Maintaining healthy rivers and lakes through water diversion from Yangtze River to Taihu Lake in Taihu Basin

On the basis of the Taihu water resources assessment, an analysis of the importance and rationality of the water diversion from the Yangtz,e River to Taihu Lake in solving the water problem and establishing a harmonious eco-environment in the Taihu Basin is performed. The water quantity and water quality conjunctive dispatching ＇decisi＂ofi-makifig support system, which ensures flood control, water supply and eco-aimed dispatching, is built by combining the water diversion with flood control dispatching and strengthening water resources monitoring and forecasting. With the practice and effect assessment, measures such as setting the -integrated basin management format, further developing water diversion and improving the hydraulic engineering projects system and water monitoring system are proposed in order to maintain healthy rivers and guarantee the development of the economy and society in the Taihu Basin.

Sediment transport following water transfer from Yangtze River to Taihu Basin

To meet the increasing ：need of fresh water and to improve the water quality of Taihu Lake, water transfer from the Yangtze River was initiated in 2002. This study was performed to investigate the sediment distribution along the river course following water transfer. A rainfall-runoff model was first built to calculate the runoff of the Taihu Basin in 2003. Then, the flow patterns of river networks were simulated using a one-dimensional river network hydrodynamic model. Based on the boundary conditions of the flow in tributaries of the Wangyu River and the water level in Taihu Lake, a one-dimensional hydrodynamic and sediment transport numerical model of the Wangyu River was built to analyze the influences of the inflow rate of the water transfer and the suspended sediment concentration （SSC） of inflow on the sediment transport. The results show that the water transfer inflow rate and SSC of inflow have significant effects on the sediment distribution. The higher the inflow rate or SSC of inflow is, the higher the SSC value is at certain cross-sections along the ：river course of water transfer. Higher inflow rate and SSC of inflow contribute to higher sediment deposition per kilometer and sediment thickness. It is also concluded that a sharp decrease of the inflow velocity at the entrance of the Wangyu River on the river course of water transfer induces intense sedimentation at the cross-section near the Changshu hydro-junction. With an increasing distance from the Changshu hydro-junction, the sediment deposition and sedimentation thickness decrease gradually along the river course.

Spatio-temporal variability of terrestrial water storage in the Yangtze River Basin: Response to climate changes

The Yangtze River Basin(YRB)is an important region for China's economic development.However,it has a complex terrain layout,most of which is affected by monsoon weather,and the geographical and temporal distribution of water resources is severely unbalanced.Therefore,the detailed analysis of spatio-temporal water mass changes is helpful to the development and rational utilization of water resources in the YRB.In this study,the variation of terrestrial water storage(TWS)is monitored by Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment(GRACE)satellite gravity.We find that the University of Texas Center for Space Research(CSR)solution shows a notable difference with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory(JPL)in space,but the general trend is consistent in time series.Then the GRACE inferred water mass variation reveals that the YRB has experienced several drought and flood events over the past two decades.Global Land Data Assimilation System(GLDAS)results are similar to GRACE.Furthermore,the overall precipitation trend tends to be stable in space,but it is greatly influenced by the strong El Nino-~Southern Oscillation(ENSO),which is the response to global climate change.The upper YRB is less affected by ENSO and shows a more stable water storage signal with respect to the lower YRB.

The Relationship between Water Resources Use Efficiency and Scientific and Technological Innovation Level: Case Study of Yangtze River Basin in China

The Yangtze River Basin’s water resource utilization efficiency(WUE)and scientific and technological innovation level(STI)are closely connected,and the comprehension of these relationships will help to improve WUE and promote local economic growth and conservation of water.This study uses 19 provinces and regions along the Yangtze River’s mainstream from 2009 to 2019 as its research objects and uses a Vector Auto Regression(VAR)model to quantitatively evaluate the spatiotemporal evolution of the coupling coordination degree(CCD)between the two subsystems of WUE and STI.The findings show that:(1)Both the WUE and STI in the Yangtze River Basin showed an upward trend during the study period,but the STI effectively lagged behind the WUE;(2)The CCD of the two subsystems generally showed an upward trend,and the CCD of each province was improved to varying degrees,but the majority of regions did not develop a high-quality coordination stage;(3)The CCD of the two systems displayed apparent positive spatial autocorrelation in the spatial correlation pattern,and there were only two types:high-high(H-H)urbanization areas and low-low(L-L)urbanization areas;(4)The STI showed no obvious response to the impact of the WUE,while the WUE responded greatly to the STI,and both of them were highly dependent on themselves.Optimizing their interaction mechanisms should be the primary focus of high-quality development in the basin of the Yangtze River in the future.These results give the government an empirical basis to enhance the WUE and promote regional sustainable development.

Variations of Terrestrial Water Storage in the Yangtze River Basin under Climate Change Scenarios

In this study, the water balance-based Precipitation-Evapotranspiration-Runoff (PER) method combined with the land surface model Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) was used to estimate the spatiotemporal variations of terrestrial water storage (TWS) for two periods, 1982-2005 (baseline) and 2071-2100, under future climate scenarios A2 and B2 in the Yangtze River basin. The results show that the estimated TWS during the baseline period and under the two future climate scenarios have similar seasonal amplitudes of 60-70 mm. The higher values of TWS appear in June during the baseline period and under the B2 scenario, whereas the TWS under A2 shows two peaks in response to the related precipitation pattern. It also shows that the TWS is recharged from February to June during the baseline period, but it is replenished from March to June under the A2 and B2 scenarios. An analysis of the standard derivation of seasonal and interannual TWS time series under the three scenarios demonstrates that the seasonal TWS of the southeastern part of the Yangtze River basin varies remarkably and that the southeastern and central parts of the basin have higher variations in interannual TWS. With respect to the first mode of the Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF), the inverse-phase change in seasonal TWS mainly appears across the Guizhou-Sichuan-Shaanxi belt, and the entire basin generally represents a synchronous change in interannual TWS. As a whole, the TWS under A2 presents a larger seasonal variation whereas that under B2 displays a greater interannual variation. These results imply that climate change could trigger severe disasters in the southeastern and central parts of the basin.

Relationship Between Changes of River-lake Networks and Water Levels in Typical Regions of Taihu Lake Basin,China

The typical regions of the Taihu Lake Basin,China,were selected to analyze the variation characteristics of river-lake networks under intensive human activities.The characteristics of the fractal dimension of river networks and lakes for different periods were investigated and the influences of river system evolution on water level changes were further explored through the comparison of their fractal characters.The results are as follows:1) River network development of the study area is becoming more monotonous and more simple;the number of lakes is reducing significantly,and the water surface ratio has dropped significantly since the 1980s.2) The box dimension of the river networks in all the cities of the study area decreased slowly from the 1960s to the 1980s,while the decrease was significant from the 1980s to the 2000s.The variations of lake correlation dimension are similar to those of the river network box dimensions.This is unfavorable for the storage capacity of the river networks and lakes.3) The Hurst exponents of water levels were all between 0.5 and 1.0 from the 1960s to the 1980s,while decreased in the 2000s,indicating the decline in persistence and increase in the complexity of water level series.The paper draws a conclusion that the relationship between the fractal dimension of river-lake networks and the Hurst exponents of the water level series can reveal the impacts of river system changes on flood disasters to some extent:the disappearance of river networks and lakes will increase the possibility of flood occurrence.

A holistic approach to creating a new yangtze river basin protection legislation

The protection of the Yangtze River Basin is a top priority in China,and the National People's Congress(NPC)Standing Committee has started to draft a new protection legislation specifically for the Yangtze River Basin.The Basin forms the epicenter of environmental,social,and economic life.Any efforts to protect the Basin must accommodate several competing interests from a multiplicity of interested parties and stakeholders such as local governments,villages,and business enterprises.Current relevant institutions and organizations are unable to sufficiently ensure environmental protection and green development in the Basin.The NPC Standing Committee must thus adopt a more holistic approach when creating new protection legislations aimed at the Yangtze River Basin.

A numerical study on water diversion ratio of the Changjiang(Yangtze)estuary in dry season

We studied the flood, ebb and tidal averaged along (net) water diversion ratio (WDR) during dry season in the Changjiang (Yangtze) estuary, China, along with the effects of northerly wind, river discharge, tide and their interactions on WDR using the improved version of three-dimensional numerical model ECOM. Using data for annual mean wind speed and river discharge during January, we determined that the flood, ebb, net WDR values in the North Branch of the estuary were 3.48%, 1.68%,-4.06% during spring tide, and 4.82%, 2.34%,-2.79% during neap tide, respectively. Negative net WDR values denote the transport of water from the North Branch into the South Branch. Using the same data, the corresponding ratios were 50.09%, 50.92%, 54.97%, and 52.33%, 50.15%, 43.86% in the North Channel and 38.56%, 44.78%, 103.96%, and 36.92%, 43.17%, 60.97% in the North Passage, respectively. When northerly wind speed increased, landward Ekman transport was enhanced in the North Branch, increasing the flood WDR, while the ebb WDR declined and the net WDR exhibited a significant decrease. Similarly, in the North Channel, the flood WDR is increased, the ebb WDR reduced, and the net WDR showed a marked decrease. In the North Passage, the flood WDR also increased while the ebb and net WDR declined. As the river discharge increased, the flood and ebb WDR of the North Branch increased slightly and the net WDR increased markedly. In the North Channel the flood and ebb WDR changed very slightly, while the net WDR declined during spring tides and increased during neap tides. The WDR in the North Passage changed slightly during flood and ebb tides while the net WDR showed a marked increase. The WDR values of different bifurcations and the responses to northerly wind, river discharge, and tide are discussed in comparison with variations in river topography, horizontal wind-induced circulation, and tidal-induced residual current.

Wet-Dry Runoff Correlation in Western Route of South-to-North Water Diversion Project,China

The Western Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project is an important trans-basin diversion project to transfer water from the upstream Yangtze River and its tributaries(water-exporting area), to the upstream of the Yellow River(waterimporting area). The long-term hydrological data from 14 stream gauging stations in the Western Route area and techniques including the pre-whitening approach, non-parametric test, Bayes, law, variance analysis extrapolation, and Wavelet Analysis are applied to identify the streamflow characteristics and trends, streamflow time series cross-correlations, wetness-dryness encountering probability, and periodicities that occurred over the last 50 years. The results show that the water-exporting area, waterimporting area, and the stretch downstream of the water-exporting have synchronization in high–low flow relationship, whereas they display nonsynchronization in long-term evolution. This corresponds to the complicated and variable climate of the plateau region. There is no obvious increasing or decreasing trend in runoff at any gauging station. The best hydrological compensation probability for rivers where water is diverted is about 25% to 10%, and those rivers influenced significantly by diversion are the Jinsha and Yalong rivers. Proper planning and design of compensation reservoirs for the water-exporting area and stretch downstream of the waterexporting area can increase the hydrological compensation possibility from water-exporting area to the water-importing area, and reduce the impact on the stretch of river downstream of the waterexporting area.

Runoff variations in the Yangtze River Basin and sub-basins based on GRACE, hydrological models, and in-situ data

Water budget closure is a method used to study the balance of basin water storage and the dynamics of relevant hydrological components(e.g.,precipitation,evapotranspiration,and runoff).When water budget closure is connected with terrestrial water storage change(TWSC)estimated from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment(GRACE)data,variations in basin runoff can be understood comprehensively.In this study,total runoff variations in the Yangtze River Basin(YRB)and its sub-basins are examined in detail based on the water budget closure equation.We compare and combine mainstream precipitation and evapotranspiration models to determine the best estimate of precipitation minus evapotranspiration.In addition,we consider human water consumption,which has been neglected in earlier studies,and discuss its impact.To evaluate the effectiveness and accuracy of the combined hydrological models in estimating subsurface runoff,we collect discharge variations derived from in situ observations in the YRB and its sub-basins and compare these data with the models’final estimated runoff variations.The estimated runoff variations suggest that runoff over the YRB has been increasing,especially in the lower sub-basins and in the post-monsoon season,and is accompanied by apparent terrestrial water loss.

Water storage variations of the Yangtze,Yellow,and Zhujiang river basins derived from the DEOS Mass Transport (DMT-1) model

In general,China is short of water resources and some regions even experience a shortage of daily water supply.This could threaten the stability and economic development of the nation.A study on the water storage variations is especially important for the water management and storage prediction in three largest river basins of China,namely,Yangtze,Yellow,and Zhujiang,where the most dense population and leading economic regions are located.The satellite gravity mission GRACE(Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) provides an opportunity to macroscopically identify water(or mass) variations in the Earth's system with a spatial resolution of 300-400 km and a temporal resolution of about one month.We use the first release of the DEOS(Delft Institute of Earth Observation and Space Systems) Mass Transport(DMT-1) model based on GRACE data to analyze water storage changes in the three river basins.The DMT-1 model consists of monthly solutions,which are computed using an innovative methodology.The methodology includes,in particular,the application of a statistically optimal Wiener-type filter based on full variance-covariance matrices of noise and signal.This results in particularly sharp mass variation maps.Taking one monthly solution as an example,we compare the results derived from the DMT-1 model with ones produced with the standard post-processing scheme based on a combination of the de-striping and Gaussian filtering.The comparison shows that the DMT-1 model outperforms the other models and is suitable for the analysis of the mass changes in river basins.A subset of the DMT-1 solutions in the interval between February 2003 and May 2008 is used to estimate the secular trends and seasonal variations for the three river basins.The estimated trends show that the water storage of the Yellow River basin does not have significant changes,while the Zhujiang and Yangtze river basins have a large and statistically significant water storage increase.The estimation of seasonal variations demonstrates that the water storage variations in Yangtze and Zhujiang river basins are almost in the same phase.The amplitude of variations in the Zhujiang River basin is larger than that in Yangtze.No clear annual variations are observed in the Yellow River basin.The observed water storage variations generally coincide with the observations and conclusions presented in the hydrological reports of the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources.

Engineering Strategies on Flood Control in Middle Reach of Yangtze River, China

Flood disaster has been a serious hidden danger since the ancient time. The essential cause for the fact that floods have not been eliminated for hundreds of years is that time honored strategies do not suit the cases of flood prevention. In the view of geological environmental analyses of flood formation and from the synthesis of experiences gained in flood control in the past hundreds of years, sluggish draining of flood, silt sedimentation in channel and building levee blindly constitute the main cause of intractable flood for a long time in the middle reach of the Yangtze River. Draining away silt and water is the only way to stamping out flood disaster. Opening up artificial waterways for flood diversion, draining away the silt of channel into the polders, and storing the flood water are important engineering measures for the flood control and damage reduction.

Seasonal water storage change of the Yangtze River basin detected by GRACE

US-Germany co-sponsered satellite gravimetry mission GRACE (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment), launched in March 2002, has been producing monthly time series of Earth gravity models up to degree and order of 120. The GRACE mission consists of two identical satellites flying on an almost polar orbit with an altitude of about 300-500 km and satelite-to-satellite ranging of about 220 km. Thanks to the payloads of space-borne GPS receivers, accelerometers and high-precision K-band satelite-to-satellite ranging mesurements, GRACE gravity models are expected to achieve more than one order of magnitude of improvement over previous models at spatial scales of a few hundred kilometers or larger. Recovery of surface mass re-distribution based on GRACE’s time-varying gravity models is applied to studies in solid Earth geophysics, oceanography, climatology and geodesy. At secular time scales, GRACE is expected to provide valuable information on global ice changes, whose variations have profound influences on global climate, and in particular, on sea level changes. At seasonal time scales, GRACE is expected to reveal surface water changes with an ac- curacy of less than 1 cm, or ocean bottom pressure changes with an accuracy of less than 1 mbar (1 mbar =102 Pa). These surface mass redistribution measurements would impove our understanding of the global and regional mass and energy cycles that are critical to human life. Using 15 GRACE monthly gravity models covering the period from April 2002 to December 2003, this study compares seasonal water storage changes recovered from GRACE data and hydrology models at global and regional scales, with particular focus on the Yangtze River basin of China. Annual amplitude of 3.4 cm of equivalent water height change is found for the Yangtze River basin with maximum in Spring and Autumn, agreeing with two state-of-the-art hydrology models. The differences between GRACE re- sults and model predictions are less than 1-2 cm. We conclude that satellite gravimetry has huge potentials in monitering water storage changes in large river basins such as Yangtze.

长江水资源调配推演器构建与推演分析

长江水资源调配推演器(CJGWAS)由中国长江三峡集团有限公司、中国水利水电科学研究院联合研发,实现长江流域水库工程“点”、河流及调水工程“线”、地市单元“面”、流域综合“体”的“点—线—面—体”一体化水资源科学模拟与开发利用分析。推演器融合水文模型、配置模型、水库调配模型、需水预测等算法,可对长江流域历史、现状进行复盘,并对未来状况进行推演。研究成果可为长江流域水网规划、重大引调水工程评估、断面生态流量及发电冲击预判等提供支撑。

新时期长江流域水资源保护规划及管理工作的思考

组织编制并实施水资源保护规划是国家赋予水行政主管部门的法定职责,也是水利部门履行水资源管理和生态环境保护责任的重要工作。长江流域水资源保护规划经历了从起步、探索、实践与发展到形成完善体系的过程,推进了流域水资源保护与管理科学有序发展。随着国家机构改革部门职能调整和《中华人民共和国长江保护法》出台,为更好地推进和落实新时期长江流域水资源保护规划和管理工作,系统梳理长江流域水资源保护规划发展历程与成效,分析当前流域水资源保护面临的形势与挑战,厘清流域水资源保护工作定位和思路,并据此提出新时期流域水资源保护规划及管理的工作建议,对凝聚流域水资源保护规划共识、建立流域水资源保护规划体系、推进水资源保护高质量发展、助力实现治江现代化具有重要的指导意义。

水网布局下黄河流域应对极端枯水的关键科学问题

变化环境下极端气象水文事件频发,长江、黄河面临同枯风险。在国家水网建设背景下,为提高长江、黄河同枯的极端不利情景下黄河流域水资源安全保障能力,本文分析了长江、黄河两大流域水资源安全面临的现实问题,识别了变化环境下大型流域枯水遭遇—水危机形成—跨流域调水潜力—多线路成网互济—极端枯水下水资源安全保障中亟需破解的关键科学问题,构建了水网布局下黄河流域应对极端枯水的总体研究框架,提出该领域重点研究方向包括:变化环境下长江、黄河极端枯水遭遇规律与空间变异机制,水危机风险多链路传导与复合影响定量评估,极端枯水下跨流域调水挖潜增供,长江和黄河跨流域联合调配与多线路互济精细化调控、极端枯水下流域水资源韧性提升优化调控等。

长江流域建立水资源刚性约束制度的关键问题与对策研究

南方丰水地区建立水资源刚性约束制度,是为了更好地促进生态环境高水平保护和经济社会高质量发展。基于长江流域水资源开发利用、管理现状及特点,分析了长江流域建立水资源刚性约束制度需重点研究的关键问题,并从水资源和水环境承载能力、用水定额标准、计量监测、水资源规划论证、监管考核和市场机制等方面,提出长江流域建立水资源刚性约束制度的对策建议。

Spatio-temporal variation of net anthropogenic nitrogen inputs in the upper Yangtze River basin from 1990 to 2012

The net anthropogenic nitrogen input(NANI) is an important nutrient source that causes eutrophication in water bodies. Understanding the spatio-temporal variation of NANI is important for regional environment assessment and management.This paper calculated NANI in the upper Yangtze River basin(YRB), upstream of the Three Gorges Dam(TGD), from1990 to 2012, and analyzed its spatio-temporal characteristics. Over the past 23 years of the study, the average annual NANI increased from 3200 kg N km^(-2) to 4931 kg N km^(-2). The major components were fertilizer N application, atmospheric N deposition,and net food and feed N import. In the northwest high mountainous region with a sparse population, the main component was atmospheric N deposition. Fertilizer N application and net food and feed N import were concentrated in the Chengdu Plain because of the high population density and large areas of farmland. This research found that NANI increased with rapid urbanization and increasing population. The Pearson correlation results illustrated that the spatial distributions of NANI and its major components were affected by land cover/use, agricultural GDP and total population. Increasing NANI has been the major cause of the degrading stream water quality over the past 20 years and is becoming a major threat to the water quality of the TGD reservoir.

长江流域冬油菜需水量及水分盈亏特征分析

基于长江流域冬油菜优势产区11个省、2个直辖市共计129个城市近20年的逐日气象数据,采用经验公式、FAO推荐的改进HS数据模型和作物系数分别计算各城市冬油菜全生育期及各生育阶段有效降水量及需水量,并对水分盈亏指数及多年旱涝灾害发生频率进行分析。结果表明,长江流域冬油菜在各生育阶段有效降水量均呈由东南向西北递减的带状分布特征,其中鄱阳、洞庭两湖平原及杭嘉湖平原有效降水量充沛,长江中下游干流南北沿岸地区有效降水量适中,秦岭—淮河一线、四川盆地及云贵高原有效降水量偏少;各生育阶段的需水量呈现西南高、东南中、西北低的分布特征,其中云南省需水量最高,长江中下游平原需水量适中,秦岭—淮河一线、四川盆地、贵州省需水量最低;多年水分盈亏空间分布特征表现为长江中下游干流南北沿岸地区水分供应适中,秦岭—淮河一线、四川盆地、云贵高原水分供应不足;水分盈亏年代演变特征表现为苗期长江上游旱灾多发、涝灾偶发,中下游涝灾多发、旱灾偶发,其他生育阶段长江上游旱灾频发,中下游旱灾多发、涝灾偶发的特征。为有效保障长江流域冬油菜各生育阶段的适当水分供应,在苗期阶段,长江上游地区应注意适量灌溉、中下游地区应注意及时排涝;其他生育阶段,长江上游地区应注意充分灌溉,中下游干流北岸城市应注意适时灌溉,中下游干流南岸城市应注意适时排涝,以促进长江流域冬油菜高产稳产,保障国内油菜籽原料稳定供应。

高海拔季节冻土区完全融化期土壤水分特征曲线适用性

以怒江源区那曲流域为例,基于4个试验场完全融化期(6—9月)的土壤体积含水量(0.15~0.51 cm^(3)/cm^(3))和土壤基质势数据(0~200 kPa)实测数据,选择Van Genuchten(VG)、Brooks-Corey(BC)和Campbell 3个模型进行拟合,以均方根误差ERMS和决定系数R2为评价指标,分析3个模型对高海拔季节冻土区不同土层和不同土壤质地的适用性。结果表明:从整体上看,VG模型(平均R2为0.992,平均ERMS为0.006 cm^(3)/cm^(3))的拟合效果优于BC模型(平均R2为0.972,平均ERMS为0.019 cm^(3)/cm/3)和Campbell模型(平均R2为0.984,平均ERMS为0.014 cm^(3)/cm^(3));但是在不同土层和不同土壤质地情况下模型的适用性有所区别,VG模型更适用于壤土和壤质砂土(平均R2为0.987,平均ERMS为0.008 cm^(3)/cm^(3))以及土壤深层(10~35 cm土层,平均R2为0.990,平均ERMS为0.007 cm^(3)/cm^(3)),Campbell模型更适用于砂质壤土(平均R2为0.985,平均ERMS为0.009 cm^(3)/cm^(3))以及土壤表层(5 cm土层,平均R2为0.993,平均ERMS为0.006 cm^(3)/cm^(3)),BC模型在不同条件下都不是最优模型;参数θr取值大小会显著影响土壤水分特征曲线的形状。本研究可为深入研究高海拔季节冻土区的土壤水分运动特性以及中华水塔区的水源涵养作用提供支持。