skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Restoring the Grand Canyon Ecosystem: Evidence from Dynamic Systems Theory

Abstract

Constructing and operating dams for hydropower generation can impact downstream ecosystems by altering natural flow regimes and interfering with the lifecycles of aquatic and riparian species. Increased concern from environmental interests, coupled with federal relicensing requirements that aim to minimize environmental impacts, have 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 Lees Ferry, Colorado, just downstream of Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River, to determine how the dimensionality of the river system has changed over time and to evaluate the effectiveness of a new operating policy put into place after the 1992 Grand Canyon Protection Act was passed. While the post-dam period governed by hydropower operations is characterized by high dimensional, stochastic behavior, the pre-dam and post-modification periods are low dimensional and less complex, demonstrating the success of the new operating policy in mirroring the naturalmore » flow regime. Our analysis also suggests that applying a strictly deterministic or stochastic modeling approach to historical flow data does not appropriately capture the varying complexity of the Colorado River system during the three distinct periods of hydrologic behavior.« less

Authors:
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Hydro Research Foundation, Evergreen, MA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Technology Utilization (EE-34); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Wind and Water Technologies Office (EE-4W)
OSTI Identifier:
1630939
Report Number(s):
DOE-HRF-6506-HVpresentation
DOE Contract Number:  
EE0006506
Resource Type:
Conference
Resource Relation:
Conference: HydroVision International, 2016, Minneapolis, MN
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
13 HYDRO ENERGY

Citation Formats

Hummel, Michelle. Restoring the Grand Canyon Ecosystem: Evidence from Dynamic Systems Theory. United States: N. p., 2016. Web.
Hummel, Michelle. Restoring the Grand Canyon Ecosystem: Evidence from Dynamic Systems Theory. United States.
Hummel, Michelle. 2016. "Restoring the Grand Canyon Ecosystem: Evidence from Dynamic Systems Theory". United States. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1630939.
@article{osti_1630939,
title = {Restoring the Grand Canyon Ecosystem: Evidence from Dynamic Systems Theory},
author = {Hummel, Michelle},
abstractNote = {Constructing and operating dams for hydropower generation can impact downstream ecosystems by altering natural flow regimes and interfering with the lifecycles of aquatic and riparian species. Increased concern from environmental interests, coupled with federal relicensing requirements that aim to minimize environmental impacts, have 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 Lees Ferry, Colorado, just downstream of Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River, to determine how the dimensionality of the river system has changed over time and to evaluate the effectiveness of a new operating policy put into place after the 1992 Grand Canyon Protection Act was passed. While the post-dam period governed by hydropower operations is characterized by high dimensional, stochastic behavior, the pre-dam and post-modification periods are low dimensional and less complex, demonstrating the success of the new operating policy in mirroring the natural flow regime. Our analysis also suggests that applying a strictly deterministic or stochastic modeling approach to historical flow data does not appropriately capture the varying complexity of the Colorado River system during the three distinct periods of hydrologic behavior.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1630939}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Jul 26 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Tue Jul 26 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}

Conference:
Other availability
Please see Document Availability for additional information on obtaining the full-text document. Library patrons may search WorldCat to identify libraries that hold this conference proceeding.

Save / Share: