scholarly journals Quantitative Assessment of the Influences of Three Gorges Dam on the Water Level of Poyang Lake, China

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Wang ◽  
Shuanghu Zhang ◽  
Guoli Wang ◽  
Qiaoqian Han ◽  
Guoxian Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Level ◽  
Yangtze River ◽  
Poyang Lake ◽  
Model Simulation ◽  
Water Storage ◽  
Three Gorges Dam ◽  
Three Gorges ◽  
The Yangtze River ◽  
Middle Reach ◽  
Significant Downward Trend

Lakes are important for global ecological balance and provide rich biological and social resources. However, lake systems are sensitive to climate change and anthropogenic activities. Poyang Lake is an important wetland in the middle reach of the Yangtze River, China and has a complicated interaction with the Yangtze River. In recent years, the water level of Poyang Lake was altered dramatically, in particular showing a significant downward trend after the operation of the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) in 2003, thus seriously affecting the lake wetland ecosystem. The operation of the TGD changed both the hydrological regime and the deeper channel in the middle reach of the Yangtze River, and affected the river–lake system between the Yangtze River and Poyang Lake. This study analyzed the change in the water level of Poyang Lake and quantified the contributions of the TGD operation, from the perspectives of water storage and erosion of the deeper channel in the middle reach of the Yangtze River, through hydrodynamic model simulation. The erosion of the deeper channel indicated a significant decrease in annual water level. However, due to the water storage of the TGD in September and October, the discharge in the Yangtze River sharply decreased and the water level of Poyang Lake was largely affected. Especially in late September, early October, and mid-October, the contributions of water storage of the TGD to the decline in the water level of Poyang Lake respectively reached 68.85%, 59.04%, and 54.88%, indicating that the water storage of the TGD was the main factor in the decrease in water level. The erosion of the deeper channel accelerated the decline of the water level of Poyang Lake and led to about 10% to 20% of the decline of water level in September and October. Due to the combined operation of the TGD and more reservoirs under construction in the upper TGD, the long-term and irreversible influence of the TGD on Poyang Lake should be further explored in the future.

The Response of Potentially Active Planktonic Actinobacteria to the Construction of Three Gorges Dam of the Yangtze River, China

2012 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongchen Jiang ◽  
Qi Zhang ◽  
Raymond M. Dong ◽  
Haiyi Xiao ◽  
Shang Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Yangtze River ◽  
Three Gorges Dam ◽  
Three Gorges ◽  
The Yangtze River

scholarly journals Response of vegetation to submergence along Jingjiang Reach of the Yangtze River

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. e0251015
Author(s):  
Guoliang Zhu ◽  
Yitian Li ◽  
Zhaohua Sun ◽  
Shinjiro Kanae
Keyword(s):  
Yangtze River ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Three Gorges Dam ◽  
Vegetation Coverage ◽  
Three Gorges ◽  
The Yangtze River ◽  
The Three Gorges ◽  
The Three Gorges Dam

This work explores the changes in vegetation coverage and submergence time of floodplains along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River (i.e., the Jingjiang River) and the relations between them. As the Three Gorges Dam has been operating for more than 10 years, the original vegetative environment has been greatly altered in this region. The two main aspects of these changes were discovered by analyzing year-end image data from remote sensing satellites using a dimidiate pixel model, based on the normalized difference vegetation index, and by calculating water level and topographic data over a distance of 360 km from 2003–2015. Given that the channels had adjusted laterally, thus exhibiting deeper and broader geometries due to the Three Gorges Dam, 11 floodplains were classified into three groups with distinctive features. The evidence shows that, the floodplains with high elevation have formed steady vegetation areas and could hardly be affected by runoff and usually occupied by humans. The low elevation group has not met the minimal threshold of submerging time for vegetation growth, and no plants were observed so far. Based on the facts summed up from the floodplains with variable elevation, days needed to spot vegetation ranges from 70 to 120 days which happened typically near 2006 and between 2008 and 2010, respectively, and a negative correlation was detected between submergence time and vegetation coverage within a certain range. Thus, floods optimized by the Three Gorges Dam have directly influenced plant growth in the floodplains and may also affect our ability to manage certain types of large floods. Our conclusions may provide a basis for establishing flood criteria to manage the floodplain vegetation and evaluating possible increases in resistance caused by high-flow flooding when these floodplains are submerged.

scholarly journals The impact of the Three Gorges Dam on summer streamflow in the Yangtze River Basin

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 705-717
Author(s):  
Zhenkuan Su ◽  
Michelle Ho ◽  
Zhenchun Hao ◽  
Upmanu Lall ◽  
Xun Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Yangtze River ◽  
Yangtze River Basin ◽  
Three Gorges Dam ◽  
Three Gorges ◽  
The Yangtze River ◽  
The Three Gorges ◽  
The Yangtze River Basin ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Three Gorges Dam

scholarly journals Impact of the Three Gorges Dam on the Hydrology and Ecology of the Yangtze River

Water ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Zhang ◽  
Zengchuan Dong ◽  
Hoshin Gupta ◽  
Guangdong Wu ◽  
Dayong Li
Keyword(s):  
Yangtze River ◽  
Three Gorges Dam ◽  
Three Gorges ◽  
The Yangtze River ◽  
The Three Gorges ◽  
The Three Gorges Dam
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document