Assessing the Potential Sediment-Related Impacts of Hydropower Development in the Mekong River Basin

摘要: Hydropower potential has remained mostly untapped for many years in the Mekong/Lancang River Basin, which drains land China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Currently basin is undergoing extensive hydropower development that will likely result altering its natural flow sediment regimes. This turn could significantly disrupt as 32 delicate productive ecosystems throughout region. Within Mekong basin, Se San, Sre Pok Kong sub-basins (collectively called “3S” basin) are a particularly important set of adjacent, transboundary watersheds with respect to biodiversity ecological productivity, serve an source lower mainstream River. Currently, 19 projects operation or under construction 3S but this number reach 41 by 2020 (with installed capacity just over 6,300 MW). Studies on impacts reservoirs limited, research still required better understand disruption regime, impact (1) output reliability; (2) geomorphologic makeup system, (3) health productivity region’s exceptionally biodiverse ecosystems. The work be presented includes accounting tool applied basin. daily time-step mass-balance simulation model predict relative terms spatial temporal accumulation depletion tributary reaches different operating policies. Discussion include use identify alter improved management practices have positive impact. Relative tradeoffs between production regime alteration discussed