Science to sustain terminal lakes: The Walker River Basin Study

Fact Sheet ◽  
2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Terminal Lakes ◽  
Walker River

scholarly journals Estimating Dynamics of Terminal Lakes in the Second Largest Endorheic River Basin of Northwestern China from 2000 to 2017 with Landsat Imagery

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1164
Author(s):  
Bei Li ◽  
Yi-Chi Zhang ◽  
Ping Wang ◽  
Chao-Yang Du ◽  
Jing-Jie Yu
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Landsat Imagery ◽  
Water Diversion ◽  
Heihe River ◽  
Arid Environments ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
Landsat Images ◽  
East River ◽  
Terminal Lakes

Quantifying terminal-lake dynamics is crucial for understanding water-ecosystem-economy relationship across endorheic river basins in arid environments. In this study, the spatio-temporal variations in terminal lakes of the lower Heihe River Basin were investigated for the first time since the Ecological Water Diversion Project commenced in 2000. The lake area and corresponding water consumption were determined with 248 Landsat images. Vital recovery of lakes occurred two years after the implementation of the project, and the total lake area increased by 382.6%, from 30.7 to 148.2 km2, during 2002–2017. East Juyan Lake (EJL) was first restored as a project target and subsequently reached a maximum area of 70.1 km2. Water dispersion was initiated in 2003, with the East river prioritized for restoration. Swan Lake in the East river enlarged to 67.7 km2 by 2017, while the other four lakes temporarily existed or maintained an area < 7 km2, such as West Juyan Lake. Water consumed by lakes increased synchronously with lake area. The average water consumption of the six lakes was 1.03 × 108 m3/year, with 63% from EJL. The increasing terminal lakes; however, highlight the seasonal competition for water use between riparian vegetation and lake ecosystems in water-limited areas.

Mason Valley Groundwater Model: Linking Surface Water and Groundwater in the Walker River Basin, Nevada1

2010 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 554-573 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosemary W.H. Carroll ◽  
Greg Pohll ◽  
David McGraw ◽  
Chris Garner ◽  
Anna Knust ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Groundwater Model ◽  
Surface Water And Groundwater ◽  
Walker River

scholarly journals Effects of Ecological Water Conveyance on the Hydrochemistry of a Terminal Lake in an Inland River: A Case Study of Qingtu Lake in the Shiyang River Basin

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Zhang ◽  
Guofeng Zhu ◽  
Huiying Ma ◽  
Jianxia Yang ◽  
Hanxiong Pan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Ion Concentration ◽  
Triangle Diagram ◽  
Inland River ◽  
Shiyang River Basin ◽  
Terminal Lakes ◽  
Drying Up ◽  
Water Conveyance ◽  
Inland Rivers ◽  
Ecological Water Conveyance

Along with the growth of the population and economic and social development, water consumption in the upper-middle reaches of inland rivers is increasing, which has resulted in long-term cutout in the lower reaches of the river, shrinkage and drying up of the wetlands around the terminal lakes, and has caused a series of ecological problems at the same time. In order to protect the fragile ecological environment, comprehensive harnessing projects have been carried out in many inland river basins in China, in which adopting ecological water conveyance to rehabilitate degraded terminal lakes and wetlands is an important means. From June 2014 to October 2017, the water in the upper-middle reaches of the Shiyang River Basin and the lake water of the terminal lake after ecological water conveyance was sampled. The effects of ecological water conveyance on the characteristics of surface water and groundwater were analyzed using, for example, the Piper triangle diagram, Gibbs boomerang envelope model, and mixing diagram. After ecological water conveyance, the ion concentration of water in Qingtu Lake was higher overall, and ion concentration of water in the unstable catchment was higher than that of the stable catchment. The time variation was characterized as high in the summer half year and low in the winter half year. The water of Qingtu Lake is of high and large salinity, and its hydrochemical type is Na–SO4 (Cl), which is obviously different from the water in the middle-upper reaches of the Shiyang River Basin. The effects of silicate weathering and evaporation crystallization are the main factors leading to the high ion concentration in the water of Qingtu Lake. Ecological water conveyance and the strong evaporation of arid areas have intensified the salinization of water and soils in Qingtu Lake. Meanwhile, implementing the ecological water conveyance policy in the terminal lake has also led to shortage of water resources for agricultural irrigation in the middle reaches of the Shiyang River Basin. The serial negative ecological effects of the ecological water conveyance should be emphasized.

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