Sustaining China’s large rivers: River development policy,impacts, institutional issues and strategies for future improvement

The sustainable management of China’s rivers is very important to the well-being of both the environment and its people. Yet the country’s rivers are now facing imminent threats from river overexploitation. The deteriorating condition serves as a stark reminder that relevant policies must be revised to ensure their wiser stewardship. In this short critical review, we first briefly stated river development history and various impacts arising from river overexploitation. We then elaborated the issues in river management, which connived numerous behaviors neglecting river degradation happened at all institutional levels. Based on the weakness, we proposed some policy recommendations to sustain China’s rivers and balance river development and conservation. The article concludes by proposing the development of a national river protection law to reinforce integrated river management, improve the implementation of environment impact assessments, and fulfill long-term goals for river conservation and sustainable development.     

渗流与地震作用下铁矿尾矿坝稳定性分析

尾矿坝有别于传统的挡水坝体,其堆积材料具有松散性、非均匀性及填筑质量不可控性等特点,常常在地震、强降雨等不利因素作用下发生溃坝灾害,严重危及人民生命财产安全。合理评判尾矿坝坝体在不同工况下的稳定性状是科学防灾减灾的前提。本文以内蒙古包钢集团某铁矿尾矿坝为研究对象,通过现场勘察与室内外试验,初步评价尾矿坝堆积体的稳定性,获取稳定性分析所需的物理力学参数;考虑强降雨渗流及地震作用,分别采用Geo-studio及STAB土质边坡稳定性分析软件,基于极限平衡法进行天然工况、暴雨工况、地震工况及暴雨+地震工况下的稳定性计算;基于有限元强度折减法,采用ABAQUS软件针对上述工况进行尾矿坝体稳定性对比计算;综合分析了三种稳定性计算方法在潜在滑带识别及稳定性计算成果等方面的差异,建议了极限平衡法与有限元分析相结合的复杂工况下尾矿坝稳定性分析方法。分析结果表明:渗流与地震作用下某铁矿2#尾矿坝段处于欠稳定状态,其余坝段处于稳定状态,为该尾矿库溃坝危险性评价提供了科学依据。     

Proglacial damlakes in eastern Transbaikalia: New insight into the Pleistocene paleogeography

Paleogeographic reconstructions for the Samarovo, Taz, Murukta, and Sartan glaciations reveal the formation conditions of proglacial lakes dammed by ice in intermontane depressions and valleys of large rivers in eastern Transbaikalia. Middle-Late Pleistocene climate change is reconstructed using spore-pollen spectra from Pleistocene sediments in northern Transbaikalia. The age and lifetime of proglacial lakes are constrained by radiocarbon, thermoluminescence, and varve chronology of their bottom sediments in the periglacial zone. The lake levels remain recorded in sediments produced by deposition and erosion along the former lake shores, as well as in morphology and lithology variations of terminal moraines. A large proglacial lake, with a maximum level of 1020 m, occupied vast areas in Transbaikalia and its surroundings during the Samarovo glaciation. After the glaciers degraded, the Amur River system expanded into the area of closed lake basins in the southeastern Baikal region, including North China and Mongolia. The obtained results have implications for the Middle-Late Pleistocene history of lake deposition.     

基于增量加载法的泥石流拦挡坝抗冲击力数值模拟

为提高泥石流重力式拦挡坝的设计安全和避免资金投入过大而造成浪费,选择合理的泥石流冲击力作为设计依据尤为重要。文章结合舟曲县三眼峪沟灾后重建防治工程相关数据,利用有限元软件ABAQUS进行计算分析,采用增量加载的数值计算方法,分别求得2种工况下重力式拦挡坝的抗冲击力。根据三眼峪沟治理工程运行至今的反馈情况,证明在泥石流治理工程设计中,冲击力选择工况1和2的平均值较合理,同时说明该方法与经验公式结合使用,其结果更加精确可靠,在泥石流工程设计和研究中具有良好的应用前景。     

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The seismic signatures of the surge wave from the 2009 Xiaolin landslide‐dam breach in Taiwan

The catastrophic Xiaolin landslide occurred on 9 August 2009, after Typhoon Morakot struck Taiwan. This landslide formed a dam that subsequently breached, burying and flooding the village of Xiaolin. Seismic signals were induced by the landslide and dam breaching and recorded at the Jiaxian broadband seismic station in Taiwan. The time‐frequency spectra for the data from this station were analysed to extract the seismic characteristics of the landslide and to deduce the timing of processes associated with the landslide dam‐break flooding. The duration of the river blockage, the time of the dam breach, the duration of the surge wave and the mean speed of the surge wave were estimated, and the hydrological implications of the flood behaviour were interpreted. The spectral characteristics of the different stream discharges were also studied. Stream water level/discharge is closely related to the frequency of the seismic signals. The broadband stations are particularly useful for flood monitoring due to their ability to continuously record measurements and their high sensitivity. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

RAPID applied to the SIM‐France model

SIM‐France is a large connected atmosphere/land surface/river/groundwater modelling system that simulates the water cycle throughout metropolitan France. The work presented in this study investigates the replacement of the river routing scheme in SIM‐France by a river network model called RAPID to enhance the capacity to relate simulated flows to river gauges and to take advantage of the automated parameter estimation procedure of RAPID. RAPID was run with SIM‐France over a 10‐year period and results compared with those of the previous river routing scheme. We found that while the formulation of RAPID enhanced the functionality of SIM‐France, the flow simulations are comparable in accuracy to those previously obtained by SIM‐France. Sub‐basin optimization of RAPID parameters was found to increase model efficiency. A single criterion for quantifying the quality of river flow simulations using several river gauges globally in a river network is developed that normalizes the square error of modelled flow to allow equal treatment of all gauging stations regardless of the magnitude of flow. The use of this criterion as the cost function for parameter estimation in RAPID allows better results than by increasing the degree of spatial variability in optimization of model parameters. Likewise, increased spatial variability of RAPID parameters through accounting for topography is shown to enhance model performance. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Accelerating shear velocity in gravel-bed channels

Abstract

The behaviour of the shear velocity along a gravel-bed channel is investigated experimentally in the presence of a negative pressure gradient (accelerating flow). Different methods of estimation of the shear velocity, derived from vertical profiles of the mean longitudinal point velocity, are examined and a new method is proposed. Results show that the proposed method of estimation is comparable to the St Venant and Clauser's methods. At a specific cross section, for constant bottom slope and relative roughness, shear velocity increases with discharge.     

北川通口电站震后恢复防渗加固工程

在“5·12”汶川大地震中,北川通口水电站遭受到了重创,大坝的渗漏量加大,已影响到大坝的安全运行。通过对该水电站坝基采取帷幕灌浆的方法进行处理,在具体施工过程中对关键环节进行了控制。实践证明,大坝渗漏量比地震前的渗漏量还有降低,达到预期效果,确保了大坝运行安全。     

How sediment composition and flow rate influence downstream channel morphodynamics upon dam removal

The process of dam removal establishes the channel morphology that is later adjusted by high-flow events. Generalities about process responses have been hypothesized, but broad applicability and details remain a research need. We completed laboratory experiments focused on understanding how processes occurring immediately after a sediment release upon dam removal or failure affect the downstream channel bed. Flume experiments tested three sediment mixtures at high and low flow rates. We measured changes in impounded sediment volume, downstream bed surface, and rates of deposition and erosion as the downstream bed adjusted. Results quantified the process responses and connected changes in downstream channel morphology to sediment composition, temporal variability in impounded sediment erosion, and spatial and temporal rates of bedload transport. Within gravel and sand sediments, the process response depended on sediment mobility. Dam removals at low flows created partial mobility with sands transporting as ripples over the gravel bed. In total, 37% of the reservoir eroded, and half the eroded sediment remained in the downstream reach. High flows generated full bed mobility, eroding sands and gravels into and through the downstream reach as 38% of the reservoir eroded. Although some sediment deposited, there was net erosion from the reach as a new, narrower channel eroded through the deposit. When silt was part of the sediment, the process response depended on how the flow rate influenced reservoir erosion rates. At low flows, reservoir erosion rates were initially low and the sediment partially exposed. The reduced sediment supply led to downstream bed erosion. Once reservoir erosion rates increased, sediment deposited downstream and a new channel eroded into the deposits. At high flows, eroded sediment temporarily deposited evenly over the downstream channel before eroding both the deposits and channel bed. At low flows, reservoir erosion was 17–18%, while at the high flow it was 31–41%.