Dams in the Amazon: Belo Monte and Brazil’s Hydroelectric Development of the Xingu River Basin

Hydroelectric dams represent major investments and major sources of environmental and social impacts. Powerful forces surround the decision-making process on public investments in the various options for the generation and conservation of electricity. Brazil’s proposed Belo Monte Dam (formerly Kararaô) and its upstream counterpart, the Altamira Dam (better known by its former name of Babaquara) are at the center of controversies on the decision-making process for major infrastructure projects in Amazonia. The Belo Monte Dam by itself would have a small reservoir area (440 km²) and large installed capacity (11, 181.3 MW), but the Altamira/Babaquara Dam that would regulate the flow of the Xingu River (thereby increasing power generation at Belo Monte) would flood a vast area (6140 km²). The great impact of dams provides a powerful reason for Brazil to reassess its current policies that allocate large amounts of energy in the country’s national grid to subsidized aluminum smelting for export. The case of Belo Monte and the five additional dams planned upstream (including the Altamira/Babaquara Dam) indicate the need for Brazil to reform its environmental assessment and licensing system to include the impacts of multiple interdependent projects.     

TUGAI: An Integrated Simulation Tool for Ecological Assessment of Alternative Water Management Strategies in a Degraded River Delta

The development of ecologically sound water allocation strategies that account for the needs of riverine ecosystems is a pressing issue, especially in semiarid river basins. In the Aral Sea Basin, a search for strategies to mitigate ecological and socioeconomic deterioration has been in process since the early 1990s. The Geographic Information System–based simulation tool TUGAI has been developed to support the policy determination process by providing a simple, problem-oriented method to assess ecological effects of alternative water management strategies for the Amudarya River. It combines a multiobjective water allocation model with simple, spatially explicit statistical and rule-based models of landscape dynamics. Changes in environmental conditions are evaluated by a fuzzy habitat suitability index for Populus euphratica, which is the dominant species of the characteristic riverine Tugai forests. Water management scenarios can be developed by altering spatiotemporal water distribution in the delta area or the amount of water inflow into the delta. Outcomes of scenario analysis are qualitative comparisons of the ecological effects of different options for a time period of up to 28 years. The given approach utilizes different types of knowledge, from quantitative hydrological data to qualitative local expert knowledge. The main purpose of the tool is to integrate the knowledge in a comprehensive way to make it available for discussions on alternative policies in moderated workshops with stakeholders. In this article, the modules of the tool, their integration, and three hypothetical scenarios are presented. Based on the experience gained when developing the TUGAI tool, we propose that the general framework can be transferred to other areas where tradeoffs in water allocation between the environment and other water users are of major concern. The potential for a simulation tool to structure and inform a complex resource management situation by involving local experts and stakeholders in the development of possible future scenarios will become increasingly valuable for transparent and participatory resource management.     

Assessing the Effects of Alternative Setback Channel Constraint Scenarios Employing a River Meander Migration Model

River channel migration and cutoff events within large river riparian corridors create heterogeneous and biologically diverse landscapes. However, channel stabilization (riprap and levees) impede the formation and maintenance of riparian areas. These impacts can be mitigated by setting channel constraints away from the channel. Using a meander migration model to measure land affected, we examined the relationship between setback distance and riparian and off-channel aquatic habitat formation on a 28-km reach of the Sacramento River, California, USA. We simulated 100 years of channel migration and cutoff events using 11 setback scenarios: 1 with existing riprap and 10 assuming setback constraints from about 0.5 to 4 bankfull channel widths (bankfull width: 235 m) from the channel. The percentage of land reworked by the river in 100 years relative to current (riprap) conditions ranged from 172% for the 100-m constraint setback scenario to 790% for the 800-m scenario. Three basic patterns occur as the setback distance increases due to different migration and cutoff dynamics: complete restriction of cutoffs, partial restriction of cutoffs, and no restriction of cutoffs. Complete cutoff restriction occurred at distances less than about one bankfull channel width (235 m), and no cutoff restriction occurred at distances greater than about three bankfull widths (∼700 m). Managing for point bars alone allows the setbacks to be narrower than managing for cutoffs and aquatic habitat. Results suggest that site-specific “restriction of cutoff” thresholds can be identified to optimize habitat benefits versus cost of acquired land along rivers affected by migration processes.     

Catchment-Wide Wetland Assessment and Prioritization Using the Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Method TOPSIS

It is widely accepted that wetland ecosystems are under threat worldwide. Many communities are now trying to establish wetland rehabilitation programs, but are confounded by a lack of objective information on wetland condition or significance. In this study, a multi-criteria decision-making method, TOPSIS (the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution), was adapted to assist in the role of assessing wetland condition and rehabilitation priority in the Clarence River Catchment (New South Wales, Australia). Using 13 GIS data layers that described wetland character, wetland protection, and wetland threats, the wetlands were ranked in terms of condition. Through manipulation of the original model, the wetlands were prioritized for rehabilitation. The method offered a screening tool for the managers in choosing potential candidate wetlands for rehabilitation in a region.     

重庆长江广阳岛生态修复设计与实践探索

广阳岛的生态修复设计以"长江风景眼,重庆生态岛"为价值追求,聚焦"生态"和"风景".生态修复设计围绕"摸清本底、自然恢复、生态修复、增加生物多样性"四个核心方面展开,通过运用土壤改良技术、海绵理水技术和生态疏田技术等生态修复技术提升生态修复科技内涵,使生态修复后的广阳岛以生态为魂、以风景为象.一期按照四种模式完成生态修...     

赣南小流域的水文地球化学特征和主要风化过程

对赣南花岗岩小流域进行采样、测试及分析,发现其河水含有较低的矿化度,水化学组成以Na ,Ca2 ,Cl-1和HCO-3为主,溶解性Si的含量明显较高,代表了典型硅酸盐地区河流的相应化学组成.通过Gibbs图分析,赣南流域大部分地区受大气降水的影响比较显著,"蒸发-浓缩"类型的小流域也较多.根据主成分分析和因子分析的结果,定量地估算了大气中CO2和三类岩石对河水中各种离子的贡献比例.与黄河相比,赣南流域受硅酸盐岩风化作用强烈,但主要影响因素仍是碳酸盐和蒸发盐岩,二者对赣南流域溶解质的贡献率分别为42.8%和29.2%,大气中CO2对河水溶解质的贡献率为21.4%,低于世界平均水平.主要风化反应以岩盐和方解石的溶解为主,Si/(Na* K)比值较低,说明风化反应在表生环境中进行,其产物是富含阳离子的次生矿物.     

土地利用/覆盖变化对长江上游非点源污染影响研究

在国内外相关研究的基础上,利用输出系数模型,结合RS和GIS技术,对长江上游的非点源污染负荷进行了空间模拟和负荷估算.模拟结果表明,在不考虑流域损失的前提下,由于土地利用造成的非点源污染负荷TN总量从20世纪70年代的123万t下降至2000年的116万t,基本呈逐年减少的趋势,由土地利用造成的TP的变化趋势与TN基本相同,从70年代的3.7万t下降到2000年的3.5万t左右.就省份、土地利用类型和水系而言,四川省、种植用地和草地以及金沙江水系和嘉陵江水系对长江上游的非点源污染贡献较大.在非点源污染负荷强度上,重庆市和嘉陵江水系单位面积负荷最高,是今后应重点治理的地区.结果表明,该模型可以对长江上游这样的超大尺度空间的非点源污染进行较好的空间模拟.     

长江流域点源氮磷营养盐的排放、模型及预测

通过分析1985～2003年长江流域向河口/东海排放的点源营养盐的时空变化规律,建立长江点源营养盐排放模型,并预测2020年长江流域点源氮磷排放情况.模型基于人口密度、国内生产总值、人均氮磷排放量、以及污水处理率等因子,在99%的置信度上,氮磷模型的方差解释量分别达到92.3%及93.2%.基于此模型预测2020年长江流域点源氮排放量将达到(95 9±6 6)×104t,点源磷排放量达到(12.3±0.6)×104t.此外,研究结果进一步表明,点源营养盐通量仍然是长江输送营养盐总量的主要部分,是影响河口/近海水质的主要因素.     

黄河河口区域有机污染物的特征分析

对2004年采集于黄河河口区域的水样进行了检测分析共鉴定出有机污染物8类192种,包括VOCs33种、SVOCs159种;其中属美国列出的129种优先控制污染物的有62种,属我国列出的58种优先控制污染物的有33种,属GB3838-2002控制的有31种.定量出的VOCs有19种,主要包括卤代烃类和单环芳香族类,其质量浓度平均值分别为0.683和0.609 μg/L;定量出的SVOCs有69种,主要包括多环芳烃类、酯类、单环芳香族类、卤代烃类、酚类和农药类,其质量浓度平均值分别为0.458,1.011,0.367,0.121,0 220和0.045 μg/L,其中多环芳烃类、酯类和单环芳香族类的污染程度相对较高,分别超标2.857,0.288和0.001～1.543倍.      

基于GIS的北京市妫水河流域水土流失的初步分析

基于ArcGIS空间分析平台和ERDAS空间建模平台,利用水土流失综合指数法,分别以坡度、植被覆盖度和土地利用类型为主要背景因子,分析了北京市妫水河流域水土流失的空间背景特征.结果表明,妫水河流域水土流失的空间背景特征是缓坡、低植被覆盖度和疏林灌草地,而这些特征正是妫水河流域山前洪冲积扇地区的主要特点,缓坡、低植被覆盖度(不考虑城市建成区)和疏林灌草地也主要集中在流域内山前洪冲积扇地区.并提出防治妫水河流域水土流失的有效措施.