Scenario‐Based and Scenario‐Neutral Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Operational Performance of a Multipurpose Reservoir

Scenario‐based and scenario‐neutral impacts assessment approaches provide complementary information about how climate change‐driven effects on streamflow may change the operational performance of multipurpose dams. Examining a case study of Cougar Dam in Oregon, United States, we simulated current reservoir operations under scenarios of plausible future hydrology. Streamflow projections from the CGCM3.1 general circulation model for the A1B emission scenario were used to generate stochastic reservoir inflows that were then further perturbed to simulate a potentially drier future. These were then used to drive a simple reservoir model. In the scenario‐based analysis, we found reservoir operations are vulnerable to climate change. Increases in fall and winter inflow could lead to more frequent flood storage, reducing flexibility to store incoming flood flows. Uncertainty in spring inflow volume complicates projection of future filling performance. The reservoir may fill more or less often, depending on whether springs are wetter or drier. In the summer, drawdown may occur earlier to meet conservation objectives. From the scenario‐neutral analysis, we identified thresholds of streamflow magnitude that can predict climate change impacts for a wide range of scenarios. Our results highlight projected operational challenges for Cougar Dam and provide an example of how scenario‐based and scenario‐neutral approaches may be applied concurrently to assess climate change impacts.     

Predicting the Thermal Effects of Dam Removal on the Klamath River

The Klamath River once supported large runs of anadromous salmonids. Water temperature associated with multiple mainstem hydropower facilities might be one of many factors responsible for depressing Klamath salmon stocks. We combined a water quantity model and a water quality model to predict how removing the series of dams below Upper Klamath Lake might affect water temperatures, and ultimately fish survival, in the spawning and rearing portions of the mainstem Klamath. We calibrated the water quantity and quality models and applied them for the hydrometeorological conditions during a 40-year postdam period. Then, we hypothetically removed the dams and their impoundments from the models and reestimated the rivers water temperatures. The principal thermal effect of dam and reservoir removal would be to restore the timing (phase) of the rivers seasonal thermal signature by shifting it approximately 18 days earlier in the year, resulting in river temperatures that more rapidly track ambient air temperatures. Such a shift would likely cool thermal habitat conditions for adult fall chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) during upstream migration and benefit mainstem spawning. By contrast, spring and early summer temperatures could be warmer without dams, potentially harming chinook rearing and outmigration in the mainstem. Dam removal might affect the rivers thermal regime during certain conditions for over 200 km of the mainstem.     

Toward Policies and Decision-Making for Dam Removal

Dam removal has emerged as a critical issue in environmental management. Agencies responsible for dams face a drastic increase in the number of potential dam removals in the near future. Given limited resources, these agencies need to develop ways to decide which dams should be removed and in what order. The underlying science of dam removal is relatively undeveloped and most agencies faced with dam removal lack a coherent purpose for removing dams. These shortcomings can be overcome by the implementation of two policies by agencies faced with dam removal: (1) the development and adoption of a prioritization scheme for what constitutes an important dam removal, and (2) the establishment of minimum levels of analysis prior to decision-making about a dam removal. Federal and state agencies and the scientific community must encourage an initial experimental phase of dam removal during which only a few dams are removed, and these are studied intensively. This will allow for the development of the fundamental scientific understanding needed to support effective decision-making in the future and minimize the risk of disasters arising from poorly thought out dam removal decisions.     

Environmental Impacts of Brazil's Tucuruí Dam: Unlearned Lessons for Hydroelectric Development in Amazonia

Brazil's Tucuruí Dam provides valuable lessons for improving decision-making on major public works in Amazonia and elsewhere. Together with social impacts, which were reviewed in a companion paper, the project's environmental costs are substantial. Monetary costs include costs of construction and maintenance and opportunity costs of natural resources (such as timber) and of the money invested by the Brazilian government. Environmental costs include forest loss, leading to both loss of natural ecosystems and to greenhouse gas emissions. Aquatic ecosystems are heavily affected by the blockage of fish migration and by creation of anoxic environments. Decay of vegetation left in the reservoir creates anoxic water that can corrode turbines, as well as producing methane and providing conditions for methylation of mercury. Defoliants were considered for removing forest in the submergence area but plans were aborted amid a public controversy. Another controversy surrounded impacts of defoliants used to prevent regrowth along the transmission line. Mitigation measures included archaeological and faunal salvage and creation of a “gene bank” on an island in the reservoir. Decision-making in the case of Tucuruí was virtually uninfluenced by environmental studies, which were done concurrently with construction. The dam predates Brazil's 1986 requirement of an Environmental Impact Assessment. Despite limitations, research results provide valuable information for future dams. Extensive public-relations use of the research effort and of mitigation measures such as faunal salvage were evident. Decision-making was closely linked to the influence of construction firms, the military, and foreign financial interests in both the construction project and the use of the resulting electrical power (most of which is used for aluminum smelting). Social and environmental costs received virtually no consideration when decisions were made, an outcome facilitated by a curtain of secrecy surrounding many aspects of the project. Despite improvements in Brazil's system of environmental impact assessment since the Tucuruí reservoir was filled in 1984, many essential features of the decision-making system remain unchanged.     

一种改进的模糊控制方法及其在大坝安全上的应用

大坝的安全运行状态影响因素多变且各因素之间关系错综复杂 ,而目前大坝普遍存在事故隐患以及对其安全所使用的监控方法的落后和效果的不良 ,笔者针对上述原因 ,给出了一种新的应用模糊理论的算法 ,将传统的模糊控制理论用神经网络优化后 ,能更加方便地应用于非线性系统建模 ,利用给出的新的学习规则 ,可以用竞争学习为训练样本的输入空间进行聚类 ,然后为其确定区域划分边界。将该法运用于水坝的安全管理上 ,将得到的训练网络用实际的历史记录数据验证。结果表明差距很小 ,证明了该方法的正确性 ,将其应用于大坝的安全监控和事故预测方面将会有很好的发展前景。     

ALLOCATION MODEL FOR IRRIGATION WATER COST: CASE STUDY OF THE NILE VALLEY IN EGYPT1

ABSTRACT: An allocation model for irrigation water cost, based on the Use of Facilities method, is presented. The model is developed for large-scale irrigation systems which may include multipurpose reservoirs, irrigation control works, pump stations and irrigation canals of various orders. The model accounts for the water conveyance losses as well as the water gains in the irrigation canals, and their effects on irrigation cost. It is applied to the irrigation distribution system of the Nile Valley in Egypt, which contains the High Aswan Dam, 16 irrigation structures, 12 pump stations, and numerous irrigation canals. The irrigation water cost at 29 areas representing the Nile Valley is determined.     

三峡水库生态调度的适应性管理研究

三峡水库的生态调度管理是具有世界难度的动态多目标的决策过程。对三峡水库生态调度的复杂性和管理的不确定性进行分析,提出生态调度适应性管理的基本概念,并构建其理论框架。同时,基于其理论框架深入探讨了三峡水库生态调度的适应性管理需求,认为现阶段需求主要集中在中下游综合性生态流量、水生资源保护、库区水环境保护、中下游干旱及低水位补水、湿地保护5个方面。利用适应性的管理模式,通过持续监测、评价与调整,建立各部门及流域利益相关者参与、协商和交流的平台,以发挥水库最大的综合效益。鉴于目前属于三峡水库试验性蓄水期的阶段性特征认识,加之生态环境影响的滞后性,经济发展、社会转型、认知水平的提高和环保意识的觉醒,需要适应性管理目标随生态调度需求的演替进行不断地调整     

Vegetation Response to Early Holocene Warming as an Analog for Current and Future Changes

Abstract: Temperatures in southwestern North America are projected to increase 3.5–4 °C over the next 60–90 years. This will precipitate ecological shifts as the ranges of species change in response to new climates. During this shift, rapid‐colonizing species should increase, whereas slow‐colonizing species will at first decrease, but eventually become reestablished in their new range. This successional process has been estimated to require from 100 to over 300 years in small areas, under a stable climate, with a nearby seed source. How much longer will it require on a continental scale, under a changing climate, without a nearby seed source? I considered this question through an examination of the response of fossil plant assemblages from the Grand Canyon, Arizona, to the most recent rapid warming of similar magnitude that occurred at the start of the Holocene, 11,700 years ago. At that time, temperatures in southwestern North America increased about 4 °C over less than a century. Grand Canyon plant species responded at different rates to this warming climate. Early‐successional species rapidly increased, whereas late‐successional species decreased. This shift persisted throughout the next 2700 years. I found two earlier, less‐extreme species shifts following rapid warming events around 14,700 and 16,800 years ago. Late‐successional species predominated only after 4000 years or more of relatively stable temperature. These results suggest the potential magnitude, duration, and nature of future ecological changes and have implications for conservation plans, especially those incorporating equilibrium assumptions or reconstituting past conditions. When these concepts are extended to include the most rapid early‐successional colonizers, they imply that the recent increases in invasive exotics may be only the most noticeable part of a new resurgence of early‐successional vegetation. Additionally, my results challenge the reliability of models of future vegetation and carbon balance that project conditions on the basis of assumptions of equilibrium within only a century.     

一种机械化抢堵堤防溃口方法的探讨

根据对溃口处流速的估算及船舶编队后的阻力初步估计,提出用打桩船队打桩作业的方法来抢堵溃口。此法可获巨大的社会效益和经济效益,而投入甚微。所提出的系驳方法,对船队稳性有极大的提高,克服了抢险的危险性。笔者建议进行必要的流体力学试验,使此法在科学、安全的基础上更臻完善。此法以长江水患溃堤事故为例,探讨并提出了一种机械化抢堵堤防溃口的方法,对有溃口可能的江河均有参考价值。     

三峡工程对两湖的生态影响

长江干流的渔业捕捞量从1954年的43万t下降到2011年的8万t,降幅达81%,而两湖(洞庭湖和鄱阳湖)的渔业捕捞量分别在2~4万t之间波动。三峡大坝对洞庭湖三口径流量的影响有限,但使江水倒灌鄱阳湖的天数和水量进一步降低。长江来水占洞庭湖径流量的30%,而在鄱阳湖中仅有0.1%,因此,对维持长江干流的渔业资源(特别是产漂流性卵鱼类)来说,洞庭湖的重要性远超鄱阳湖。干流渔业资源的衰退主要是江湖阻隔的结果,虽然过度捕捞起到了推波助澜的作用,因此,即使在干流休渔十年,也未必能使长江的渔业资源大幅回升。如果在两湖建闸,长江渔业资源的衰退将会进一步加剧,江豚的灭绝可能难以避免,因此,维持两湖与长江的生态联系,对长江干流生物多样性的维持至关重要。