Abstract
In recent years, water shortage is becoming one of the most serious problems in the Poyang Lake. In this paper, the long-term water balance items of the Poyang Lake have been analyzed to reveal the coupling effects of Three Gorges Dam (TGD) and droughts on the water balance of Poyang Lake. The results indicate that: (1) the water balance items of Poyang Lake vary greatly, e.g. lake precipitation and inflow decrease during the past several decades while evaporation and water consumption increase significantly; (2) the water balance of Poyang Lake has been affected by the operation of TGD. Negative lake water balance in recent years leads to a serious water shortage problem in the Poyang Lake. Moreover, the operation of TGD also changed the river–lake relationship in the lower Yangtze River basin; (3) the coupling effects of drought and TGD on the lake water balance has been analyzed by using composite analysis method and it can be found that the operation of TGD has significantly altered the lake water balance. But it is not the only factor that affects the lake water balance, and the droughts might cause their relations to be much more complicated.
Highlights
Lakes are important components of the earth’s hydrological cycle providing a variety of services for humans and ecosystem functioning (Kummu et al 2013; Cao et al 2016, Yao et al 2016)
In this study, the long-term variations of water balance in the Poyang Lake are analyzed with the aim of exploring the possible impacts of Three Gorges Dam (TGD) on the lake water balance
The annual mean precipitation has reduced about 4.8 × 108 m3, the evaporation has increased 1.3 × 108 m3 in the Poyang Lake, while the annual mean streamflow from five tributaries to the Poyang Lake has decreased 266 × 108 m3 during the post-TGD period compared to that of pre-TGD period
Summary
Lakes are important components of the earth’s hydrological cycle providing a variety of services for humans and ecosystem functioning (Kummu et al 2013; Cao et al 2016, Yao et al 2016). Evaluation of water balance and hydrological characteristics in a lake region is important in helping manage water supply and predicting flooding and water shortages (Dessie et al 2015; Xu et al 2014; Li et al 2016a, b; Ye et al 2016). The significant potential consequences of climate change and human activities might alter regional hydrological cycles and subsequently change lake water quantity and quality (Kummu et al 2013; Piao et al 2010; Prasad et al 2015). Most of these studies were focused on the impacts of climate change on the lake water balance and they ignored the impacts of human activities on the lake water balance (Dessie et al 2015). As the change of lake water is caused by climate change and human activities, it is necessary to study the coupling effects of natural and human activities on the lake water balance (Cai et al 2009). Peters and Buttle (2010) investigated the natural and human induced changes in the Lake Athabasca–Peace– Athabasca Delta and found that the regulated hydrology could produce large stormflow
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