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Anthropocene
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ancene
Key Lab of Marine Sedimentology and Environmental Geology, the First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, 6 Xianxialing Road,
Qingdao 266061, China
b
College of Marine Geosciences, Ocean University of China, 238 Songling Road, Qingdao 266100, China
c
Hydrology and Water Resources Survey of the Huanghe, 172 Dongsan Road, Dongying 257091, China
d
State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 3663 Zhongshanbei Road, Shanghai 200062, China
A R T I C L E I N F O
A B S T R A C T
Article history:
Received 11 March 2013
Received in revised form 5 March 2014
Accepted 6 March 2014
Available online 14 March 2014
Large dams on the Chinese Huanghe (Yellow River) have altered its water and sediment uxes,
suspended sediment concentration, grain sizes, and inter-annual patterns of water and sediment
delivery to the sea. Sediment entrapment by the Sanmenxia and Xiaolangdi reserovirs along with
increasing water consumption associated with dam regulation are mainly responsible for curtailed
water and sediment discharges. After Xiaolangdi Reservoir was constructed in 1999, peak ows have
decreased, with low ow (<2000 m3/s) now dominating the Huanghe discharge most of the year. Since
2002, a managed water release system through Xiaolangdi Dam, known as Water-Sediment Modulation
(WSM), has played a vital role in regulating the delivery of material from Huanghe to the sea. The WSM
produces 50% of the annual sediment to the sea, of which 60% derives from scoured coarse sediment
from the riverbed of the lower reaches. The suspended sediment concentration of Huanghe during
operation of the WSM is 17.3 kg/m3, compared with just 6.9 kg/m3 in other times of the year. The WSM
also leads to intense riverbed scouring in the lower reaches, which increases transport capacity and
reduces ood risk. Sediment inlling in the Xiaolangdi Reservoir remains high, however, and riverbed
scouring during the WSM has weakened since 2006. The Huanghe provides an example of management
issues when large dams eventually lose their impoundment.
2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Huanghe (Yellow River)
Dam
Sediment entrapment
Flow regulation
Water-Sediment Modulation
Introduction
Large rivers deliver substantial amounts of terrestrial sediment,
freshwater, and nutrient to the sea, serving as the major linkage
between the continent and the ocean. Inputs of freshwater and
terrestrial sediments have multiple morphological, physical and
bio-geochemical implications for the coastal environment (Chu
et al., 2006; Raymond et al., 2008; Blum and Roberts, 2009; Wang
et al., 2010; Cui and Li, 2011). Riverine material in a large system is
a complex function of hydrologic variables inuenced by a
73
Fig. 1. Map of the Huanghe drainage basin, with locations of major gauging stations and reservoirs. Notably, the Sanmenxia and Xiaolangdi gauging stations are quite near
their dams, about 1300 m downstream. The color scale indicates land elevation in meters (DEM data is available at http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/).
74
Table 1
Reservoir information.
Reservoir
Location
Height (m)
Operation time
Xiaolangdi
Sanmenxia
Liujiaxia
Longyangxia
Middle Reach
Middle Reach
Upper Reach
Upper Reach
870
1000
3440
3773
160
106
147
178
12.7
9.7
5.7
27.6
1999.10
1960.09
1968.10
1986.10
2000.05
1961.04
1969.03
1987.09
Table 2
Average daily water discharge recorded at Huayuankou (HYK) and Lijin (LJ) in different time-periods.
Time period
19501968
19691986
19871999
20002011
HYK non-ood
season
LJ ood
season
LJ non-ood
season
HYK non-ood
season/ood season (%)
2824.2
2180
1224
1151
965.9
812.6
693.3
780.5
2869
1865.7
876.2
908
939.2
570
272
397
26.7
242.6
421.3
383.5
34.2
37.3
56.6
67.8
75
Table 3
Statistics of daily water discharge at Huayuankou (HYK) and Lijin (LJ) gauging stations.
Station
19501968
19691986
19871999
20002011
LJ
>6000
40006000
20004000
155
400
1389
17
187
710
0
14
159
0
0
234
HYK
>6000
40006000
20004000
92
398
1385
44
243
791
5
23
244
0
0
271
Number of days
A 8000
Huayuankou station
1954
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
A
Daily Water Discharge (m3/s)
76
2000
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Oct
Nov Dec
16000
1988
1988
Huayuankou station
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
Flood Feaks
4000
2000
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Oct
1000
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Oct
Nov Dec
7000
Lijin station
1988
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug Sep
Oct
Nov Dec
C 8000
Huayuankou station
2003
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
7000
Lijin station
2003
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
Jan
2000
Time session
18000
16000
3000
Nov Dec
4000
Jan
5000
B 8000
18000
Jan
1954
6000
0
Jan
Lijin station
7000
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Oct
Jan
Nov Dec
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Oct
Nov Dec
Fig. 2. Daily water discharge of the Huanghe at Huayuankou and Lijin gauging stations in 1954, 1988, and 2003, showing stepwise decreases in the amplitudes of ood peaks.
At Huayuankou station, pre-dam discharge levels (19501960) show several ood peaks during the ood season, with extreme peaks approaching 17,000 m3/s (e.g. 1954,
A). In 1988 smaller ood peaks (<7000 m3/s) could be observed (B). In 2003 (after Xiaolangdi Reservoir was constructed), ood peaks >4000 m3/s become non-existent, e.g. in
2003 (C). Lijin station shows a similar pattern.
Table 4
Average suspended sediment concentration and median grain size at Lijin station during 20002012.
Year
3
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
4.57
0.005
4.24
0.029
12.9
0.012
19.2
0.008
13
0.012
9.24
0.018
7.77
0.016
7.21
0.011
5.3
0.012
4.22
0.046
8.66
0.01
5.03
0.021
6.48
0.015
77
120
25
Liujiaxia
(1968)
100
Longyangxia
(1986)
Xiaolangdi
(1999)
water discharge
sediment discharge
80
20
Step 1
15
60
WSM operation
Step 2
10
40
Step 3
Sanmenxia
(1960)
20
0
1950
0
1955
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
Year
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
Fig. 3. Annual water and sediment discharges recorded at Lijin station during 19502012.
sediment from Xiaolangdi to Lijin (see Fig. 4A). Data at Lijin station
reveals that the average grain size of sediment had increased from
an average of 18 mm during 19501999 (Wang et al., 2010), to
24 mm during 20022012 (Table 4).
-3
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
Lijin
Gaocun
20
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
B
25
Dam
entrappment
Averaged SSC
Median grain-size
16
14
20
12
15
10
Riverbed scouring
10
30
Lijin
Fig. 4. Median grain-size of suspended sediment from Caocun to Lijin sampled before WSM in 2002(A) and average suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and median grain
size at the four hydrologic gauging stations during 20022012 (B).
78
Fig. 5. Paired photographs showing the WSM through the Xiaolangdi dam. The right image (B) depicts the sharp contrast between high- and low-turbidity water.
Table 5
Information about the WSM regime during 20022013.
Year
Duration
Discharge
control (m3/s)
Water in
Xiaolangdi
reservoir (108m3)
Released water
from Xiaolangdi
dam (108 m3)
Suspended sediment
concentration control
(kg/m3)
Releasedsediment
(108 t)
Sediment
ux to the
sea (108 t)
Riverbedscoured
sediment (108 t)
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2007
2008
2009
2010
2010
2010
2011
2012
2013
July 4July 21
September 6September 18
June 19July 13
June 15June 30
June 15July 3
June 19July 7
July 29August 7
June 19July 3
June 19July 8
June 19July 7
July 24August 3
August 11August 21
June 19July 12
June 19July 09
June 19July 10
2600
2400
2700
3500
3700
4000
4000
4000
4000
4000
3000
2600
4000
4000
4270
43.41
56.1
66.5
61.6
68.9
43.53
16.61
40.64
47.02
48.48
8.84
11.39
33.8
30
26.06
18.1
44.6
38.0
54.97
39.72
17.32
42.8
50.0
39.48
49.19
56.4
57
20
30
40
40
40
40
40
40
40
40
40
40
40
40
40
0.32
0.733
0.044
0.023
0.084
0.261
0.459
0.476
0.037
0.261
0.487
0.527
0.35
0.78
0.664
1.207
0.697
0.613
0.648
0.524
0.449
0.598
0.345
0.701
0.311
0.434
0.412
0.362
0.456
0.665
0.647
0.601
0.288
0.300
0.201
0.3429
0.242
0.101
0.118
Water-Sediment Modulation
The transport of sediment through river channels has major
consequences for public safety, management of water resources,
and environmental sustainability (Frey and Church, 2009). Severe
inlling of sediment behind dams and the elevated riverbed of the
lower reaches are among the major environmental problems for
the sediment-lled Huanghe. To mitigate further inlling of
sediment, and to scour the elevated river-bed, the Yellow River
Conservancy Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources has
performed WSM annually through the Xiaolangdi Dam since 2002
(Fig. 5). WSM releases the stored water in the Xiaolangdi reservoir
to carry trapped sediment to the lower reaches. This process also
scours the elevated riverbed. The WSM typically uses articial
hyperpycnal ow to facilitate sediment removal from the
Xiaolangdi reservoir. WSM often transfers substantial amounts
of water and sediment between large reservoirs in both the main
river stem and its tributaries. Table 5 lists key information about
WSM regimes during 20022011. Although executed typically
once a year, WSM was performed twice in 2007 and three times in
2010. Moreover, WSM can be performed either before or during the
ood season, with durations of 824 days. The volume of scoured
sediment varies greatly in response to different releasing practices.
And the suspended sediment concentration is controlled lower
than 40 kg/m3.
Information about the WSM regime during 20022013. The
volume of water released from the Xiaolangdi dam through WSM
Fig. 6. Paried HJ-1 CCD images showing the changes of the Xiaolangdi reservoir
before and during operation of the WSM in 2009. The right image shows large
amounts of sediment was delivered to the Xiaolangdi reservoir from the upper
Sanmenxia reservoir.
79
Discussion
Fig. 7. Paired HJ-1 CCD images showing the comparison of the ows in the lower
reaches before and during the WSM. The right image shows more water discharge is
owing in the river channel. The ow becomes more turbid owing to the released
sediment-laden ood-water and intense scouring of the riverbed.
Fig. 8. Combined HJ-1 CCD images showing comparison of sediment plumes at the Huanghe river mouth before and during WSM in 2009 and 2012.
80
Conclusions
The four large dams on the Chinese Huanghe have altered its
water and sediment uxes, suspended sediment concentration,
grain sizes, and inter-annual patterns of water and sediment
delivery to the sea. In detail, the dam effects on the Huanghe can be
summarized as follows:
(1) The four large dams modulate the river ow between wet and
dry seasons. Flow regulations lead to increases in water
consumption over the watershed, a dominant cause for
81
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