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A Review of the Integrated Effects of Changing Climate, Land Use, and Dams on Mekong River Hydrology

Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: The ongoing and proposed construction of large-scale hydropower dams in the Mekong river basin is a subject of intense debate and growing international concern due to the unprecedented and potentially irreversible impacts these dams are likely to have on the hydrological, agricultural, and ecological systems across the basin. Studies have shown that some of the dams built in the tributaries and the main stem of the upper Mekong have already caused basin-wide impacts by altering the magnitude and seasonality of flows, blocking sediment transport, affecting fisheries and livelihoods of downstream inhabitants, and changing the flood pulse to the Tonle Sap Lake. There are hundreds of additional dams planned for the near future that would result in further changes, potentially causing permanent damage to the highly productive agricultural systems and fisheries, as well as the riverine and floodplain ecosystems. Several studies have examined the potential impacts of existing and planned dams but the integrated effects of the dams when combined with the adverse hydrologic consequences of climate change remain largely unknown. Here, we provide a detailed review of the existing literature on the changes in climate, land use, and dam construction and the resulting impacts on hydrological, agricultural, and ecological systems across the Mekong. The review provides a basis to better understand the effects of climate change and accelerating human water management activities on the coupled hydrological-agricultural-ecological systems, and identifies existing challenges to study the region’s Water, Energy, and Food (WEF) nexus with emphasis on the influence of future dams and projected climate change. In the last section, we synthesize the results and highlight the urgent need to develop integrated models to holistically study the coupled natural-human systems across the basin that account for the impacts of climate change and water infrastructure development. This review provides a framework for future research in the Mekong, including studies that integrate hydrological, agricultural, and ecological modeling systems.
Source: Water
DOI: 10.3390/w10030266
Authors: Yadu Pokhrel, Mateo Burbano, Jacob Roush, Hyunwoo Kang, Venkataramana Sridhar, David Hyndman
Language: English
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,137
Award: CLIMATE CHANGE AND INCREASED IRRIGATION DEMAND HAVE CAUSED A SURGE IN HYDROELECTRIC DAM CONSTRUCTION IN THE MEKONG RIVER BASIN. WHILE THESE INTERVENTIONS HAVE RESULTED IN AGRICULTURAL BENEFITS AND FOOD SECURITY IN SOME AREAS THE ECOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES TO LAKE AND WETLAND ECOSYSTEMS ARE SIGNIFICANT BUT NOT FULLY UNDERSTOOD. THE COMPLEXITY OF INTERACTIONS AT THE INTERFACE OF LAND USE DECISIONS CLIMATE CHANGE AND LAKE/WETLAND ECOSYSTEMS IN THE LOWER MEKONG RIVER BASIN (LMRB) PRESENTS A GRAND CHALLENGE TO SUSTAINABLY MANAGE NATURAL RESOURCES AND BUILD RESILIENT COMMUNITIES. IT IS NOT CLEAR HOW DAM CONSTRUCTION AND IRRIGATION EXPANSION IN UPSTREAM AREAS WILL AFFECT PHENOLOGY AND BIOGEOCHEMISTRY IN DOWNSTREAM WETLAND ECOSYSTEMS SUCH AS TONLE SAP LAKE. THUS THERE IS A CRITICAL NEED TO QUANTITATIVELY UNDERSTAND AND MODEL DYNAMIC INTERACTIONS ACROSS THESE REMOTELY CONNECTED LAND AND WATER SYSTEMS. THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW HUMAN ACTIVITIES (DAMS AND ASSOCIATED IRRIGATION) AFFECT ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES IN WETLANDS AND TO PROVIDE A SCIENTIFIC BASIS FOR IMPROVED OPERATION OF DAMS TO HELP MITIGATE THE EXPECTED EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSED EFFORT IS TO ASSESS AND MODEL THE IMPACTS OF DAM CONSTRUCTION AND ASSOCIATED IRRIGATION ACROSS THE LMRB ON THE PHENOLOGY AND BIOGEOCHEMISTRY OF KEY WETLAND ECOSYSTEMS. THIS PROPOSED PROJECT ADDRESSES "SUBELEMENT 2: ECOLOGY AT LAND/WATER INTERFACES - HUMAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL PRESSURES" OF THE 2016 ROSES CALL FOR PROPOSALS. USING REMOTELY SENSED DATA PROCESS-BASED HYDROLOGY AND BIOGEOCHEMISTRY MODELS AND TRADE-OFF FRAMEWORK ANALYSIS WE PROPOSE TO: 1. MAP AND QUANTIFY CHANGES IN DAM SITE CHARACTERISTICS AND CATCHMENT LAND USE/IRRIGATION USING SATELLITE AND AIRBORNE IMAGES FROM NASA JAXA AND ESA PLUS CLIMATE OBSERVATIONS FROM THE LMRB; 2. SIMULATE THE EFFECTS OF EXISTING AND PROPOSED DAMS AND ASSOCIATED IRRIGATION ON STREAMFLOW WETLAND/LAKE LEVELS AND SEDIMENT TRANSPORT ACROSS THE LMRB; 3. QUANTIFY SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL CHANGES IN STREAMFLOW DUE TO DAM AND IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT AND THE IMPACTS THESE HAVE ON WETLANDS; AND 4. ANALYZE TRADE-OFFS IN ECOSYSTEM SERVICES ACROSS SPACE/TIME AND ECOLOGICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE BOUNDARIES WITH A FOCUS ON AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION HYDROPOWER GENERATION AND WETLAND FUNCTION. EXPECTED OUTCOMES 1. IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF DYNAMIC INTERACTIONS AT THE INTERFACE OF DISTANTLY CONNECTED LAND DECISION/DAM AND WETLAND ECOSYSTEMS IN THE LMRB; 2. A REGIONAL NETWORK IN THE LMRB TO PROMOTE AND APPLY SPATIAL TECHNOLOGIES AND PRODUCTS FROM NASA AND OTHER AGENCIES TO ADDRESS REGIONAL CHALLENGES IN WATER ENERGY AND FOOD SECURITY; 3. A SUITE OF PRODUCTS INFORMATION AND ANALYTICAL TOOLS THAT INCLUDE DETAILED CHARACTERISTICS OF DAMS IRRIGATED LANDS AND WETLANDS; 4. FUTURE TRAJECTORIES OF REPRESENTATIVE WETLAND PHENOLOGY AND GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS; 5. IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF TRADE-OFFS AMONG ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AND STRATEGIES TO SUSTAINABLY MANAGE DAMS WITH FULL CONSIDERATION OF LAKE/WETLAND ECOLOGY. SIGNIFICANCE AND SOCIETAL RELEVANCE THE PROPOSED EFFORT INTEGRATES INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES PROCESS-BASED MODELING AND REMOTE SENSING TO IMPROVE THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPACTS OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES (DAM CONSTRUCTION&OPERATION IRRIGATION) ON LAKE/WETLAND ECOSYSTEMS. WE WILL ANALYZE TRADE-OFFS BETWEEN ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN SPACE AND TIME AT THE INTERFACE OF LAND AND WATER SYSTEMS. A COMBINATION OF WATERSHED SCALE MODELING WITH COMMUNITY LEVEL CASE STUDIES PROVIDES AN EXAMPLE OF HOW EARTH SYSTEM PROCESSES CAN AFFECT THE LIVELIHOODS OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES WHICH MAY BE GENERALIZED TO OTHER GEOGRAPHIC AREAS. THE ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT OF GRADUATE STUDENTS AND LOCAL PARTNERS CULTIVATES THE NEXT-GENERATION OF RESEARCHERS AND ENHANCES THE CAPACITY OF LOCAL RESEARCHERS TO TACKLE CHALLENGING PROBLEMS IN THE LMRB.
OpenAlex ID: W2791846966
FWCI: 12.06
Cites: 126
Cited by: 292
Related to: 10