Restoring Flow Regimes after Dam Construction and Operation: Evidence from Dynamic Systems Theory
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
Dams provide a variety of benefits to society, including hydropower generation, flood control, recreation, and water supply for municipal, industrial, and agricultural customers. However, constructing and operating dams for these purposes can negatively impact downstream ecosystems by altering natural flow regimes and interfering with the lifecycles of aquatic and riparian species. Increased concern from environmental interests has put pressure on dam operators to quantify the flow regime changes that have resulted from dam construction and to evaluate how future modifications to dam releases may impact river systems. In this study, we present a method for analyzing the impact of dam operations by reconstructing system trajectories from hydrologic flow time series for different periods of dam operation (pre-dam, post-dam, and post-modification). We apply these methods to flow data from eight rivers in the US to determine the dimensionality of each operating period and to analyze trends based on the primary purpose of dam operation. Hydropower dams operated without flow restrictions exhibit high dimensional, stochastic behavior. However, the system dimensionality is reduced to approximately three variables when ramping restrictions are implemented, or in cases where an afterbay is present to reregulate flows. This low dimensional behavior is more similar to natural flow regimes. For dams operated primarily for flood control or water supply, the flow regimes are typically low dimensional and more deterministic.
- Research Organization:
- Hydro Research Foundation, Evergreen, MA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Water Power Technologies Office
- DOE Contract Number:
- EE0006506
- OSTI ID:
- 1630940
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-HRF-6506-final
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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