Modeling the Effect of Water Diversion on the Temperature of Mountain Streams

Meier, Werner; Bonjour, C.; Wüest, Alfred; Reichert, Peter

doi:10.1061/(asce)0733-9372(2003)129:8(755)

Cited by 93 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…(2) For no-dam conditions, Moosmann [2005] estimated $1°C warmer water temperatures than today. These simulated no-dam summer temperatures are potentially an upper limit, as they approach the highest values observed in other rivers at this altitude [Meier et al, 2003]. When ignoring this temperature effect, no-dam test runs show that deep water intrusions would occur 3 times more frequently as today (Table 8).…”

Section: Particle Budget Of Lake Brienz Without Damsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some consequences of altered discharge in rivers are subtle and interfere with the biogeochemical cycle and hence only become evident at long timescales [Friedl and Wüest, 2002]. Notably, damming might interfere physicobiogeochemically by causing (1) water temperature changes resulting from hydropower operations [Preece and Jones, 2002;Meier et al, 2003;Bartholow et al, 2005], (2) nutrient retention [Humborg et al, 2000;Friedl et al, 2004], and (3) hydrological pattern changes and reductions in suspended particle loads [Vörösmarty et al, 2003;Teodoru and Wehrli, 2005;McGinnis et al, 2006].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of upstream hydropower operation on riverine particle transport and turbidity in downstream lakes

Finger

Schmid

Wüest

2006

Water Resources Research

Self Cite

131

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[1] Retention in upstream storage dams results in modified riverine water and particle discharge patterns. Particularly, suspended solids input and intrusion dynamics in downstream lakes are affected by dam operations. In a case study, size-dependent particle budgets for peri-alpine Lake Brienz (Switzerland), downstream of major hydropower installations, were determined for a recent 8-year period (1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)) and compared to hypothetical no-dam scenarios based on numerical simulations. For this purpose, current tributary particle loads, as well as lake-internal sedimentation and turbidity dynamics, were assessed with in situ measurements. The analysis shows that hydropower damming drastically diminishes particle fluxes and minimizes (short-term) peak discharges. Reductions of high-flow events substantially cut the number of deep intrusions increasing particle supply to the lake surface layer. Furthermore, these hydropower operations shift particle inputs from summer to winter. As a consequence, such peri-alpine lakes become more turbid during winter and less turbid during summer, influencing the seasonal light regime and subsequently the dynamics of phytoplankton growth.

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Section: Particle Budget Of Lake Brienz Without Damsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of upstream hydropower operation on riverine particle transport and turbidity in downstream lakes

Finger

Schmid

Wüest

2006

Water Resources Research

Self Cite

131

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“…This fostered the development of many stochastic and deterministic models (e.g. Mohseni et al, 1998;Segura et al, 2014;Chang and Psaris, 2013;DeWeber and Wagner, 2014;Meier et al, 2003;Westhoff et al, 2007). The former type relies on a statistical analysis to empirically relate stream temperature to climatic and physiographic variables, such as air temperature, discharge, altitude or channel width (see Benyahya et al, 2007, for a complete review of this subject).…”

Section: A Gallice Et Al: Stream Temperature Prediction In Ungaugedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stream temperature prediction in ungauged basins: review of recent approaches and description of a new physics-derived statistical model

Gallice

Schaefli

Lehning

et al. 2015

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. The development of stream temperature regression models at regional scales has regained some popularity over the past years. These models are used to predict stream temperature in ungauged catchments to assess the impact of human activities or climate change on riverine fauna over large spatial areas. A comprehensive literature review presented in this study shows that the temperature metrics predicted by the majority of models correspond to yearly aggregates, such as the popular annual maximum weekly mean temperature (MWMT). As a consequence, current models are often unable to predict the annual cycle of stream temperature, nor can the majority of them forecast the inter-annual variation of stream temperature. This study presents a new statistical model to estimate the monthly mean stream temperature of ungauged rivers over multiple years in an Alpine country (Switzerland). Contrary to similar models developed to date, which are mostly based on standard regression approaches, this one attempts to incorporate physical aspects into its structure. It is based on the analytical solution to a simplified version of the energy-balance equation over an entire stream network. Some terms of this solution cannot be readily evaluated at the regional scale due to the lack of appropriate data, and are therefore approximated using classical statistical techniques. This physics-inspired approach presents some advantages: (1) the main model structure is directly obtained from first principles, (2) the spatial extent over which the predictor variables are averaged naturally arises during model development, and (3) most of the regression coefficients can be interpreted from a physical point of view -their values can therefore be constrained to remain within plausible bounds. The evaluation of the model over a new freely available data set shows that the monthly mean stream temperature curve can be reproduced with a rootmean-square error (RMSE) of ±1.3 • C, which is similar in precision to the predictions obtained with a multi-linear regression model. We illustrate through a simple example how the physical aspects contained in the model structure can be used to gain more insight into the stream temperature dynamics at regional scales.

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“…2) which corresponds to 150% of mean annual discharge at Porte du Scex (181 m 3 s -1 , period and to approximately four times the natural discharge during the winter months (69.5 m 3 s -1 , period ). An overview of the reported modifications on the abiotic parameters of the Upper-Rhone River ecosystem due to hydropower storage plants is given in Table 1, which includes effects on water temperature (Meier et al 2003;Meier and Wüest 2004), suspended sediment load (Loizeau and Dominik 2000), groundwater levels along the river (Fette et al 2005) and oxygen content of Lake Geneva (Loizeau and Dominik 2000).…”

Section: Description Of the Catchment Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydropeaking indicators for characterization of the Upper-Rhone River in Switzerland

2010

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River channelization and the construction of high-head storage schemes have been the basis of agricultural and socio-economic development in many alpine regions. One example is the Upper-Rhone River in Switzerland. The Upper-Rhone's morphology changed considerably between 1863 and 1960 as a result of two major channelizations and, from 1950 on, the construction of a large number of high-head storage hydropower schemes in the catchment. These modifications have brought large benefits to the local population, at the cost, however, of substantial disturbances in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems in and along the river. A primary factor behind these disturbances is the alteration of the natural flow regime, namely hydropeaking due to the operation of the high-head storage hydropower plants. For sustainable river-restoration projects on regulated rivers, scientists and engineers now widely accept the necessity of integrated management of the river. Different aspects such as river morphology, sediment management, water quality, temperature, and the naturally variable flow regime should be considered simultaneously. Mitigation of non-natural, subdaily flow fluctuations due to hydropeaking is a crucial step in restoring natural flow regimes, but is especially challenging due to the economic constraints such mitigation places upon hydropower plants. With the goal of addressing this challenge, this paper proposes three indicators to describe the flow regime of rivers in alpine catchments with and without high-head storage hydropower plants. The indicators quantify: (1) the seasonal distribution and transfer of water, (2) sub-daily flow fluctuations, and (3) the intensity and frequency of flow changes. Indicators are evaluated in a case study of the Upper-Rhone River for preand post-impact situations, and the benefit of a multipurpose project reducing hydropeaking on hydrologic conditions is quantified. Furthermore, the paper explores the possibility of using these indicators to link aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem well being to their hydrology.

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Modeling the Effect of Water Diversion on the Temperature of Mountain Streams

Cited by 93 publications

References 12 publications

Effects of upstream hydropower operation on riverine particle transport and turbidity in downstream lakes

Effects of upstream hydropower operation on riverine particle transport and turbidity in downstream lakes

Stream temperature prediction in ungauged basins: review of recent approaches and description of a new physics-derived statistical model

Hydropeaking indicators for characterization of the Upper-Rhone River in Switzerland

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