Quantifying the impact of dams on global streamflow over the period of 1985–2014

Dongyang Han; Pan Liu; Lu Zhang; Lei Cheng; Qian Cheng; Xiaojing Zhang; Weibo Liu; Jiabo Yin

doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ad6a70

Environmental Research Letters (Jan 2024)

Quantifying the impact of dams on global streamflow over the period of 1985–2014

Dongyang Han,
Pan Liu,
Lu Zhang,
Lei Cheng,
Qian Cheng,
Xiaojing Zhang,
Weibo Liu,
Jiabo Yin

Affiliations

Dongyang Han: State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China; Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory of Water System Science for Sponge City Construction, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China; Research Institute for Water Security (RIWS), Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China
Pan Liu: ORCiD; State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China; Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory of Water System Science for Sponge City Construction, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China; Research Institute for Water Security (RIWS), Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China
Lu Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China; Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory of Water System Science for Sponge City Construction, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China; Research Institute for Water Security (RIWS), Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China
Lei Cheng: ORCiD; State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China; Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory of Water System Science for Sponge City Construction, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China; Research Institute for Water Security (RIWS), Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China
Qian Cheng: State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China; Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory of Water System Science for Sponge City Construction, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China; Research Institute for Water Security (RIWS), Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China
Xiaojing Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China; Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory of Water System Science for Sponge City Construction, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China; Research Institute for Water Security (RIWS), Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China
Weibo Liu: State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China; Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory of Water System Science for Sponge City Construction, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China; Research Institute for Water Security (RIWS), Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China
Jiabo Yin: State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China; Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory of Water System Science for Sponge City Construction, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China; Research Institute for Water Security (RIWS), Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad6a70
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 19, no. 10
p. 104036

Abstract

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The number of dams globally has increased dramatically over the past few decades, providing reliable water resources by regulating natural streamflow. However, assessing the impact of dams on natural streamflow at a large scale remains a challenge due to lack of dam storage variation data. Here we analyzed flow regulation by dams from 1985 to 2014 over 153 basins globally using satellite remote sensing data. Two-thirds of global basins are regulated below 10%, and the high degree of regulation is mainly distributed in underdeveloped regions such as Central Asia and East Asia. Only 27% of basins have an increasing regulation trend from 1985 to 2014 and no basins show a decreasing trend. The gross domestic production, climatic water deficit and runoff show significant correlations with the flow regulation. We provide a global scale assessment of flow regulation by dams to support global water resources management.

Published in Environmental Research Letters

ISSN: 1748-9326 (Online)
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Technology: Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering; Geography. Anthropology. Recreation: Environmental sciences; Science: Physics
Website: https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/1748-9326

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