Multiple drivers of hydrological alteration in the transboundary Srepok River Basin of the Lower Mekong Region.
Climate and hydropower development
Hydrological alteration
IHA
Land use
Mekong
Journal
Journal of environmental management
ISSN: 1095-8630
Titre abrégé: J Environ Manage
Pays: England
ID NLM: 0401664
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
15 Jan 2021
15 Jan 2021
Historique:
received:
01
08
2020
revised:
10
10
2020
accepted:
15
10
2020
pubmed:
31
10
2020
medline:
15
12
2020
entrez:
30
10
2020
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Human-induced changes in land and water resources adversely affect global hydrological regimes. Hydrological alteration of the natural flow regime is considered to have a significant damaging and widespread impact on river ecosystems and livelihoods. Therefore, understanding the hydrological alteration of rivers and the potential driving factors affecting such alterations are crucial to effective water resources management. This study analyses the impact of changes in land use, climate, and hydropower development on the hydrological regime of the Srepok River Basin in the Lower Mekong Region. The Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) in Southeast Asia is known for its agriculture, forests, fisheries, wildlife, and diverse natural ecosystems. Historical land use and climate change are quantified (utilising European Space Agency land cover and observed meteorological data) and correlated with the hydrological indicators using the Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration (IHA) software. Moreover, pre and post impacts on the hydrological regime by hydropower development are quantified using the Range of Variability Approach (RAV) in IHA software. The results reveal that land use, rainfall, and temperature affect different aspects of the hydrological regime, with corroborating evidence to support variation among the most correlated IHA and environmental flow component (EFC) parameters with the three drivers. The highest and lowest correlations among the IHA and EFC parameters under each driver are against land use (0.85, -0.83), rainfall (0.78, -0.54), and minimum and max temperatures (0.42, -0.47). Among the parameters, the fall rate has the most significant effect on hydrological alteration of all drivers. Hydropower development in the basin mostly affects the fall rate and reversal. Identifying the connection between these multiple drivers and hydrological alteration could help decision-makers to design more efficient and sustainable water management policies.
Identifiants
pubmed: 33126187
pii: S0301-4797(20)31449-3
doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111524
pii:
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
111524Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.