Impacts of Three Gorges Reservoir on the sedimentation regimes in the downstream-linked two largest Chinese freshwater lakes

Yongqiang  Zhou; Erik Jeppesen; Jingbao Li; Yunlin Zhang; Xinping Zhang; Xichun Li

doi:10.1038/srep35396

Impacts of Three Gorges Reservoir on the sedimentation regimes in the downstream-linked two largest Chinese freshwater lakes

Yongqiang Zhou, Erik Jeppesen, Jingbao Li, Yunlin Zhang, Xinping Zhang, Xichun Li

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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Abstract

We studied the impacts of Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) on the sedimentation regimes in the downstreamlinked two largest Chinese freshwater lakes, Lake Dongting and Lake Poyang. Our results indicate that up to 1.73 × 10 ⁹ t sediment was retained in TGR from June 2003 to December 2014. This resulted in a 145.9 × 10 ⁶t yr ^-1 decline in the suspended sediment load at Zhicheng and a 16.8 × 10 ⁶tyr ^-1 lower sediment flow from Yangtze River to Lake Dongting, which partially explains the 13.4 × 10 ⁶tyr ^-1 lower sedimentation in Lake Dongting during the post-TGR period. Furthermore, TGR resulted in a 0.5 ± 0.3 m reduction of the multi-year mean water level at the Lake Poyang outlet Hukou, accelerating the suspended sediment export discharge from the lake. The reduced sedimentation in Lake Poyang during the post-TGR period was estimated to 6.3 × 10 ⁶tyr ^-1. We estimate that a monthly mean concentration of sediment flow from TGR below 0.60 kg m ^-3 will lead to erosion in Lake Dongting and Lake Poyang. Better regulation of TGR may extend the life expectancy of the two vanishing large lakes.

Original language	English
Article number	35396
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	6
Number of pages	10
ISSN	2045-2322
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/srep35396
Publication status	Published - 17 Oct 2016

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title = "Impacts of Three Gorges Reservoir on the sedimentation regimes in the downstream-linked two largest Chinese freshwater lakes",

abstract = "We studied the impacts of Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) on the sedimentation regimes in the downstreamlinked two largest Chinese freshwater lakes, Lake Dongting and Lake Poyang. Our results indicate that up to 1.73 × 10 9 t sediment was retained in TGR from June 2003 to December 2014. This resulted in a 145.9 × 10 6t yr -1 decline in the suspended sediment load at Zhicheng and a 16.8 × 10 6tyr -1 lower sediment flow from Yangtze River to Lake Dongting, which partially explains the 13.4 × 10 6tyr -1 lower sedimentation in Lake Dongting during the post-TGR period. Furthermore, TGR resulted in a 0.5 ± 0.3 m reduction of the multi-year mean water level at the Lake Poyang outlet Hukou, accelerating the suspended sediment export discharge from the lake. The reduced sedimentation in Lake Poyang during the post-TGR period was estimated to 6.3 × 10 6tyr -1. We estimate that a monthly mean concentration of sediment flow from TGR below 0.60 kg m -3 will lead to erosion in Lake Dongting and Lake Poyang. Better regulation of TGR may extend the life expectancy of the two vanishing large lakes.",

author = "Yongqiang Zhou and Erik Jeppesen and Jingbao Li and Yunlin Zhang and Xinping Zhang and Xichun Li",

year = "2016",

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doi = "10.1038/srep35396",

language = "English",

volume = "6",

journal = "Scientific Reports",

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Impacts of Three Gorges Reservoir on the sedimentation regimes in the downstream-linked two largest Chinese freshwater lakes. / Zhou, Yongqiang; Jeppesen, Erik; Li, Jingbao et al.
In: Scientific Reports, Vol. 6, 35396, 17.10.2016.

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

TY - JOUR

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AU - Zhou, Yongqiang

AU - Jeppesen, Erik

AU - Li, Jingbao

AU - Zhang, Yunlin

AU - Zhang, Xinping

AU - Li, Xichun

PY - 2016/10/17

Y1 - 2016/10/17

N2 - We studied the impacts of Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) on the sedimentation regimes in the downstreamlinked two largest Chinese freshwater lakes, Lake Dongting and Lake Poyang. Our results indicate that up to 1.73 × 10 9 t sediment was retained in TGR from June 2003 to December 2014. This resulted in a 145.9 × 10 6t yr -1 decline in the suspended sediment load at Zhicheng and a 16.8 × 10 6tyr -1 lower sediment flow from Yangtze River to Lake Dongting, which partially explains the 13.4 × 10 6tyr -1 lower sedimentation in Lake Dongting during the post-TGR period. Furthermore, TGR resulted in a 0.5 ± 0.3 m reduction of the multi-year mean water level at the Lake Poyang outlet Hukou, accelerating the suspended sediment export discharge from the lake. The reduced sedimentation in Lake Poyang during the post-TGR period was estimated to 6.3 × 10 6tyr -1. We estimate that a monthly mean concentration of sediment flow from TGR below 0.60 kg m -3 will lead to erosion in Lake Dongting and Lake Poyang. Better regulation of TGR may extend the life expectancy of the two vanishing large lakes.

AB - We studied the impacts of Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) on the sedimentation regimes in the downstreamlinked two largest Chinese freshwater lakes, Lake Dongting and Lake Poyang. Our results indicate that up to 1.73 × 10 9 t sediment was retained in TGR from June 2003 to December 2014. This resulted in a 145.9 × 10 6t yr -1 decline in the suspended sediment load at Zhicheng and a 16.8 × 10 6tyr -1 lower sediment flow from Yangtze River to Lake Dongting, which partially explains the 13.4 × 10 6tyr -1 lower sedimentation in Lake Dongting during the post-TGR period. Furthermore, TGR resulted in a 0.5 ± 0.3 m reduction of the multi-year mean water level at the Lake Poyang outlet Hukou, accelerating the suspended sediment export discharge from the lake. The reduced sedimentation in Lake Poyang during the post-TGR period was estimated to 6.3 × 10 6tyr -1. We estimate that a monthly mean concentration of sediment flow from TGR below 0.60 kg m -3 will lead to erosion in Lake Dongting and Lake Poyang. Better regulation of TGR may extend the life expectancy of the two vanishing large lakes.

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Impacts of Three Gorges Reservoir on the sedimentation regimes in the downstream-linked two largest Chinese freshwater lakes

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