Enhanced lakebed sediment erosion in Dongting Lake induced by the operation of the Three Gorges Reservoir

Abstract

Based on field-survey hydrological series in the Dongting Lake watershed from 1951 to 2011, the variations of lakebed sediment siltation/erosion (S/E) regimes of the Dongting Lake after the operation of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) were analyzed. Significantly positive correlations were found between the flow rate from Zhicheng and the Three Outlets (r 2=0.859, p<0.0001), and between the flow rate and sediment delivery rate at the Three Outlets (r 2=0.895, p<0.0001). This indicated that the flow rate and sediment delivery rate at the Three Outlets were largely determined by the flow rate from the upstream Yangtze River. Sediment deposition amount in the Dongting Lake basin dropped from +4796.4×104 t during the period before the operation of TGR (1999–2002) to +684.1×104 t, +449.8×104 t and −559.6×104 t during the impoundment Phases I, II and III of TGR. The S/E regimes changed from a siltation-dominant to an erosion-dominant state under the pre-discharge, water-storage and water-supplement dispatch over the impoundment from Phase I to III. The sediment deposition amount decreased dramatically under the flood-storage dispatch over the impoundment Phase I to III. The estimated annual mean flow rate, sediment delivery rate and sediment concentration thresholds were respectively 970.81 m3/s, 466.82 kg/s and 0.481 kg/m3 for the upstream Three Outlets to maintain an erosion-dominant state in the downstream linked the Dongting Lake.