Influences of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Projects on Runoff in Qingjiang River Upstream Basin
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Journal of Earth Science, Vol. 27, No. 1, p. 110–116, February 2016 ISSN 1674-487X Printed in China DOI: 10.1007/s12583-016-0640-5 Influences of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Projects on Runoff in Qingjiang River Upstream Basin Yi Sun1, 2, Junwei Wan*1, Songyuan Yang3, Xinghua Xue2, Kun Huang1 1. School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China 2. School of Biological Science and Technology, Hubei University for Nationalities, Enshi 445000, China 3. Enshi Autonomous Prefecture Hydrographic and Water Resources Survey Bureau, Enshi 445000, China ABSTRACT: Hydrological data on the Upper Qingjiang River from 1960 to 2012 document trends of runoff caused by hydropower engineering projects and long-term changes in rainfall. Annual runoff correlates strongly with annual precipitation, but is significantly reduced after reservoir construction compared to earlier values. Comparisons of intense, pre- and post-construction rainfall events suggest that the Chebahe and Dalongtan reservoir projects respectively clips the magnitude of the flood peaks and delays runoff delivery. KEY WORDS: Qingjiang River, water conservancy, hydropower project, runoff characteristics, hy- drological response, rainfall intensity. 0 INTRODUCTION west to east through Lichuan, Enshi, Xuanen, Jianshi, Badong, Precise runoff calculations are essential to flood forecast- Changyang, Yidu, ultimately joining the Yangtze River at Lu ing. Many studies have demonstrated that climate change Town. The drainage area is 16 700 km2, and along its total (Zhang Y et al., 2014; Zhang S Q et al., 2013; Crosbie et al., length of 423 km the river falls 1 430 m. Paleozoic and Meso- 2010; Mileham et al., 2009) and human activities, especially zoic carbonates underlie about 70% of the Qingjiang River Ba- water conservancy and hydropower projects, influence runoff. sin, and the principal geomorphic features are peak-cluster de- Several studies (e.g., Pan et al., 2016; Hasenmueller and Criss, pressions and peak-cluster trough valleys. Surface karst depres- 2012) show that annual runoff in river basins is correlated with sions, funnels, rift valleys, trough valley slopes, karst caves and the amount of precipitation received. Other research shows that underground rivers are well developed (Wang and Wan, 1999; human activities are more important (Ling et al., 2014; Zhou et Shen, 1996). al., 2012; Xu, 2011; Dobrovolski, 2007; Su et al., 2007; Is- Qingjiang River can be divided into three sections: a maiylov and Fedorov, 2001). For example, several studies on headwater section that extends from the divide to Enshi city, a rainfall and runoff trends conclude that annual rainfall has no middle section that extends from Enshi to Longzhouping Town obvious change on runoff, while great changes are caused by in Changyang County, and a lower section stretching from water conservancy projects (Huang et al., 2002; Liu and Li, Longzhouping to the estuary. This paper uses the Enshi Hydro- 2002; Ren et al., 2001). This paper uses long-term data on flow logical Station at the base of the upper section (as Fig. 1) as an and precipitation to analyze the influence of water conservancy example; the watershed above this site has an area of 2 928 km2 and hydropower projects on the magnitude and delivery of ru- that contains a river length of 153 km with a steep average noff in the Upper Qingjiang River Basin. slope of 6.5‰. Carbonate rocks underlie 56% of the upper ba- sin which consequently has well developed karst features in- 1 STUDY AREA, DATA SOURCES AND METHODS cluding underground rivers and blind valleys (Chang et al., 1.1 Study Area 2012; Wang and Shen, 1995). Qingjiang River, located in the southwest part of Hubei The development of water resources and hydropower in Province, is the fourth largest tributary in the middle reaches of the Qingjiang River upstream of Enshi began with the 1964 the Yangtze River, contributing flows exceeded only by those construction of the Sanduxia Hydropower Station. Projects re- from Poyang Lake, Dongting Lake and the Han River. Qingjiang mained small until the medium-sized Chebahe Reservoir was River rises in Longdong Ravinel at the eastern foot of Qiyue- built in 1985. The combination of projects detailed in Table 1 shan in Lichuan City, Hubei Province. The river flows from has modified the response of the basin to rainfall. This paper analyzes the runoff changes before and after *Corresponding author: [email protected] the construction of the medium-sized Chebahe and Dalongtan © China University of Geosciences and Springer-Verlag Berlin reservoirs. The developments in the Upper Qingjiang River Ba- Heidelberg 2016 sin can be divided into a slow early stage (1960–1984) and a subsequent period of faster development that includes some Manuscript received October 1, 2014. larger projects (1985–2006; Table 1). Manuscript accepted December 23, 2014. Sun, Y., Wan, J. W., Yang, S. Y., et al., 2016. Influences of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Projects on Runoff in Qingjiang River Upstream Basin. Journal of Earth Science, 27(1): 110–116. doi:10.1007/s12583-016-0640-5. http://en.earth-science.net Influences of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Projects on Runoff in Qingjiang River Upstream Basin 111 Table 1 Qingjiang River upstream water conservancy and hydropower projects statistics Number Built Name Reservoir Hydropower station time Total capacity Surface area (m2) Type Size (104 m3) 1 1964 Sanduxia Hydropower Station 564 0.19×106 Storage plants Small 2 1971 Chebahe III Stage Hydropower Station -- -- Run-of river station plants Small 3 1976 Luojiatian Reservoir 114 0.15×106 -- -- 4 1976 Huangnipo Reservoir 516 0.27×106 -- -- 5 1982 Longwangtang Hydropower Station -- -- Storage plants Small 6 1984 Huajiaoba Reservoir 104 0.23×106 -- -- 7 1985 Chebahe I Stage Hydropower Station 5 924 1.73×106 Storage plants Medium 8 1986 Chebahe II Stage Hydropower Station -- -- Run-of river station plants Small 9 1987 Dahepian Hydropower Station -- -- Run-of river station plants Small 10 1987 Xuezhaohe Hydropower Station -- -- Run-of river station plants Small 11 1993 Tianloudizhen Hydropower Station -- -- Run-of river station plants Medium 12 2001 Yunlonghe I Stage Hydropower Station -- -- Run-of river station plants Small 13 2006 Dalongtan Water Conservancy Hub Project 5 200 1.23×106 Storage plants Medium 108º38′ 109º32′ E ′ Xinbanqiao 30º33 N Surface stream Medium resevior Precipitation station Hydrologic station Longqiao River Small reservoir ChangpianDishuiyan River City Daishui River Yunlong River Huishui River Qingjiang River Mazhe Dalongtan Resevior Qiyueshan Sanduxia Resevior Tuanbao Luojiaotian Resevior Qingjiang River Lichuan Huannipo Resevior Enshi Wangying ` Zhongxiao River Yasongxi River River Huajiaoba Resevior N Chebahe Resevior Chebahe River SanbujieMaqian Jiantianba 0 7.2 km ′ 30º09 Figure 1. The sketch map of the Qingjiang River Basin and location of rainfall and hydrological stations. 1.2 Data Sources and Methods rain storms were calculated by curve integration. The hydrologic data are from the Enshi Autonomous Pre- fecture Hydrographic and Water Resources Survey Bureau. 2 ANALYSIS OF CHARACTERISTICS OF RAINFALL Eleven rainfall stations record precipitation data and one hy- AND RUNOFF drological station measured runoff from 1960–2012 (Table 2). 2.1 Rainfall Daily precipitation amounts were summed to obtain monthly 2.1.1 Annual rainfall variations and annual values. The mean precipitation for the Upper Qing- The Upper Qingjiang River Basin is a steep area of karst jiang River Basin was derived using Theissen polygons (Lin et mountains and deep valleys, which for many years has had ab- al., 2003; Xu et al., 2001). Discharge at a given hydrological undant rainfall with an annual average rainfall of 1 470 mm. station is computed from measurements of velocity and depth Figure 2 shows that rainfall amounts in the upper basin tended at a cross section near the recorder. Trend lines (Li M X et al., to rise from the early 1960s through the 1980s, but this trend 2014; Li Z J et al., 2012; Xie et al., 2009; Hu et al., 2007; Wu, was punctuated by large fluctuations. Following a dip in the 1993; Ray et al., 1982) were used to quantify runoff and rain- early 1990’s, rainfall has fluctuated about a rather flat trend. fall tendencies from 1960 to 2012. The flood flows following 112 Yi Sun, Junwei Wan, Songyuan Yang, Xinghua Xue and Kun Huang 2.1.2 Monthly rainfall distribution 2.2 Long-Term Runoff Variations The rich basin rainfall is unevenly distributed over the Average flow of the Qingjiang River measured at the En- year, being heaviest in April to October. Precipitation during shi Hydroelectric Station from 1960–2012 (Fig. 2) is about 88.2 June and July generally exceeds 200 mm, with July typically m3/s, but exhibits large variations and a gentle decreasing trend. being the heaviest month. Winter rainfall amounts are lower, The 1960s featured sharp fluctuations ranging from 48.3 m3/s with January having the least at only 20–30 mm (Fig. 3). The in 1966 to 102.3 m3/s in 1967. Since 1983 the average flow at wettest six months from April to September account for about Enshi has tended to decline but inter-annual fluctuations have 76% of the total annual rainfall, while the dry season from Oc- remained large. Average flows at Enshi have decreased from tober to March receives the remaining 24% (Fig. 3). about 84.3 m3/s in 1990 to 71.3 m3/s in 2011. In short, Fig. 2 shows that both rainfall and runoff have tended to decrease over several decades