On the transition of base flow recession from early stage to late stage

•Identify the transition of base flow recession from early stage to late stage.•Reveal the linkage between recession transition and ephemeral stream contraction.•Demonstrate the role of ephemeral stream contraction in early stage recession.

This paper is focused on the transition of base flow recession from early stage to late stage. The volume flow rate that takes place when such a transition occurs is identified for each of the twenty-three recession events observed at the Panola Mountain Research Watershed (PMRW) in Georgia, USA, using a newly developed cumulative regression analysis method. Meanwhile, the flow at the watershed outlet, which was recorded when the discharge at the perennial stream head diminishes to zero, is identified for each recession event. As evidenced by a correlation coefficient of 0.90, these two characteristic flows are found to be highly correlated, suggesting a fundamental linkage between the transition of base flow recession from early stage to late stage and the drying up of ephemeral streams. During the early stage, the contraction of ephemeral streams largely controls the recession behavior, whereas in the late stage when perennial streams dominate the flowing streams, the contraction of flowing streams is minimal and groundwater hydraulics governs the recession behavior.