Should the Three Gorges Dam be blamed for the extremely low water levels in the middle–lower Yangtze River?

Lai, Xijun; Jiang, Jiahu; Gao, Yang; Lu, Xixi

doi:10.1002/hyp.10077

Cited by 116 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…However, the construction and operation of TGR also pose great challenges to the hydrological regime in the middle and lower Yangtze River, and its potential environmental influences in the reservoir-affected area have received worldwide attention. Existing studies (Gao et al 2013;Lai et al 2014;Li et al 2013;Yang et al 2007;Zhang et al 2012b) on TGR's impacts have primarily focused on the TGR area and the middle and lower reaches, and little attention has been paid to the tributary of the Yangtze River, particularly the inlet stream of Dongting lake. In recent years, with the growing awareness concerning the extreme drought events in Yangtze River basin, especially with the sharp decreases in water areas and water levels of the Dongting Lake (Li et al 2001;Sun et al 2012), the function and impact of the TGR has been widely criticized as essential for understanding the serious droughts in Dongting Lake.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flow regime of the three outlets on the south bank of Jingjiang River, China: an impact assessment of the Three Gorges Reservoir for 2003–2010

Zhang

Ben-de

et al. 2015

Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess

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Since the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) was constructed and taken into operation, a series of hydrological consequences between the Yangtze River and Dongting Lake (river-lake) have emerged and received worldwide attention, particularly the changes in flow regime, which are essential for proper understanding this large river-lake system. To assess the impacts of TGR on flow variation, the three outlets on the south bank of Jingjiang River, i.e., Songci, Taiping, and Ouchi, have been selected as case studies, the whole study period was divided into two sub-periods according to the year when the TGR started to store water, i.e., the pre-and post-TGR storage stages. Based on the water level-, flow volume-, and sediment data obtained from the major hydrological stations in the reach, the alterations in flow regime were investigated and the main influence factor were explored for the different periods through comparative analysis of the three major driving forces, i.e., the decline in inflows to the TGR (DWF), the operation function of TGR (TGRO) and the TGR-induced variation in the river-lake relationship (RRL). As a result, we found the river flow of the three outlets has reduced gradually after the impoundment of TGR and quantified that: the DWF accounts for 68.9 % of total decline in mean annual runoff, the TGRO and RRL account for only 13.9 % and 17.2 %, respectively. Evidence suggests that the riverflow reduction at the three outlets in the post-TGR period was mainly governed by the DWF closely related to precipitation changes and large reservoirs in the upper basin, while the impacts of TGR (i.e., TGRO and RRL) indeed made a contribution to aggravation of this river flow variations. These results can provide a reference for future studies on changes in the complicated RRL, and for the management of river networks on the south bank of Jingjiang River.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flow regime of the three outlets on the south bank of Jingjiang River, China: an impact assessment of the Three Gorges Reservoir for 2003–2010

Zhang

Ben-de

et al. 2015

Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess

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“…Stable isotopes, such as deuterium ( 2 H or D) and oxygen-18 ( 18 O), have been used widely as environmental tracers in hydrology, and isotopic methods have been well applied in the studies related to precipitation, surface water, and groundwater [1][2][3][4]. Water originating from different sources always has large differences in its isotopic content.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial and temporal characteristics of 2H and 18O in the basin of Dongting Lake: impact of monsoon precipitation

Zhan

Chen

Zhang

2015

J Radioanal Nucl Chem

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Two water sampling campaigns were carried out in April and August 2012 to investigate the spatial and temporal characteristics of 2 H and 18 O in the basin of Dongting Lake and to further understand the interactions between precipitation, river water, lake water, and groundwater. Influenced by different monsoons, precipitation, river water, and lake water are enriched in isotopes in April but depleted in August. Stable isotopes of river water and lake water also have great spatial variations. Unlike river and lake water, groundwater has little seasonal isotopic variation, indicating that the transformation between surface water and groundwater is very slow.

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“…They demonstrated that the lake stage was more sensitive to the alternation in lake inflow compared to the same discharge modification in the Yangtze River (Lai et al, 2014a). The recent extremely low water levels in the Yangtze River resulted mainly from remarkable declines in inflows to the river, rather than solely from the TGD impoundments (Lai et al, 2014b). These studies highlighted the complexity of the multiple influences on Poyang Lake's decline in the complex basin-lake-river system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydroclimatological influences on recently increased droughts in China's largest freshwater lake

Liu

2016

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Lake droughts are the consequence of climatic, hydrologic and anthropogenic influences. Quantification of droughts and estimation of the contributions from the individual factors are essential for understanding drought features and their causation structure. This is also important for policymakers to make effective adaption decisions, especially under changing climate. This study examines Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake, which has been undergoing drastic hydrological alternation in the past decade. Standardized lake stage is used to identify and quantify the lake droughts, and hydroclimatic contributions are determined with a water budget analysis, in which absolute deficiency is defined in reference to normal hydrologic conditions. Our analyses demonstrate that in the past decade the lake droughts worsened in terms of duration, frequency, intensity and severity. Hydroclimatic contributions to each individual drought varied between droughts, and the overall contribution to the lake droughts in the past decade came from decreased inflow, increased outflow, and reduced precipitation and increased evapotranspiration in the lake region. The decreased inflow resulted mainly from reduced precipitation and less from increased evapotranspiration over the Poyang Lake basin. The increased outflow was attributable to the weakened blocking effects of the Yangtze River, which the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) established upstream. The TGD impoundments were not responsible for the increased number of drought events, but they may have intensified the droughts and changed the frequency of classified droughts. However, the TGD contribution is limited in comparison with hydroclimatic influences. Hence, the recently increased droughts were due to hydroclimatic effects, with a less important contribution from anthropogenic influences.

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Should the Three Gorges Dam be blamed for the extremely low water levels in the middle–lower Yangtze River?

Cited by 116 publications

References 55 publications

Flow regime of the three outlets on the south bank of Jingjiang River, China: an impact assessment of the Three Gorges Reservoir for 2003–2010

Flow regime of the three outlets on the south bank of Jingjiang River, China: an impact assessment of the Three Gorges Reservoir for 2003–2010

Spatial and temporal characteristics of 2H and 18O in the basin of Dongting Lake: impact of monsoon precipitation

Hydroclimatological influences on recently increased droughts in China's largest freshwater lake

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