Human and Natural Impacts on the Water Resources in the Syr Darya River Basin, Central Asia

Zou, Shan; Abuduwaili, Jilili; Duan, Weili; Maeyer, Philippe De; Voorde, Tim Van de

doi:10.3390/su11113084

Cited by 49 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 41 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Projected changes in monthly precipitation and temperature in the Tana sub-basin from 15 GCMs (Global Climate Models-General Circulation Models) were analyzed and it was found that four of the nine GCMs indicated a significant decrease in annual stream flow for the 2080-2100 period [17]. In addition, similarly to other studies on impacts of human interventions on sustainable water use, climate change, unmanaged water abstractions and land use change in the Lake Tana Sub-basin threaten the riverine and lake ecosystems [19,20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Hydrological Foundation as a Basis for a Holistic Environmental Flow Assessment of Tropical Highland Rivers in Ethiopia

Abebe

Tilahun

Moges

et al. 2020

Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The sustainable development of water resources includes retaining some amount of the natural flow regime in water bodies to protect and maintain aquatic ecosystem health and the human livelihoods and wellbeing dependent upon them. Although assessment of environmental flows is now occurring globally, limited studies have been carried out in the Ethiopian highlands, especially studies to understand flow-ecological response relationships. This paper establishes a hydrological foundation of Gumara River from an ecological perspective. The data analysis followed three steps: first, determination of the current flow regime—flow indices and ecologically relevant flow regime; second, naturalization of the current flow regime—looking at how flow regime is changing; and, finally, an initial exploration of flow linkages with ecological processes. Flow data of Gumara River from 1973 to 2018 are used for the analysis. Monthly low flow occurred from December to June; the lowest being in March, with a median flow of 4.0 m3 s−1. Monthly high flow occurred from July to November; the highest being in August, with a median flow of 236 m3 s−1. 1-Day low flows decreased from 1.55 m3 s−1 in 1973 to 0.16 m3 s−1 in 2018, and 90-Day (seasonal) low flow decreased from 4.9 m3 s−1 in 1973 to 2.04 m3 s−1 in 2018. The Mann–Kendall trend test indicated that the decrease in low flow was significant for both durations at α = 0.05. A similar trend is indicated for both durations of high flow. The decrease in both low flows and high flows is attributed to the expansion of pump irrigation by 29 km2 and expansion of plantations, which resulted in an increase of NDVI from 0.25 in 2000 to 0.29 in 2019. In addition, an analysis of environmental flow components revealed that only four “large floods” appeared in the last 46 years; no “large flood” occurred after 1988. Lacking “large floods” which inundate floodplain wetlands has resulted in early disconnection of floodplain wetlands from the river and the lake; which has impacts on breeding and nursery habitat shrinkage for migratory fish species in Lake Tana. On the other hand, the extreme decrease in “low flow” components has impacts on predators, reducing their mobility and ability to access prey concentrated in smaller pools. These results serve as the hydrological foundation for continued studies in the Gumara catchment, with the eventual goal of quantifying environmental flow requirements.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Hydrological Foundation as a Basis for a Holistic Environmental Flow Assessment of Tropical Highland Rivers in Ethiopia

Abebe

Tilahun

Moges

et al. 2020

Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Lakes are sensitive to the impacts of climate change, and the impacts include a wide range of negative consequences, such as changes in thermal stratification, an acceleration of the eutrophication which favors periodic proliferation by cyanobacteria in many freshwaters, increased turbidity, and changes in salinity [8][9][10]. In this context, many studies have been carried out regarding the deterioration of water quality due to human influence, and its spatial and temporal variations in rivers or water reservoirs [11][12][13][14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal and Spatial Variations of Secchi Depth and Diffuse Attenuation Coefficient from Sentinel-2 MSI over a Large Reservoir

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Alqueva reservoir (South of Portugal) in the Guadiana river basin constitutes the most important water resource in southern Portugal for domestic and agricultural consumption. We present a methodology developed to characterize spatial and temporal variations of Secchi depth and diffuse attenuation coefficient (both related to dissolved/suspended particles and to water transparency), using high spatial resolution satellite images from Sentinel-2 Multi-Spectral Instrument (MSI). Empirical relations between satellite retrievals of surface reflectances and in situ measurements of water parameters were defined and applied to the entire reservoir for spatial and temporal analysis in the period July 2017-June 2019, useful in the identification of microalgae blooms and rapid variations in water characteristics, which allowed us to differentiate five zones. Water estimates with lower transparency and higher attenuation of radiation were found in the northern area of Alqueva reservoir during the months characterized by higher water temperatures, with Secchi depth monthly averages near 1.0 m and diffuse attenuation coefficient near or above 1.5 m −1 . Satellite retrievals of water with greater transparency in the reservoir were obtained in the southern area in months with low water temperature and atmospheric stability, presenting some monthly Secchi depth averages above 3 m, and diffuse attenuation coefficient below 0.8 m −1 . January 2018 presented great transparency of water with a Secchi depth of 7.5 m for pixels representing the 95th percentile and diffuse attenuation coefficient of 0.36 m for pixels representing the 5th percentile in the Southern region.

show abstract

“…It has been proven that there has been a significant increase in temperature and in precipitation over Central Asia and the Syrdarya River Basin during the recent decades [15,16]. Moreover, human activities including change in land use (especially the expansion of agricultural land) and dam construction have significantly affected the water supply and water demand patterns, and impact the runoff reductions in this region [17]. Therefore, the water resources of Keles and Arys are very important components of the basin.The water resources of the Keles and Arys rivers' watersheds sustain irrigation systems in the arid region.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in Runoff of the Arys River and Keles River Watersheds (Kazakhstan), as Influenced by Climate Variation and Human Activity

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Runoff formation is a complex meteorological-hydrological process impacted by many factors, especially in the inland river basin. In this study, long-term (1960–2015) river runoff and climate data in the Arys and Keles River watersheds (Kazakhstan) were gathered to analyze the impacts of climate variation and human activity on runoff. The non-parametric Kendall test and the Pettitt test were used to identify trends and change points in the time data series. It was found that both watersheds had significant upward trends in temperature and potential evapotranspiration data, and insignificant upward trends in the runoff. Change points in annual runoff were identified around the year 1973. The hydrological sensitivity method was employed to evaluate the impacts of climate variation and human activity on mean annual runoff based on precipitation and potential evapotranspiration. It was found that the decline in annual runoff over both catchments can be mainly attributed to human activity, the reduction percentages due to human activities range from 59% to 99%. The results of this study can provide a reference for the development and water management of the regional water resources.

show abstract

Human and Natural Impacts on the Water Resources in the Syr Darya River Basin, Central Asia

Cited by 49 publications

References 41 publications

Hydrological Foundation as a Basis for a Holistic Environmental Flow Assessment of Tropical Highland Rivers in Ethiopia

Hydrological Foundation as a Basis for a Holistic Environmental Flow Assessment of Tropical Highland Rivers in Ethiopia

Temporal and Spatial Variations of Secchi Depth and Diffuse Attenuation Coefficient from Sentinel-2 MSI over a Large Reservoir

Variation in Runoff of the Arys River and Keles River Watersheds (Kazakhstan), as Influenced by Climate Variation and Human Activity

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About