Water Compensation and Its Implication of the Three Gorges Reservoir for the River-Lake System in the Middle Yangtze River, China

作者：Zhang, Junhong; Feng, Luojie; Chen, Lu^*; Wang, Dangwei; Dai, Minglong; Xu, Wensheng; Yan, Tao

来源：Water, 2018, 10(8): 1011.

DOI：10.3390/w10081011

• water compensation
• the Three Gorges Reservoir
• river-lake system
• water exchange

Dam construction is an important means to improve water use efficiency and the aquatic environment. However, the flow regulation of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) in the middle Yangtze River has attracted much attention because the severe drought occurred in the river-lake system downstream of the TGR. In this paper, the Dongting Lake was selected as a case study in order to detect the possible relationship between the flow regulation of the TGR and the extreme drought in the river-lake system based on a coupled hydrodynamic model. The results not only confirmed the significant role of the TGR to relieve drought in the river-lake system, but also indicated that the outflow of the TGR and the hydraulic gradient between the Zhicheng to Chenglingji stations were the crucial factors to affect the water exchange between the rivers and the Dongting Lake. The adjustment of hydraulic gradient within a proper range during the water compensation of the TGR will be an effective measure to improve the water exchange and water environment in the river-lake system. These findings present the quantitative influence of these important factors on the water exchange between rivers and lakes and provide a scientific reference for environmental and ecological management of other river-lake systems.

• 出版日期2018-8
• 单位长江水资源保护科学研究所; 华中科技大学; 长江水利委员会长江科学院; 中国水利水电科学研究院; 中南民族大学; 交通运输部天津水运工程科学研究所