Assessing the Impact of Reservoir Parameters on Runoff in the Yalong River Basin using the SWAT Model

Abstract

The construction and operation of cascade reservoirs has changed the natural hydrological cycle in the Yalong River Basin, and reduced the accuracy of hydrological forecasting. The impact of cascade reservoir operation on the runoff of the Yalong River Basin is assessed, providing a theoretical reference for the construction and joint operation of reservoirs. In this paper, eight scenarios were set up, by changing the reservoir capacity, operating location, and relative location in the case of two reservoirs. The aim of this study is to explore the impact of the capacity and location of a single reservoir on runoff processes, and the effect of the relative location in the case of joint operation of reservoirs. The results show that: (1) the reservoir has a delay and reduction effect on the flood during the flood season, and has a replenishment effect on the runoff during the dry season; (2) the impact of the reservoir on runoff processes and changes in runoff distribution during the year increases with the reservoir capacity; (3) the mitigation of flooding is more obvious at the river basin outlet control station when the reservoir is further downstream; (4) an arrangement with the smaller reservoir located upstream and the larger reservoir located downstream can maximize the benefits of the reservoirs in flood control.

A Modeling Approach to Diagnose the Impacts of Global Changes on Discharge and Suspended Sediment Concentration within the Red River Basin

“…Certainly, many dams can be also found in Chinese part for both the Lo and Da River on Google Earth. Liu et al [97] pointed that hydrological forecasting effectiveness and accuracy would be affected greatly by the construction and operation of the cascade reservoirs. It is difficult for the model to precisely simulate the complex operation of dam discharge, which depends on the arriving water volume, on the downstream water regime, and also on the variation of irrigation storage.…”

“…Due to the big capacity of Hoa Binh dam, it shows bigger regulating effect on downstream flow than other dams. Liu et al [97] addressed that the impact of the dam on runoff increased with the dam capacity. However, even though the Hoa Binh dam has a big capacity, its impact on Q is small.…”

Profound Impacts of the China Meteorological Assimilation Driving Datasets for the SWAT Model (CMADS)

“…13. Liu et al [22] considered that the construction and operation of cascade reservoirs changed the hydrological cycle of the basin and reduced the accuracy of hydrological forecasting. The authors took the Yalong River Basin as the study area and designed eight scenarios using the SWAT model to change the reservoir capacity, operating location, and relative locations of the two reservoirs.…”

“…The CMADS can be used efficiently without any adjustments and treatments to the SWAT model, which will save at least 90% of the time spent by SWAT users on meteorological data preparation. From the perspective of data precision, the CMADS has been validated by users worldwide in combination with various international reanalysis data, such as Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR) and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) in various river basins in East Asia, with satisfactory results [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. These verification results demonstrate that the performance of CMADS products in East Asia can be trusted, especially in mountainous and highland areas with high altitudes and large differences of land use and geography, where meteorological stations are sparse.…”

“…This special issue provides a platform for researchers by assisting with the use of CMADS to conduct in-depth research on water quality and quantity modeling in East Asia in order to improve the research in the atmosphere, hydrology, and water environment in East Asia. The papers included in this special issue fall into eight broad categories: Meteorological verification and analysis [3,11], non-point source pollution [12], water resource modeling and parameter uncertainty analysis [13][14][15][16], comparison of reanalysis products [17][18][19][20], optimal operational of reservoirs [21,22], water footprint assessment [23], changes in water resources under climate and land use change [24], hydrological simulation in cold area [25,26], and CMADS-Soil Temperature (ST) application [27]. The following section summarizes the individual research within each application.…”