Integrating Environmental Flows into Multi-Objective Reservoir Management for a Transboundary, Water-Scarce River Basin: Rio Grande/Bravo

Porse, Erik; Sandoval-Solís, Samuel; Lane, Belize

doi:10.1007/s11269-015-0952-8

Cited by 34 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 28 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Riverine ecosystem protection needs to maintain natural flow and sediment regimes downstream from dams [36]. This is needed to integrate environmental flows into multi-objective reservoir management [9]. Only recently have river ecosystems, including fish habitats and environmental flows, been considered in reservoir operations [18], though the valuable insights of stream habitat ecological modeling and assessment have been widely identified in previous studies [37][38][39].…”

Section: River Ecological Indicatormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Only recently have river ecosystems, including fish habitats and environmental flows, been considered in reservoir operations [18], though the valuable insights of stream habitat ecological modeling and assessment have been widely identified in previous studies [37][38][39]. Recently, numerous studies applying the IWRM concept have incorporated precautionary measures for aquatic habitats [1,[7][8][9][10]. For such aquatic habitat studies, ecological flows can be determined using statistical methods, such as the Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration (IHA) method [9].…”

Section: River Ecological Indicatormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, numerous studies applying the IWRM concept have incorporated precautionary measures for aquatic habitats [1,[7][8][9][10]. For such aquatic habitat studies, ecological flows can be determined using statistical methods, such as the Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration (IHA) method [9]. Xu et al [15] used an eco-friendly reservoir operating rule for restoring a fish migration passage into their reservoir operating rules.…”

Section: River Ecological Indicatormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For a sustainable approach to reservoirs, a sediment management plan is necessary [6]. Recently, numerous studies have indicated that Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) should consider and seek a precautionary approach to manage aquatic habitats [1,[7][8][9][10] as well as sedimentation and flood controls. Reservoir sedimentation reduces the demand of a reservoir and can be mitigated by actions such as sediment bypassing, sediment sluicing, or sediment flushing to avoid sediment accumulation [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Flood potential is a significant parameter when considering the tradeoff between flood control and conservation for sustaining reservoir functions in integrated water resources development [3]. Concerning water resources management, as sediment accumulation and potential flood problems not only decrease a reservoir's demand but also influence riverine ecosystems [1,[7][8][9][10]12] (e.g., fish habitats and downstream water quality), an effective evaluation system for sustaining multi-objective reservoir functions is essential to integrate water resources development and management. Accordingly, there are many factors which influence the functions of a reservoir, such as flood, sedimentation, water quality, and surrounding habitats [4,11,13,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Development of an Evaluation System for Sustaining Reservoir Functions—A Case Study of Shiwen Reservoir in Taiwan

Chen

Tsai

2017

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:Reservoirs serve as important facilities, providing a stable source of public water in Taiwan. As construction of new reservoirs becomes more difficult, it is essential to ensure sustainable functionality of reservoirs in the future. To this end, this study proposes a system for reservoir sustainability evaluation. The evaluation system consists of social justice, environmental protection, and economic development containing 12 indicators which are grouped into six categories: flood control, sediment management, water resources allocation, river ecology, water quality, and benefit and fairness. Moreover, evaluation system operational procedures to supplement planning and decision-making processes are proposed, and applied in a case study of the Shiwen reservoir planning in Taiwan. The planned reservoir in this case study is rated as "Good", nearly "Excellent", in sustainability as evaluated with the Sustainability Confidence Index (SCI). Additionally, Analytic Network Process (ANP) results indicate that the flood control capacity and sediment management are the first and second most important indicators for the reservoir. If desilting operations had been conducted, the SCI values would have increased from 3.3 to 3.7, warranting an "Excellent" rating for the reservoir. The case study demonstrates that decision-makers can apply the proposed system when managing reservoir evaluations.

show abstract

Section: River Ecological Indicatormentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: River Ecological Indicatormentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: River Ecological Indicatormentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Development of an Evaluation System for Sustaining Reservoir Functions—A Case Study of Shiwen Reservoir in Taiwan

Chen

Tsai

2017

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Reservoir operation and environmental water demand: Scenarios for the Sub‐Middle and Lower São Francisco River basin, Brazil

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Water management is important for delivering water for different users and uses.Reservoirs are built to overcome the stochastic nature of river flows and to increase the reliability of water supply. Reservoir operation affects the ecology of downstream river sections, and there has been a discussion of a more ecologically oriented flow regime, although ecosystems of reservoirs themselves are rarely taken into account.For reservoirs, it is important to identify multiple impacts and trade-offs of different management options. This information can be used in a multidisciplinary and multiparticipatory decision-making process to assess the management options. This study develops, applies, and discusses reservoir operation options for the São Francisco River basin (Brazil): (a) Reference; (b) Environmental discharge; (c) Reduced daily water-level variation; and (d) Reduced annual water-level variation. In the simulation study, the operation option with reduced daily water-level variation in reservoirs turned out to be the most flexible, guaranteeing hydropower generation and water supply in the dry season, while considering the ecology of the reservoirs and rivers. The simulations are exemplary for decision makers, requiring further assessment after agreeing on priority setting.

show abstract

Is multicomponent environmental flow management always better than the fixed minimum flows for a river ecosystem?

Liu

Zhang

et al. 2020

River Research & Apps

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Environmental flows (e‐flows) management is a basic task in reservoir operation. A simple approach for managing e‐flows is to maintain a fixed minimum flow, which releases at least a constant amount of water to sustain daily streamflow. Then e‐flows management becomes increasingly more sophisticated. Newer approaches include multicomponent e‐flow management, which provides different flows during different periods. This management approach produces a better flow regime than the fixed minimum flows because it more closely resembles the natural flow regime. However, in addition to e‐flow management strategies, flow regimes are also influenced by reservoir capacity, reservoir inflow, and water supply. The effects of these three variables on flow regime alteration have been rarely studied. To compare the effects of different reservoir capacities, reservoir inflows, and water supply quantities on flow regime alteration, we developed a hypothetical reservoir system for use in numerical experiments. In addition to the fixed minimum flows, we tested the effects of three other widely used e‐flow management strategies on flow regime alteration: the fraction of inflow, flow components, and four‐period release approaches. The range of variability approach is adopted to evaluate the flow regime alteration. The results show that the flow regime alteration decreases with increasing reservoir inflows and increases with increasing water supply quantity for all of the four e‐flow management strategies. We found that for certain values of reservoir capacity, reservoir inflow sequence, or water supply, the simple fixed minimum flows approach may produce the same results as the more sophisticated approaches.

show abstract

Integrating Environmental Flows into Multi-Objective Reservoir Management for a Transboundary, Water-Scarce River Basin: Rio Grande/Bravo

Cited by 34 publications

References 28 publications

Development of an Evaluation System for Sustaining Reservoir Functions—A Case Study of Shiwen Reservoir in Taiwan

Development of an Evaluation System for Sustaining Reservoir Functions—A Case Study of Shiwen Reservoir in Taiwan

Reservoir operation and environmental water demand: Scenarios for the Sub‐Middle and Lower São Francisco River basin, Brazil

Is multicomponent environmental flow management always better than the fixed minimum flows for a river ecosystem?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About