Estimation of lake storage volumes in the Lagan River catchment in southern Sweden using a modified version of the Australian Water Resources Assessment–Landscape model (AWRA-L)

In an era of global change, understanding available water resources is increasingly important. In Sweden, this challenge has intensified due to climate change driven pressures and rising water demand, yet suitable tools for assessing water storage remain limited. This study presents a novel approach for evaluating surface water storage using a modified Australian Water Resources Assessment Landscape model (AWRA-L). Physics-informed rating curves were incorporated during model optimization and tested over a five-year period (2018–2022) in a case study of three lakes in the Lagan River catchment, southwest Sweden. Results show that the modified model reproduces seasonal storage dynamics well, with average R 2 , NSE, and KGE′ values of 0.70, 0.68, and 0.71, respectively. Our findings suggest the approach has strong potential for accurately assessing surface storage dynamics and demonstrate that, with appropriate adaptation, the AWRA-L model is applicable outside Australia, offering an improved tool for evaluating lake storage volumes.