAT-based studies are at least partially characterized geology, with focus on assessment SWAT models. Different processes were successfully implemented SWAT, epikarst, flows conduit matrix systems, interbasin groundwater flow, allogenic from sinkholes sinking streams. Nonetheless, additional improvements existing codes still needed reproduce heterogeneity non-linearity mechanisms future research.