Analyzing environmental flow supply in the semi-arid area through integrating drought analysis and optimal operation of reservoir

This study proposes a novel form of environmental reservoir operation through integrating environmental flow supply,drought analysis,and evolutionary optimization.This study demonstrates that simultaneous supply of downstream environmental flow of reservoir as well as water demand is challenging in the semi-arid area especially in dry years.In this study,water supply and environmental flow supply were 40%and 30%in the droughts,respectively.Moreover,mean errors of supplying water demand as well as environmental flow in dry years were 6 and 9 m3/s,respectively.Hence,these results highlight that ecological stresses of the downstream aquatic habitats as well as water supply loss are considerably escalated in dry years,which implies even using environmental optimal operation is not able to protect downstream aquatic habitats properly in the severe droughts.Moreover,available storage in reservoir will be remarkably reduced(averagely more than 30×106 m3 compared with optimal storage equal to 70×106 m3),which implies strategic storage of reservoir might be threatened.Among used evolutionary algorithms,particle swarm optimization(PSO)was selected as the best algorithm for solving the novel proposed objective function.The significance of this study is to propose a novel objective function to optimize reservoir operation in which environmental flow supply is directly addressed and integrated with drought analysis.This novel form of optimization system can overcome uncertainties of the conventional objective function due to considering environmental flow in the objective function as well as drought analysis in the context of reservoir operation especially applicable in semi-arid areas.The results indicate that using either other water resources for water supply or reducing water demand is the only solution for managing downstream ecological impacts of the river ecosystem.In other words,the results highlighted that replanning of water resources in the study area is necessary.Replacing the conventional optimization system for reservoir operation in the semi-arid area with proposed optimization system is recommendable to minimize the negotiations between stakeholders and environmental managers.

Bridging gaps between environmental flows theory and practices in China

In recent decades,a series of policies and practices for environmental flows(e-flows)have been implemented in China,with the sustainable development goal of balancing the utilization and protection of water resources among social,economic,and ecological needs.The aims of this study were to determine the main challenges and issues in e-flows implementation at different scales by analyzing policies and practices for eflows in China,and to propose some recommendations for bridging the gaps between the science and implementation of e-flows.The gaps between the science and implementation of e-flows were found after review of literature,policies,and practices,and it was found that ecological flow was a more widely used term by the government,rather than e-flows,in implementation.The plans and effects of e-flows implementation are discussed in this paper and challenges of e-flows implementation are recognized:(1)limited water resources and uneven spatial and temporal distribution,(2)a weak scientific basis for e-flows implementation,(3)poor operability of e-flows science,and(4)ineffective supervision and guarantee measures.The recommendations are(1)to strengthen the scientific foundation of e-flows,(2)to improve effectiveness in application of e-flows science,and(3)to propose operable and effective supervision and guarantee measures.This paper elaborates the current understanding of e-flows science and provides practical recommendations for implementing e-flows and for improving the effectiveness in e-flows implementation.To bridge the gaps between science and implementation of e-flows and improve the operability of policies in future practices,more scientific research on practices is recommended through adaptive management.

Suitable Weir Heights to Improve the Provision of Environmental Flows in Urban Rivers

Many studies have been conducted on environmental flow(e-flow)assessment and supply,but e-flow shortages remain common in many urban rivers.In addition to known reasons such as ever-increasing competition among water users and inadequate execution of designed e-flow supply plans,we propose that designing weir heights without explicitly considering e-flows is another major cause of this problem.In this paper,we suggest that the measures for satisfying e-flows be extended from the water supply stage to the river channel design stage.We establish a new weir height determination framework that would more effectively satisfy the required e-flows.The new framework differs from previous frameworks,in which flood control and water retention are the major concerns and the flow during floods is set as the inflow.In the new framework,e-flow provision and flow velocity maintenance are added concerns and the actual flows for e-flow supply are set as the inflow.As a case study of the new framework’s effectiveness,we applied it to the Shiwuli River,a typical channelized urban river in Hefei,China.The old framework specified too-high weir height to meet the e-flow requirements,whereas the new framework offered more reasonable heights that improved e-flow provision.

Changes in spatial variations of sap flow in Korean pine trees due to environmental factors and their effects on estimates of stand transpiration

It is difficult to scale up measurements of the sap flux density(J_S) for the characterization of tree or stand transpiration(E) due to spatial variations in J_S and their temporal changes.To assess spatial variations in the sap flux density of Korean pine(Pinus koraiensis) and their effects on E estimates,we measured the J_S using Granier-type sensors.Within trees,the J_S decreased exponentially with the radial depth,and the J_S of the east aspects were higher than those of the west aspects.Among trees,there was a positive relationship between J_S and the tree diameter at breast height,and this positive relationship became stronger as the transpiration demand increased.The spatial variations that caused large errors in E estimates(i.e.,up to 110.8 % when radial variation was ignored) had varied systematically with environmental factors systematic characteristics in relation to environmental factors.However,changes in these variations did not generate substantial errors in the E estimates.For our study periods,the differences in the daily E(E_D) calculated by ignoring radial,azimuthal and tree-to-tree variations and the measured E_D were fairly constant,especially when the daily vapor pressure deficit(D_D)was higher than 0.6 k Pa.These results imply that the effect of spatial variations changes on sap flow can be a minor source of error compared with spatial variations(radial,azimuthal and tree-to-tree variations) when considering E estimates.

The Mexican Environmental Flow Standard:Scope,Application and Implementation

With the implementation of the Official Mexican Standard NOM-011-CONAGUA-2000 [1], the water balance of 730 basins has been calculated and its water availability agreement is published. This rule points out to allocate water for the environment only as an annual volume since methods for estimating environmental flows were not standardized in the country. For this reason, The Water Agency (CONAGUA) issued the standard NMX-AA-159-SCFI-2012 [2], to assess environmental flows needed both, at the strategic level in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), or as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of large hydraulic projects. For over ten years, this standard was developed and finally published in September 2012 [3]. It explains different methods from hydrological to holistic approaches, with examples for the country. Its application will cover the urgent need to preserve water for ecosystems in watersheds with high ecological importance and low stress for water use. In this paper, an analysis of the environmental flow standard and examples of the suggested hydrological methods are presented. For its implementation, some steps are taking place, mainly establishing environmental water reserves and building capacities. In addition, environmental allocations are becoming a common practice for all water projects, as well as setting limits to hydrological alterations by hydroelectric dams. The standard promotes the use of technical integration tools to analyze the responses of ecosystems to changes in the flow regime and adaptive management under different scenarios of water use. Although the main steps have been taken, its implementation as mandatory rule will take time.

Effect of flow rate on environmental variables and phytoplankton dynamics:results from field enclosures

To investigate the effects of flow rate on phytoplankton dynamics and related environment variables,a set of enclosure experiments with different fl ow rates were conducted in an artificial lake. We monitored nutrients,temperature,dissolved oxygen,p H,conductivity,turbidity,chlorophyll-a and phytoplankton levels. The lower biomass in all flowing enclosures showed that flow rate significantly inhibited the growth of phytoplankton. A critical flow rate occurred near 0.06 m/s,which was the lowest relative inhibitory rate. Changes in flow conditions affected algal competition for light,resulting in a dramatic shift in phytoplankton composition,from blue-green algae in still waters to green algae in flowing conditions. These findings indicate that critical flow rate can be useful in developing methods to reduce algal bloom occurrence. However,flow rate significantly enhanced the inter-relationships among environmental variables,in particular by inducing higher water turbidity and vegetative reproduction of periphyton( Spirogyra). These changes were accompanied by a decrease in underwater light intensity,which consequently inhibited the photosynthetic intensity of phytoplankton. These results warn that a universal critical flow rate might not exist,because the effect of flow rate on phytoplankton is interlinked with many other environmental variables.

Sap flow response of Eucaylyptus （Eucalyptus urophyila） to environmental stress in South China

Sap flow and environmental conditions were monitored at two Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus urophylla S.T.Blake) plantations at Hetou and Jijia, located in Leizhou, Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province. It was found that daily sap flux density (SFD) of Eucalyptus was closely related to daily atmospheric vapor pressure deficit (VPD) (R^2=0.76, P=0.01 at Hetou and R^2=0.7021, P=0.01 at Jijia) at both sites. No significant relationship existed between daily SFD and mean daily air temperature at both sites. Daily SFD varied with wind speed Y=-17585X^3+15147X^2-1250.7X+2278.4 (R^2=0.68; P=0.01) at Hetou and Y=-101.67X^3-1.65X^2-376.4X+1914.8(R^2=0.40, P=0.05) at Jijia, where Ywas daily SFD, Xwas daily wind speed. Experimental observations yielded the following data: (1) the critical lower and upper daily VPD threshold were 0 and 2kPa, within which daily SFD varied from 540±70L/(m^2·d) to 4739±115L/(m^2·d) at Hetou site, from 397±26L/(m^2·d) to 3414±191L/(m^2·d) at Jijia site; (2) Diurnal SFDs at Hetou site were much higher under low relative humidity (<30%) and slightly lower under high relative humidity (>80%) compared with those at the Jijia site; (3) The upper and lower threshold of daily and diurnal RAD for the optimal water use of E. urophylla plantations were 18±2.7 and 2±1MJ/(m^2·d), 669 and 0J/(cm^2·h) during the observation period.

Sustainable Multi-Objective Multi-Reservoir Optimization Considering Environmental Flow

Increasing demand for water from all sectors presents a challenge for policy makers to improve water allocation policies for storage reservoirs. In addition, there are many other organisms and species present in river waters that also require water for their survival. Due to the lack of awareness many times the minimum required quantity and quality of water for river ecosystem is not made available at downstream of storage reservoirs. So, a sustainable approach is required in reservoir operations to maintain the river ecosystem with environmental flow while meeting the other demands. Multi-objective, multi-reservoir operation model developed with Python programming using Fuzzy Linear Programing method incorporating environmental flow requirement of river is presented in this paper. Objective of maximization of irrigation release is considered for first run. In second run maximization of releases for hydropower generation is considered as objective. Further both objectives are fuzzified by incorporating linear membership function and solved to maximize fuzzified objective function simultaneously by maximizing satisfaction level indicator (λ). The optimal reservoir operation policy is presented considering constraints including Irrigation release, Turbine release, Reservoir storage, Environmental flow release and hydrologic continuity. Model applied for multi-reservoir system consists of four reservoirs, i.e., Jayakwadi Stage-I Reservoir (R1), Jayakwadi Stage-II Reservoir (R2), Yeldari Reservoir (R3), Siddheshwar Reservoir (R4) in Godavari River sub-basin from Marathwada region of Maharashtra State, India.

Multi-Reservoir Optimization for Maximization of Releases for Hydropower Generation Considering Environmental Flow

Water is the soul of the world. It is the most important element for the survival of humans, animals, birds, plants and all other living things on earth. Water is essential for the beginning of life as well as regular availability of water ensuring the survival, growth and overall nourishment. Thus, proper planning and use of reservoir water are essential for all. To tackle this issue different optimization techniques underline their need and importance in the reservoir operations. In the present study, multi-reservoir optimization model is developed using Python programing language considering the objective of maximization of total annual release for hydropower generation. Model is applied to 3 reservoirs from Godavari River basin from Maharashtra state India. Water essential for conservation of environment has also been made available in river as environmental flow as per the recommendations of Central Water Commission (CWC) India. Developed optimization model provides optimal monthly operation policies.

DEVELOPMENT OF A TROPICAL CYCLONE IN BAROTROPIC ENVIRONMENTAL FLOWS

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Environmental Flows from Alternate Land Uses in the Delta, Pacific, and the Southeastern States: 1947-2007

Land use policy involves allocating land between production alternatives to meet society’s wants and desires. Increase in the affluence in the United States has increased the demand for environmental flows that could be met from public ownership or as joint products of private ownerships. The empirical results of this study indicated that land use patterns remained relatively unchanged between 1947 and 2007. The lack of change suggests that a large part of the demand for environmental services is being as byproducts of other commercial decisions.

Environmental Flow Assessment Using Water-Sediment Approach at the Sekampung River, Indonesia

Environmental issue has been considered more significant in many aspects of engineering decision-making process particularly in river management. There is an increasing effort to conserve functioning of rivers for human use as well as nature, therefore environmental flow assessment has been widely developed. This paper discusses on environmental flow assessment of the Sekampung River, particularly on its middle reach. A new analytical approach based on water-sediment equations was introduced in order to determine a minimum environmental flow at the certain cross section of a river. The result of the new method was then compared with a minimum environmental flow provided by using two hydrological based methods, namely, Tennant and Flow Duration Curve Analysis (FDCA) method. The result shows that the concerned discharge provided by the water-sediment method (3.5 m3/s) is the smallest compare with a minimum environmental flow that is provided by both Tennant (5.7 m3/s) and FDCA method (4.5 m3/s). It is promising that the water-sediment method can be used as a simple approach on preliminary state of environmental flow assessment. The method involves not only water discharge but also its related sediment flow of the river in order to mitigate further ecological and morphological risks.

Environmental Implication of Subaqueous Lava Flows from A Continental Large Igneous Province: Examples from the Moroccan Central Atlantic Magmatic Province(CAMP)

The Early Jurassic volcanic sequence of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province(CAMP)of Morocco is classically subdivided into four stratigraphic units:the Lower,Middle,Upper and Recurrent Formations separated

CALCULATION OF BASIC ENVIRONMENTAL GEOSTROPHIC FLOW AND STATISTICAL STUDY ON TC TRACK AND ITS DEVIATION

Using the T63L16 analysis data with the resolution of 1.875╳1.875 degree of latitude and lon-gitude obtained from National Meteorological Center (NMC) and the real central position information of tropi-cal cyclone (referred to as TC hereafter) numbered by NMC, the basic environmental geostrophic flow at 126 time levels of 25 TCs in 1996 are calculated. The vertical distribution features of the flows are analyzed. Be-sides, the deviation of real TC tracks from the flows (referred as steering deviation hereafter, namely, the de-viation between the real central position of TC and the position calculated according to the steering flow) is also investigated. The result shows that the steering deviation would be different if the domain used to calculate the steering flow is different. The present paper obtains the optimum domain size to calculate the steering flow. It is found that the steering deviation is related to the velocity of steering flow and the initial latitude and intensity of TC itself, and that TC motion has relationship with the vertical shear structure of environmental geostrophic flow. The result also shows that the optimum steering flow is the deep-layer averaged basic flow from 1000 hPa to 200 hPa. Having the knowledge of these principle and features would help make accurate forecast of TC motion.

面向生态环境复苏的生态流量优化计算研究

当前多数中小河流的水环境状况不容乐观,亟需开展河道的生态环境复苏工作,在河流生态流量确定过程中也存在计算方法不易推广和生态因子难以量化的问题。面向河道生境最大程度改善的河流生态复苏通常以水量保障和水环境改善为基础,并且也是对基于自然解决方案(NbS)中自然化修复理念的有效落实。为满足北方缺水河流的生态水量要求,该研究选取指示物种,借助二维水动力栖息地模拟模型和Penman-Monteith公式,开展恢复河流功能自然化、实现河流径流自然过程的研究。首先以恢复河流自然状态为目标,并以龙河作为典型河流在时空尺度开展指示物种-生态流量计算,得出相应生态流量及年最小生态需水量。然后以生态幅范围广且易于捕获的麦穗鱼为指示物种,开展产卵期(4-6月)、幼鱼期(7-11月)和成长期(12-3月)最适生态流量确定,3个时段对应的流量分别为3.22、4.30和10.81 m^(3)/s,典型河段芦苇的最小年生态需水量为1.51万m^(3)。计算结果均能满足陆域和水体指示物种的生理需水要求。以NbS为基础的生态流量计算方法适用范围广、结果代表性强,可用于流量小、流速低的北方中小河流的生态流量计算,利于实现河湖生态环境复苏。

Speciation of Dissolved Trace Nickel in Environmental Waters by On-Line Sonodigestion-Flow Injection Solid Phase Extraction Coupled to Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

A simple on-line sonodigestion system was successfully used for breakdown organic nickel complexes in environmental waters acidified with diluted nitric acid prior to flow injection total dissolved nickel preconcentration in a microcolumn containing a chelating resin (Chelite Che with iminodiacetic acid groups) and determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. For the determination of the dissolved labile nickel fraction, microcolumns packed with the chelating resin were loaded in-situ with the sample without sample pH modification, and once in the laboratory were inserted in the flow injection device where nickel elution-detection was carried out. The performance of the chelating resin was investigated in order to elucidate its behavior in the presence of dissolved nickel species. The results obtained reveal that the resin, at the experimental employed conditions, retained only dissolved free nickel ions and nickel bound to weak complexes (labile fraction). The figures of merit for determinations in both nickel fractions are given and the obtained values are discussed. The speciation scheme is applied to the analysis of nickel in river and seawater samples collected in Galicia (Northwest, Spain). The results of fractionation showed that Ni are mainly in the dissolved labile fraction in river water, while in seawater samples analyzed was mainly present in the organic fraction.

板栗全生长季树干液流及蒸腾耗水特征

【目的】明确板栗(Castanea mollissima Bl.)蒸腾耗水特征,为板栗园制定科学合理的水分管理措施提供理论参考。【方法】采用热扩散探针法,对‘大板红’板栗植株全生长季树干液流速率进行连续监测,并同步观测7个相关环境因子:太阳辐射(solar radiation,SR)、水汽压亏缺(vapor pressure deficit,VPD)、空气温度(air temperature,AT)、空气相对湿度(air relative humidity,ARH)、风速(wind speed,WS)、土壤温度(soil temperature,ST)和土壤湿度(soil relative humidity,SRH),解析板栗树干液流规律和耗水特征及其与环境因子间的关联性。【结果】板栗树干明显液流启动于5月3日,结束于10月26日,前后历时176 d。板栗全生长季晴天树干液流速率日变化呈单峰“几”字形曲线,其在6、7、8月每日启动到达峰值时间早于5、9、10月,而下降时间晚于5、9、10月,致6、7、8月份液流速率峰值持续时间长于5、9、10月。板栗全生长季液流速率日均值、日均耗水量和月耗水量由高到低排序均为8月>7月>6月>9月>5月>10月,其中显著性检验表明7月和8月之间无显著差异,但显著高于其他月份。夜间液流量占比由高到低排序为10月>9月>5月>6月>7月>8月,其中显著性检验表明10月、9月和5月显著高于6月、7月和8月。板栗全生长季树干液流速率与太阳辐射、水汽压亏缺、空气温度和风速均呈极显著正相关,而与空气相对湿度均呈极显著负相关。分别建立了5—10月板栗树干液流速率与7个环境因子的6个回归模型。【结论】板栗树干有明显液流始于5月初、终于10月末;7—8月是板栗的关键需水期;建立的板栗植株液流速率与环境因子的回归模型,可用于通过环境因子估测不同月份及整个生长季的植株耗水量。