Analysis of Hydrologic Regime Changes Caused by Dams in China

Song, Xinxin; Zhuang, Yanhua; Wang, Xuelei; Li, Enhua; Zhang, Yingying; Lu, Xiaorong; Yang, Jin‐Hui; Xi, Liu

doi:10.1061/(asce)he.1943-5584.0001891

Cited by 37 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…A significant increase in the mean extreme minimum flows and a significant decrease in the extreme maximum flows over different durations following impoundment across the studied sites was estimated by Magilan and Nislow [18] and Costigan and Daniels [19]. Very similar outcomes were presented by Song et al [23].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…Costigan and Daniels [19] discovered a dramatic increase in the number of reversals and a faster rise and fall rate. The studies of Magilan and Nislow [18], Song et al [23], and Zhang et al [46] also revealed an increasing number of reversals following impoundment. The changes in the rates of flow variation were mentioned among most common and noticeable by Magilan and Nislow [18] and Ely et al [27].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Despite the naturally lower flows, HPP owners have to release the environmental flow and still need to generate electricity. A considerable increase in low pulse number and a decrease in their duration were detected by Zhang et al [46] and Song et al [23]. The frequency and duration of high and low pulses were identified as the most affected elements of the hydrologic regime by Ely et al [27].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…The environmental consequences of river flow alteration are well documented in literature [8,18,23,27,44]. The power of the method of Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration applied in the present study is that it can summarize long periods of daily hydrologic data into a much more manageable series of ecologically relevant hydrologic parameters [39].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fall rate ranked first of all hydrologic alteration values by Zuo and Liang [49]. Song et al [23] stated that the number of reversals had the largest alteration, followed by rise and fall rates, among others. Even the study by Gierszewski et al [35], which analyzed flow regime changes in the periods of different operating conditions of HPP, estimated that in the entire analyzed period, the average values of the rise rate, the fall rate, and the number of discharge reversals significantly exceeded RVA ranges.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Analysis of Hydrologic Regime Changes Caused by Small Hydropower Plants in Lowland Rivers

Šarauskienė

Adžgauskas

Kriaučiūnienė

et al. 2021

Water

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Hydropower remains the most important and largest source of renewable energy. However, besides many additional benefits, such as dams for water supply, irrigation, flood control, recreation, navigation, etc., hydropower generation has a negative impact on the environment. This study aimed to investigate the hydrologic changes in Lithuanian lowland rivers caused by small hydropower plants (HPPs). Thirty-two indicators of hydrologic alteration (IHA) were studied in 11 rivers downstream of hydropower plants in the post-impact and pre-impact periods. The findings showed that HPPs and reservoirs considerably disturbed the primary flow of river ecosystems downstream. The largest changes in mean IHA values were found for low and high pulse characteristics (up to 57%) and the number of reversals (up to 44%). Only small or no deviations of the timing of annual extreme flows were found. The number of reversals, a low pulse count, and a fall rate were the flow characteristics that fell outside their historical ranges of variability most often. Six (out of 11) hydropower plants were identified that provoked hydrologic alterations of a moderate degree.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Analysis of Hydrologic Regime Changes Caused by Small Hydropower Plants in Lowland Rivers

Šarauskienė

Adžgauskas

Kriaučiūnienė

et al. 2021

Water

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Assessment of upbasin dam impacts on streamflow at Chiang Saen gauging station during the period 1960–2020 in the context of statistical studies

Nguyen

Hoang

et al. 2022

River Research & Apps

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The Langcang‐Mekong River Basin is the most important transboundary river basin in Asia. However, over the recent decades, dam construction has had increasingly profound effects on hydrological processes and aquatic, particularly riparian, ecosystems. Understanding these impacts is critical for the foundation of sustainable runoff surface management. In this study, different methods, based on both graphical and statistical techniques, were applied to assess the effects of the dams on annual, seasonal and monthly runoff and to detect hydroclimatic trends in the Upper Mekong Basin during the period 1960–2020. The results reveal two change points with respect to seasonal and annual flow regimes; that is, 2003 for the flood season and annual flows and 2013 for the dry season flow. The duration of the flood season and the volume of annual discharges have both significantly decreased since 2003 and the dry season discharge has significantly increased since 2013 (with both p‐values <.05). The quantitative assessment suggests that, due to the effect of dams, the monthly discharges increased by 10–450 m3/s during the dry season (December–May), while the flood season's monthly flows decreased significantly, by 1,028–2,150 m3/s, from July to October at Chiang Saen station. The study of hydrological changes in the Mekong watershed is expected to be a significant contribution towards a better understanding of large watersheds in which the hydrological effects are influenced not only by climate change at large spatial and temporal scales but also by changes in the physical environment due to the construction of dams.

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The Variation of Hydrological Regime According to the Daily Operation of a Complementary Hydro-Photovoltaic Reservoir and Its Impact

Wang

Liang

Feng

et al. 2023

Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering

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Daily operation of a hydropower station is conducted to meet the energy requirement. The hydraulic parameters of the downstream are significantly affected by the dam operation, which has a negative impact on the aquatic system. When the multi energy complementary method is used, such as hydro-photovoltaic (hydro-PV) combined power generation, the problem will worsen. Hydropower station A (HSA) on River X was selected to investigate the impact of daily operation. HSA is a part of hydro-PV complementary power generation. The spawning and breeding period of typical fish, April to July, was selected as the study period. According to various scheduling, the changes of hydrological regime were analyzed. The results show that the maximum flow variation was 334 m3/s, and the variations in water surface width and velocity during reservoir operation were between natural conditions. The maximum daily water level variations under the two operating scenarios were 1.6 m and 3.5 m respectively. The remarkable change of water level may have a negative impact on aquatic organisms. Considering the daily variation limit of 1.2 m under natural condition, the relationship between the allowable daily variation of reservoir outflow and the reference base flow was proposed. The results in this paper serve as a technical reference for studying changes in the hydrological regime and lessening their impacts on aquatic organisms in hydro-photovoltaic complementary development.

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Analysis of Hydrologic Regime Changes Caused by Dams in China

Cited by 37 publications

References 34 publications

Analysis of Hydrologic Regime Changes Caused by Small Hydropower Plants in Lowland Rivers

Analysis of Hydrologic Regime Changes Caused by Small Hydropower Plants in Lowland Rivers

Assessment of upbasin dam impacts on streamflow at Chiang Saen gauging station during the period 1960–2020 in the context of statistical studies

The Variation of Hydrological Regime According to the Daily Operation of a Complementary Hydro-Photovoltaic Reservoir and Its Impact

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