PRELIMINARY-ANALYSIS OF LOW-FLOW CHARACTERISTICS OF SOUTH-AFRICAN RIVERS

Information on low-flow characteristics is required for many research, design planning and management purposes in both water quality and qua ntity fields. The paper examines different user requirements for low-f low information and describes the set of automated procedures for low- flow analysis developed by the Institute for Water Research which esti mate various low-flow indices of different time exceedance and frequen cy, analyse the duration and deficit of consecutive low-flow evens, ca lculate recession and baseflow characteristics of a stream, etc. The p aper also refers to some aspects of the spatial variability of low-flo w indices in South Africa.