Surface-subsurface hydrological processes of rainwater harvesting project in karst mountainous areas indicated by stable hydrogen and oxygen isotopes

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) projects in a decentralized way are significant measures to deal with the water scarcity dilemma in rural areas of the karst mountains in Southwest China at present. Due to the differences in cistern construction features and geomorphological positions, the water sources of cisterns were characterized by marked spatial variability, and the recharge stability of cisterns was strongly influenced by precipitation seasonality. Nevertheless, in hydrological processes on karst hillsides, the identification of different runoff types of RWH has not been sufficiently studied. The stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen of eleven cisterns and epikarst springs in subtropic cockpit karst landforms were monitored from 2020 to 2021 to investigate the runoff characteristics in RWH. Evaporative fractionation in different hydrological cycles is the predominant factor regulating the stable isotopic signature of cistern water. The results indicated that the typical roles that occurred in the recharge process contributed differently to water harvesting, with surface runoff (SR) and subsurface runoff (SSR) contributing much more than rainwater (RW) and epikarst runoff (ER). Three mixing patterns were proposed by end-member analysis in which SR + SSR, ER, and RW were three end members with indicators of isotopic value and the total dissolved solids (TDS). The recharge of SR + SSR was the predominated source, which contributed to 64% of the total water resources collected through RWH in the rainy season. In addition, the influence of various runoffs on the recharge stability of the cistern can be reflected by the multiple statistical analysis of isotopic fluctuation. Poor recharge stability is caused by excessive SR + SSR, whereas a higher percentage of ER and RW leads to better recharge stability. The applied method of hydrological process analysis is significant to the cistern water resources management in rural areas of the karst mountains.