Impacts of River Engineering on Multi-Decadal Water Discharge of the Mega-Changjiang River

Binbin Ma,Zhijun Dai,Yaying Lou,Wenhong Pang,Jie Wang,Jinghua Gu,Xuefei Mei

doi:10.3390/su12198060

Abstract

Knowledge of river engineering impacts on water discharge is significant to flow guidelines and sustainable water resource managements for balancing human consumption and the natural environment. In this study, based on the collected multi-decadal discharge data at Yichang, Hankou, and Datong stations, we determined that in October, Three Gorges Dam contributed 34.4%, 24.5%, and 18.7% to the discharge decrease in the upper, middle, and lower reach, respectively, while Gezhouba Dam contributed 14.5%, 10.7%, and 10%. Danjiangkou Reservoir caused the discharge ratio of Hanjiang to Changjiang to decline from 7.2% during 1954–1973 to 6.3% during 1973–2014. Owing to growing water withdrawal and consumption, we suggest that the distribution of water diversion and consumption should be regulated to prevent the probable occurrence of the severe issue of salt water intrusion in the Changjiang Estuary in 2028.

Highlights

The water discharge of large rivers plays an important role in the economic development of drainage basins and the balance between continental freshwater and oceanic saltwater [1,2,3]
It is of vital importance to determine how water discharge responds to the impacts of river engineering
The great rivers and their drainage basins worldwide are central to the development of human civilization by providing water resources and transportation channels

Summary

Introduction

The water discharge of large rivers plays an important role in the economic development of drainage basins and the balance between continental freshwater and oceanic saltwater [1,2,3]. It is of vital importance to determine how water discharge responds to the impacts of river engineering. Botter et al [11] found a notable decrease in water discharge in response to the operation of the dam in the Piave River in Italy. In North America, Burke et al [12] found that the minimum discharge increased and the duration of the dry season changed clearly under the impact of the operation of the Libby Dam in the Kootenai River. Previous studies have paid attention to the impacts of dams or water use on discharge [13,14,15,16], few have conducted a comprehensive analysis of discharge variation in response to integrated river engineering involving dams, irrigation, water diversion projects, etc

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion