人类活动对河湖水系连通的影响评估

Quantitative evaluation of human activities affecting an interconnected river system network

河湖水系承载着人类赖以生存的水资源,也支撑着经济社会的可持续发展。在自然因素和人类活动双重影响下,河湖水系不断发生着改变,也影响着人类生存和发展。特别是在人类活动日益剧烈的背景下,研究人类活动对河湖水系连通的影响是一个非常重要的科研问题,也是河湖水系连通工程实践的一个关键问题。本文从自然和人工两个方面分析了河湖水系连通的影响因素,阐述了人类活动对河湖水系连通的影响过程,并从河湖水系连通关系、河湖水系功能(自然角度)、河湖水系连通功能(社会角度)三个方面归纳了人类活动的正负面影响;在此基础上,提出了有针对性的影响量化评估方法,便于宏观角度量化和分析人类活动对河湖水系连通的影响。本研究以人类活动剧烈的淮河流域为实例应用,分析了人类活动对淮河水系的影响评价结果。

The natural river system, which is inherently interconnected, is an essential resource for human and economic society. Beyond water, and the flows of substance(e.g. sediment,contaminant), energy(e.g. streamflow velocity), and information(e.g. livelihood and activity)are exchanged in an interconnected river system. However, under the joint influences of natural evolution and human activities, the natural river system has been and is being changed.Particularly, water-related human activities in recent years are frequent and highly intensified,such as the water allocation projects and man-made reservoirs. Therefore, research on the evaluation of human activities affecting the interconnected river system network(IRSN) is needed to technically support the relevant practices. This study analyzed the affecting factors of IRSN from two perspectives: natural perspective and social perspective. The processes of human activities affecting the IRSN were theoretically explained. On this basis, both the positive and negative influences of human activities on IRSN were summarized in three aspects: interconnected-river-system-network function relationship, rivers-lake-system natural function, and interconnected-river-system-network function. To this end, the study proposed a quantitative evaluation method to assess human activities affecting the IRSN in the above three aspects. As the Huaihe River basin was severely influenced by human activities, we applied the evaluation method in this basin. Results show that human activities contributed to the interconnected-river-system-network function, meaning that possible influences on water scarcity and flood protection were generated in improving the complexity of man-made river system. Meanwhile, slight negative influences on the rivers-lake-system natural function were reported, as downstream aquatic life and surrounding environment were affected by the flow changes of water, substance and information. Together with characteristics of the Huaihe River basin, the overall quantitative evaluation results suggested that stepping up the efforts to protect the environment could further positively influence the IRSN in the Huaihe River basin. This study sheds new light on our understanding and quantitative evaluation of the influence of human activities on the IRSN.