A Case Study for the Yangtze River Basin Yang
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RESERVOIR DELINEATION AND CUMULATIVE IMPACTS ASSESSMENT IN LARGE RIVER BASINS: A CASE STUDY FOR THE YANGTZE RIVER BASIN YANG XIANKUN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2014 RESERVOIR DELINEATION AND CUMULATIVE IMPACTS ASSESSMENT IN LARGE RIVER BASINS: A CASE STUDY FOR THE YANGTZE RIVER BASIN YANG XIANKUN (M.Sc. Wuhan University) A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHYLOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2014 Declaration I hereby declare that this thesis is my original work and it has been written by me in its entirety. I have duly acknowledged all the sources of information which have been used in the thesis. This thesis has also not been submitted for any degree in any university previously. ___________ ___________ Yang Xiankun 7 August, 2014 I Acknowledgements I would like to first thank my advisor, Professor Lu Xixi, for his intellectual support and attention to detail throughout this entire process. Without his inspirational and constant support, I would never have been able to finish my doctoral research. In addition, brainstorming and fleshing out ideas with my committee, Dr. Liew Soon Chin and Prof. David Higgitt, was invaluable. I appreciate the time they have taken to guide my work and have enjoyed all of the discussions over the years. Many thanks go to the faculty and staff of the Department of Geography, the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and the National University of Singapore for their administrative and financial support. My thanks also go to my friends, including Lishan, Yingwei, Jinghan, Shaoda, Suraj, Trinh, Seonyoung, Swehlaing, Hongjuan, Linlin, Nick and Yikang, for the camaraderie and friendship over the past four years. This thesis could not have been conducted without the unflagging and generous support (both material and intellectual) from the staff of the Changjiang (Yangtze) Water Resources Commission. I thank Drs. Ouyang Zhang, Quanxi Xu and the staff from many dam management offices for their generous assistance for my field work and data collection. I also received invaluable assistance from Ms Lee Poi Leng, Mr. Lee Choon Yoong and Ms Wong Lai Wa and other staff in the Department of Geography. They always guided me in negotiating many of the necessary bureaucratic hurdles and mandates required of students in the Ph.D. program. Their limitless patience and sense of humor allowed me to keep my sanity and levelheadedness. Finally, I would like to express my deep appreciation for my family and friends for their continuous support during my doctoral years. They have been a major source of inspiration and are immensely proud of what I have achieved. II Table of contents Declaration ....................................................................................................................... I Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... II Table of contents ........................................................................................................... III Summary .................................................................................................................... VIII List of Tables ................................................................................................................... X List of Figures .............................................................................................................. XII List of Acronyms and Symbols ................................................................................. XIX 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 General background ....................................................................................... 1 1.2 Justification for the study area ..................................................................... 11 1.3 Objectives and significance ......................................................................... 13 1.4 Research questions and framework of the methodology ............................. 15 1.5 Arrangement and structure of the dissertation ............................................. 16 2 Brief literature review ........................................................................................... 20 2.1 Cumulative impacts assessment at a basin-wide scale ................................ 20 2.2 Dam spatial configuration and impact on water regulation ......................... 25 2.3 Cumulative impacts on sediment trapping ................................................... 28 2.4 Cumulative impacts on river connectivity and river landscape fragmentation 33 2.5 The overlooked role of small reservoirs ...................................................... 39 3 Description of the Yangtze River basin ............................................................... 42 3.1 Geography .................................................................................................... 42 3.2 Climate ......................................................................................................... 47 3.3 Hydrology .................................................................................................... 49 3.4 Geology ........................................................................................................ 55 3.5 Major anthropogenic activities .................................................................... 58 III 3.5.1 Deforestation in the upper Yangtze reach ........................................ 58 3.5.2 Soil and water conservation in the upper Yangtze reach ................. 60 3.5.3 Dam and reservoir construction ....................................................... 62 3.5.4 Land reclamation and lake shrinkage .............................................. 64 4 Reservoir delineation and water regulation assessment .................................... 66 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 66 4.2 Data and methods ......................................................................................... 67 4.2.1 Data sources and data preprocessing ............................................... 67 4.2.2 Water body detection and classification ........................................... 69 4.2.3 Estimating reservoir and lake storage capacity ................................ 74 4.3 Results .......................................................................................................... 77 4.3.1 Quantity and surface area of delineated lakes and reservoirs .......... 77 4.3.2 Spatial distribution of lakes and reservoirs ...................................... 82 4.3.3 Estimated volume of lakes and reservoirs ....................................... 86 4.4 Discussion .................................................................................................... 87 4.4.1 Accuracy assessment ....................................................................... 87 4.4.2 Changes in the lakes and reservoirs ................................................. 94 4.4.3 Potential impacts of the lakes and reservoirs ................................... 99 4.5 Summary and conclusions ......................................................................... 104 5 Estimate of cumulative sediment retention by multiple reservoirs ................ 106 5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 106 5.2 Data and methods ....................................................................................... 108 5.2.1 Data sources and data processing .................................................. 108 5.2.2 Sediment yield prediction .............................................................. 111 5.2.3 Estimating reservoir sedimentation for representative reservoirs .. 113 5.2.4 Estimating reservoir sedimentation in a multi-reservoir system .... 114 5.2.5 Estimating reservoir sedimentation in small reservoirs ................. 116 5.3 Results ........................................................................................................ 118 5.3.1 Established multiple regression models for each sub-basins ......... 118 IV 5.3.2 Quantity of cumulative sediment trapping by reservoirs ............... 121 5.3.3 Cumulative sediment trapping in different reaches ....................... 125 5.4 Discussion .................................................................................................. 128 5.4.1 Uncertainty and limitations of the model ....................................... 128 5.4.2 Loss of reservoir storage ................................................................ 132 5.4.3 Complexities in river response to sediment trapping ..................... 136 5.5 Summary and conclusions ......................................................................... 140 6 Assessing the cumulative impacts of large dams on river connectivity and river landscape fragmentation ........................................................................... 142 6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 142 6.2 Data and methods ....................................................................................... 145 6.2.1 Data sources and data processing .................................................. 145 6.2.2 Theoretical framework and definition of geospatial metrics ......... 147 6.3 Results .......................................................................................................