Impact of dam development and climate change on hydroecological conditions and natural hazard risk in the Mekong River Basin

Yang, Jie; Yang, Y. C. E.; Chang, Jianxia; Zhang, Jiaorui; Yao, Jun

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.124177

Cited by 47 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…The increasing demand for energy mentioned above has driven the construction of many dams in the AAB region. The construction of dams has caused loss of biodiversity (Orr et al, 2012) and changes in hydrological (Howells et al, 2013;Smajgl et al, 2016) and atmospheric cycles (Yang et al, 2019). Furthermore, there are many developed transnational rivers in the AAB region.…”

Section: Environmental Change and Clean Energymentioning

confidence: 99%

The water, food, energy, and ecosystem nexus in the Asian Alpine Belt: Research progress and future directions for achieving sustainable development goals

Wang

Liu

2021

Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment

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The Asian Alpine Belt (AAB) region extends from the Tibetan Plateau to the Caucasus. Rapid climate change and increasing anthropogenic pressures in the ecologically sensitive alpine area are making the achievement of sustainable development goals in the AAB more challenging. The water–food–energy–ecosystem (WFEE) nexus describes the trade-offs and synergies among the various elements of water, food, energy resources, and natural ecosystems relevant for sustainable development. The optimization of the WFEE nexus in the AAB region has become a vital issue for reaching sustainability in this ecologically fragile Eurasian region and its developing countries. In this paper, we broadly classify research into four types based on a compilation of recent research on the WFEE nexus in the AAB region: ecohydrological processes, agriculture and livestock, clean energy, and local social adaptation. We use the classification–coordination–collaboration approach to build an optimized conceptual framework to indicate a future research path. The outlook includes enhanced identification of the WFEE nexus, scientifically rational decision-making, and attention to cross-sector and transnational collaboration to support the realization of sustainable development goals in the AAB region.

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Section: Environmental Change and Clean Energymentioning

confidence: 99%

The water, food, energy, and ecosystem nexus in the Asian Alpine Belt: Research progress and future directions for achieving sustainable development goals

Wang

Liu

2021

Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment

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“…These changes are coupled with climate warming, which is anticipated to increase drought frequency of intensity in the 3S Basin and LMB [85]. Dam building and extreme streamflow variability pose natural hazard risk to society by reducing agriculture, employment opportunities, gross domestic product, and food security in the LMB [86,87].…”

Section: History and Future Of Tradeoff Analyses In Dam Planning And Operationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Meta-Analysis of Environmental Tradeoffs of Hydropower Dams in the Sekong, Sesan, and Srepok (3S) Rivers of the Lower Mekong Basin

Null

Farshid

Goodrum

et al. 2020

Water

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In Mekong riparian countries, hydropower development provides energy, but also threatens biodiversity, ecosystems, food security, and an unparalleled freshwater fishery. The Sekong, Sesan, and Srepok Rivers (3S Basin) are major tributaries to the Lower Mekong River (LMB), making up 10% of the Mekong watershed but supporting nearly 40% of the fish species of the LMB. Forty-five dams have been built, are under construction, or are planned in the 3S Basin. We completed a meta-analysis of aquatic and riparian environmental losses from current, planned, and proposed hydropower dams in the 3S and LMB using 46 papers and reports from the past three decades. Proposed mainstem Stung Treng and Sambor dams were not included in our analysis because Cambodia recently announced a moratorium on mainstem Mekong River dams. More than 50% of studies evaluated hydrologic change from dam development, 33% quantified sediment alteration, and 30% estimated fish production changes. Freshwater fish diversity, non-fish species, primary production, trophic ecology, and nutrient loading objectives were less commonly studied. We visualized human and environmental tradeoffs of 3S dams from the reviewed papers. Overall, Lower Sesan 2, the proposed Sekong Dam, and planned Lower Srepok 3A and Lower Sesan 3 have considerable environmental impacts. Tradeoff analyses should include environmental objectives by representing organisms, habitats, and ecosystems to quantify environmental costs of dam development and maintain the biodiversity and extraordinary freshwater fishery of the LMB.

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“…Multiple studies have addressed the impacts of LC changes on water availability at various scales in different countries such as Yellow River basin of China [14], Goseng catchment of Indonesia [22], Heihe River basin of China [23], Zhangye city of China [24], Guishui River basin of China [25], Karst Mountain areas of China [26], Tietê water basin of Brazil [27], and Neshanic River watershed of USA [28]. Yet, only a few studies have assessed the effect of anthropogenic activities on the water in transboundary rivers [20,21,29,30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transboundary Basins Need More Attention: Anthropogenic Impacts on Land Cover Changes in Aras River Basin, Monitoring and Prediction

et al. 2020

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Changes in land cover (LC) can alter the basin hydrology by affecting the evaporation, infiltration, and surface and subsurface flow processes, and ultimately affect river water quantity and quality. This study aimed to monitor and predict the LC composition of a major, transboundary basin contributing to the Caspian Sea, the Aras River Basin (ARB). To this end, four LC maps of ARB corresponding to the years 1984, 2000, 2010, and 2017 were generated using Landsat satellite imagery from Armenia and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The LC gains and losses, net changes, exchanges, and the spatial trend of changes over 33 years (1984–2017) were investigated. The most important drivers of these changes and the most accurate LC transformation scenarios were identified, and a land change modeler (LCM) was applied to predict the LC change for the years 2027 and 2037. Validation results showed that LCM, with a Kappa index higher than 81%, is appropriate for predicting LC changes in the study area. The LC changes observed in the past indicate significant anthropogenic impacts on the basin, mainly by constructing new reservoir dams and expanding agriculture and urban areas, which are the major water-consuming sectors. Results show that over the past 33 years, agricultural areas have grown by more than 57% from 1984 to 2017 in the study area. Results also indicate that the given similar anthropogenic activities will keep on continuing in the ARB, and agricultural areas will increase by 2% from 2017 to 2027, and by another 1% from 2027 to 2037. Results of this study can support transboundary decision-making processes to analyze potential adverse impacts following past policies with neighboring countries that share the same water resources.

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Impact of dam development and climate change on hydroecological conditions and natural hazard risk in the Mekong River Basin

Cited by 47 publications

References 54 publications

The water, food, energy, and ecosystem nexus in the Asian Alpine Belt: Research progress and future directions for achieving sustainable development goals

The water, food, energy, and ecosystem nexus in the Asian Alpine Belt: Research progress and future directions for achieving sustainable development goals

A Meta-Analysis of Environmental Tradeoffs of Hydropower Dams in the Sekong, Sesan, and Srepok (3S) Rivers of the Lower Mekong Basin

Transboundary Basins Need More Attention: Anthropogenic Impacts on Land Cover Changes in Aras River Basin, Monitoring and Prediction

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