Changes of Flow and Sediment Transport in the Lower Min River in Southeastern China under the Impacts of Climate Variability and Human Activities

Abstract

The Min River is the largest river in Fujian Province in southeastern China. The construction of a series of dams along the upper reaches of the Min River, especially the Shuikou Dam, which started filling in 1993, modified the flow processes at the lower Min River, leading to the significant increase in low-flows and slightly decrease in flood-flows. At the same time, reservoirs have more effects on the sediment transport process than flow process by trapping most sediment in the reservoirs, and greatly reduced the amount of sediment transporting downstream. Increase in vegetation cover also contributes to the decrease in sediment yield. The reduction in sediment together with excessive sand mining in the lower Min River resulted in the severe downward erosion of the riverbed. Using a reformulated elasticity approach to quantifying climatic and anthropogenic contributions to sediment changes, the relative contribution of precipitation variability and human activities to sediment reduction in the lower Min River are quantified, which shows that the sediment reduction is fully caused by human activities (including land use/land cover changes and dam construction).

Impounding Reservoirs, Benefits and Risks: A Review of Environmental and Technical Aspects of Construction and Operation

“…A major challenge, since ancient times, has been the problem of sediment accumulation in the reservoir bowl causing loss of capacity or complete siltation [61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68]. The suspension of sediment movement is associated not only with the loss of functionality of the facility, but also with the disturbance of the channel morphology below the dam cross-section [65].…”

“…A major challenge, since ancient times, has been the problem of sediment accumulation in the reservoir bowl causing loss of capacity or complete siltation [61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68]. The suspension of sediment movement is associated not only with the loss of functionality of the facility, but also with the disturbance of the channel morphology below the dam cross-section [65]. Various methods of measuring sediment accumulation rates and sediment transport rates are described, based on a Geographic Information System (GIS), mathematical models, field surveys, historical data and photographic documentation [61][62][63][64].…”

Evolving environmental awareness and shifts in management priorities: a socioeconomic lens on the min river basin, China

“…The Min River basin (MRB), a densely populated area, has been grappling with water quality issues and recurrent flooding for several decades (Wang et al, 2021), largely attributed to rapid developmental activities reflecting anthropogenic influences. This situation accentuates the urgent need to reevaluate the interplay between economic development and ecological sustainability in the watershed.…”

Hydrological Modeling in Water Cycle Processes

“…Most of the papers evaluated the impact of climate change and human activities on watershed hydrological variables [7][8][9][10][11][12][13], which indicated that the influence of a changing environment on the water cycle has been of concerned to more researchers. Among these articles, the hydrological variability under climate change and human influence in the Wuding River Basin was investigated [7]; the result shows that climate change and human influence drive both evapotranspiration and runoff changes.…”

“…Among these articles, the hydrological variability under climate change and human influence in the Wuding River Basin was investigated [7]; the result shows that climate change and human influence drive both evapotranspiration and runoff changes. Wang et al [8] evaluated changes of flow and sediment transport in the Lower Min River under the impacts of the above two drivers. The research demonstrated that the reduction of precipitation is the leading cause of runoff reduction, followed by human activities.…”