Environmental flow methodology approach based on ecological impact assessment for hydroelectric power plants and hydraulic structures on stream ecosystems in Turkey.

Abstract

Use areas of streams such as agricultural irrigation, drinking water and energy are important for people's needs. The uncontrolled increase in all these demands on the streams leads to a change in flow amount and regime thereof over time, causing the stream and dependent ecosystems to be adversely affected. The hydrological system and the stream ecosystems may not be significantly affected, with the removal of some water and/or the use of the stream for energy such that a stream does not differ substantially from the natural flow regime in the past. In this context, environmental flow assessments are considered, which are called the flow that should be provided in order to minimize the environmental impacts specific to each stream's flow basin characteristics and its ecosystem. The most reliable method is to determine the environmental water need in different stream systems with a holistic ecological impact assessment, as well as different scientific assessment methods. This study reveals environmental flow methodology studies, which have been revealed by integrated ecological impact assessment aiming to determine the principles and methods suitable for the geographical and climatic conditions of Turkey in order to minimize environmental risks for the design of river type hydroelectric power plants and water retention structures such as ponds and dams, which have been intensively planned, constructed and used for hydroelectric energy especially after 2010 in Turkey, and assessment of the "environmental flow" results established by these studies.