Impacts of human activities on runoff: Advances and Challenges

Under the combined effects of climate change and human activities, the runoff processes within basins have undergone significant alterations. With human activities becoming increasingly intense, multiple activities are occurring simultaneously in many basins, which significantly impact runoff. This study focuses on the influence of human activities on runoff and reviews various methods for classifying these impacts, including land use change, vegetation changes, soil and water conservation, water withdrawal, reservoir storage, and mining activities. In current analyses of runoff changes in basins, the impact of human activities, especially their direct influence on runoff, is often not fully accounted for. Future studies should integrate basin hydrological models coupled with modules that account for various human activities, and should place greater emphasis on uncertainty analysis across different methods. Additionally, future hydrological models of river basins should consider the interactions between climate change and human activities, while also addressing the reciprocal influences among different human activities.