Effect of Three Gorges Reservoir on River-Connected Lakes in Central Yangtze River

Abstract

As a very critical indicator of the health of the lake, water level of the river-connected lakes is influenced by both watershed inflows and the mainstream. Lakes connected to the Yangtze River has showed big differences since the impoundment of the TGR in 2003, as the hydrological regime in central Yangtze River has changed a lot. In order to grasp the effect of the TGR on the river-connected lakes, based on the water level data of four typical stations in Poyang Lake during the water release operation and storage period before and after the impoundment, the variation of water level is compared and discussed. It is shown that water level of Poyang Lake has undergone changes. In the water release operation stage, the average water level is higher, but in the storage period from late September to October, the average water level of the lake lower than before. In addition, it is pointed out that the extent is gradually reduced from north to south, as the max influence water level is about 1.5 meters and the average influence water level is about 0.6 meters in Hukou station. However, considering the time since the dam n period has not been long, the reservoir effect still needs to be further assessed based on long-term monitoring.