Ecologically-friendly operation scheme for the Jinping cascaded reservoirs in the Yalongjiang River, China

Duan CHEN, Qiuwen CHEN, Ruonan LI, Koen BLANCKAERT, Desuo CAI

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PDF(194 KB)
Front. Earth Sci. ›› 2014, Vol. 8 ›› Issue (2) : 282-290. DOI: 10.1007/s11707-013-0396-5
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Ecologically-friendly operation scheme for the Jinping cascaded reservoirs in the Yalongjiang River, China

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Abstract

Ecologically-friendly reservoir operation procedures aim to conserve key ecosystem properties in the rivers, while minimizing the sacrifice of socioeconomic interests. This study focused on the Jinping cascaded reservoirs as a case study. An optimization model was developed to explore a balance between the ecological flow requirement (EFR) of a target fish species (Schizothorax chongi) in the dewatered natural channel section, and annual power production. The EFR for the channel was determined by the Tennant method and a fish habitat model, respectively.βThe optimization model was solved by using an adaptive real-coded genetic algorithm. Several operation scenarios corresponding to the ecological flow series were evaluated using the optimization model. Through comparisons, an optimal operational scheme, which combines relatively low power production loss with a preferred ecological flow regime in the dewatered channel, is proposed for the cascaded reservoirs. Under the recommended scheme, the discharge into the Dahewan river reach in the dry season ranges from 36 to 50 m3/s. This will enable at least 50% of the target fish habitats in the channel to be conserved, at a cost of only 2.5% annual power production loss. The study demonstrates that the use of EFRs is an efficient approach to the optimization of reservoir operation in an ecologically friendly way. Similar modeling, for other important fish species and ecosystem functions, supplemented by field validation of results, is needed in order to secure the long-term conservation of the affected river ecosystem.

Keywords

ecologically-friendly operation / optimization model / ecological flow / Jinping cascaded reservoirs / Schizothorax chongi

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Duan CHEN, Qiuwen CHEN, Ruonan LI, Koen BLANCKAERT, Desuo CAI. Ecologically-friendly operation scheme for the Jinping cascaded reservoirs in the Yalongjiang River, China. Front. Earth Sci., 2014, 8(2): 282‒290 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-013-0396-5

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the financial support of the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2010CB429004), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51279196 and 51109012), the Public Welfare Project (201101005), and the ‘100 Talent Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (A1049)’. Great appreciations are expressed to the anonymous reviewers for the valuable comments and careful corrections.

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2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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