Distinguishing human and climate influences on hydrological disturbance processes in the Columbia River,USA

Abstract

This paper distinguishes human and climate influences on the Columbia River streamflow disturbance regime, examines how this disturbance regime has changed over the last 150 years, and discusses downstream impacts. Flow management and withdrawal have greatly curtailed exceedence of the natural bankfull level of ～20 000 m³ s^-1. The frequency distribution of Columbia River flow has also changed. Sediment transport is positively correlated with streamflow standard deviation, and has been greatly reduced by flow regulation. Three kinds of spring freshet style have been identified; there are also three kinds of winter freshet. Flow regulation and regional climate warming have changed freshet styles and reduced maximum flows during the spring season. Downstream effects of hydrological alterations include increased salinity intrusion length, loss of shallow water habitat area during the freshet season, increased tides throughout most of the year, and a decrease in area of the Columbia River plume during spring and summer. Although climate changes and variations have played a substantial role in changing the hydrological disturbance regime, their influence is still less than that of human manipulation of the flow cycle.

Citation Jay, D. A. & Naik, P. K. (2011) Distinguishing human and climate influences on hydrological disturbance processes in the Columbia River, USA. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(7), 1186–1209.     

Estimation of ecologically significant circulation features of the Columbia River estuary and plume using a reduced-dimension Kalman filter

A data assimilation method was used to estimate the variability of three ecologically significant features of the Columbia River estuary and plume: the size of the plume, the orientation of the plume, and the length of the salinity intrusion in the estuary. Our data assimilation method was based on a reduced-dimension Kalman filter that enables fast data assimilation of nonlinear dynamics in the estuary and plume. The assimilated data included measurements of salinity, temperature, and water levels at 13 stations in the estuary and at five moorings in the plume.     

Estimation of river flow by artificial neural networks and identification of input vectors susceptible to producing unreliable flow estimates

Reliable river flow estimates are crucial for appropriate water resources planning and management. River flow forecasting can be conducted by conceptual or physical models, or data-driven black box models. Development of physically-based models requires an understanding of all the physical processes which impact a natural process and the interactions among them. Since identification of the relationships among these physical processes is very difficult, data-driven approaches have recently been utilized in hydrological modeling. Artificial neural networks are one of the widely used data-driven approaches for modeling hydrological processes. In this study, estimation of future monthly river flows for Guvenc River, Ankara is conducted using various artificial neural network models. Success of artificial neural network models relies on the availability of adequate data sets. A direct mapping from inputs to outputs without consideration of the complex relationships among the dependent and independent variables of the hydrological process is identified. In this study, past precipitation, river flow data, and the associated month are used to predict future river flows for Guvenc River. Impacts of various input patterns, number of training cycles, and initial values assigned to the weights of the connections are investigated. One of the major weaknesses of artificial neural networks is that they may fail to generate good estimates for extreme events, i.e. events that do not occur at all or often enough in the training data set. It is very important to be able to identify such unlikely events. A fuzzy c-means algorithm is used in this study to cluster the training and validation input vectors into regular and extreme events so that the user will have an idea about the risk of the artificial neural network model to generate unreliable results.     

A model study of tide- and wind-induced mixing in the Columbia River Estuary and plume

A numerical simulation of circulation in the Columbia River estuary and plume during the summer of 2004 is used to explore the mixing involved as river water is transformed into shelf water. The model is forced with realistic river flow, tides, wind stress, surface heat flux, and ocean boundary conditions. Simulated currents and water properties on the shelf near the mouth are compared with records from three moorings (all in 72 m of water) and five CTD sections. The model is found to have reasonable skill; statistically significant correlations between observed and modeled surface currents, temperature, and salinity are all 0.42–0.72 for the mooring records. Equations for the tidally averaged, volume-integrated mechanical energy budget (kinetic and potential) are derived, with attention to the effects of: (i) Reynolds averaging, (ii) a time varying volume due to the free surface, and (iii) dissipation very close to the bottom. It is found that convergence of tidal pressure work is the most important forcing term in the estuary. In the far field plume (which has a volume 15 times greater than that of the estuary), the net forcing is weaker than that in the estuary, and may be due to either tidal currents or wind stress depending on the time period considered. These forcings lead to irreversible mixing of the stratification (buoyancy flux) that turns river water into shelf water. This occurs in both the plume and estuary, but appears to be more efficient (17% vs. 5%), and somewhat greater (4.2 MW vs. 3.3 MW), in plume vs. estuary. This demonstrates the importance of both wind and tidal forcing to watermass transformation, and the need to consider the estuary and plume as part of a single system.     

Dynamic characteristics and horizontal transports of internal solitons generated at the Columbia River plume front

River plume front-generated internal solitons play an important role in the interaction between the plume and coastal waters. The internal solitons drive a non-harmonic velocity field, resulting in a horizontal transport that carries plume water seaward and redistributes nutrients and sediments. In this study, we present observations of internal solitons generated at the Columbia River plume front that separates the new, tidal plume, older plume and coastal waters. Scale analyses suggest that the plume front-generated internal solitons are highly non-linear waves, and their dynamic properties do not conform to any weakly non-linear theory. Thus, a high-order Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) theory is used to analyze the internal solitons. The comparison between theoretical values and cruise data shows that the high-order KdV model is much better than the weakly non-linear theories for prediction of the soliton dynamic parameters. Based on the model, we develop theoretical and numerical solutions of the soliton-induced upper layer horizontal transport and Lagrangian water parcel transport distance, which shows that the water particle drift, during the internal soliton passage, is as far as 1 km, and demonstrates the role of the internal solitons on the exchange between the plume and ambient coastal water. Energy fluxes caused by the internal solitons are estimated using the high-order KdV theory. The leading soliton fluxes 2.0×10³ W m⁻¹ per unit crest length, and carries energy of 4.2×10⁵ J m⁻¹. The total energy carried by the eight internal solitons is 1.6×10⁶ J m⁻¹, about 70% of the total frontal energy.     

Some aspects of the hydroclimatology of the Quesnel River Basin,British Columbia,Canada

In conjunction with available climate data, surface runoff is investigated at 12 gauges in the Quesnel watershed of British Columbia to develop its long‐term (1926–2004) hydroclimatology. At Quesnel itself, annual mean values of air temperature, precipitation and runoff are 4·6 °C, 517 and 648 mm, respectively. Climate data reveal increases in precipitation, no significant trend in mean annual air temperature, but an increasing trend in mean minimum temperatures that is greatest in winter. There is some evidence of decreases in winter snow depth. On the water year scale (October–September), a strong positive correlation is found between discharge and precipitation (r = 0·70, p < 0·01) and a weak negative correlation is found between precipitation and temperature (r = ? 0·36, p < 0·01). Long‐term trends using the Mann‐Kendall test indicate increasing annual discharge amounts that vary from 8 to 14% (12% for the Quesnel River, p = 0·03), and also a tendency toward an earlier spring freshet. River runoff increases at a rate of 1·26 mm yr^?1 m^?1 of elevation from west to east along the strong elevation gradient in the basin. Discharge, temperature and precipitation are correlated with the large‐scale climate indices of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and El‐Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A multi‐species dendroclimatic reconstruction of Chilko River streamflow,British Columbia,Canada

Dendroclimatological data were used to reconstruct the discharge history of Chilko River, which drains a glacierized watershed in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia. We correlated ring‐width records from Engelmann spruce (ES) (Picea engelmanni) and mountain hemlock (MH) (Tsuga mertensiana) trees to historical hydroclimate data. Over the period of record, spruce and hemlock radial growth correlates significantly with temperature and snow depth, respectively. We found that a multi‐species approach provided a better model fit and reconstructive power. Using these relationships, we developed generalized linear models for mean June, July, and June‐July discharge. The proxy records provide insights into streamflow variability of a typical Coast Mountains river over the past 240 years and confirm the long‐term influence of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) on hydroclimatic regimes in the region. A relationship also exists between the reconstructed June‐July discharge record and the North Pacific (NP) Index, suggesting that winter atmospheric patterns over the North Pacific influence the hydrology of coastal British Columbia. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Helium and neon isotopes in the Imnaha Basalt, Columbia River Basalt Group: Evidence for a Yellowstone plume source

Helium, neon, and argon isotopic compositions were measured in two flows of the Columbia River flood basalt. The Imnaha Basalt has a ³He/⁴He ratio of 11.4 times atmospheric and ²⁰Ne/²²Ne and ²¹Ne/²²Ne ratios characteristic of a plume component. The measured ³He/⁴He is a lower limit, due to possible preferential ³He loss and/or addition of radiogenic ⁴He. A Wanapum Basalt flow, erupted approximately 2 Ma later in the waning stages of volcanism, has more MORB-like noble gases. The He, Nd and Sr isotopic compositions of these lavas suggest that the Columbia River basalts were derived from the Yellowstone plume head which contained both ‘high-helium’ plume material and entrained depleted mantle. As the eruptions progressed the plume component in the melting region was gradually diluted or replaced.     

Estimation of irrigation flow by hydrograph analysis in a complex agricultural catchment in subtropical China

Estimating the amount of irrigation water is challenging at the catchment scale because of the difficulties in direct measurement and interactions between the flow components. The objectives of the study were to characterize the catchment flows in an agricultural catchment with an irrigation system in subtropical China and to estimate catchment irrigation flow using hydrograph analysis methods. A weighting model and multiple regression models were established to estimate catchment irrigation outflow according to the hydrographs of the inflows and outflows of the catchment. The multiple regression models took into consideration the drainage time of base flow, resulting in better estimation on an event and annual basis. Using the MR‐6d method, the estimated irrigation outflows amounted to 3700 mm, 2600 mm and 2760 mm during 2001, 2002 and 2003 respectively, which covered 70%, 60% and 64% respectively of the total catchment outflows in the corresponding years. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

MHD model of magnetosheath flow: comparison with AMPTE/IRM observations on 24 October, 1985

We compare numerical results obtained from a steady-state MHD model of solar wind flow past the terrestrial magnetosphere with documented observations made by the AMPTE/IRM spacecraft on 24 October, 1985, during an inbound crossing of the magnetosheath. Observations indicate that steady conditions prevailed during this about 4 hour-long crossing. The magnetic shear at spacecraft entry into the magnetosphere was 15°. A steady density decrease and a concomitant magnetic field pile-up were observed during the 40 min interval just preceding the magnetopause crossing. In this plasma depletion layer (1) the plasma beta dropped to values below unity; (2) the flow speed tangential to the magnetopause was enhanced; and (3) the local magnetic field and velocity vectors became increasingly more orthogonal to each other as the magnetopause was approached (Phan et al., 1994). We model parameter variations along a spacecraft orbit approximating that of AMPTE/IRM, which was at slightly southern GSE latitudes and about 1.5 h postnoon Local Time. We model the magnetopause as a tangential discontinuity, as suggested by the observations, and take as input solar wind parameters those measured by AMPTE/IRM just prior to its bow shock crossing. We find that computed field and plasma profiles across the magnetosheath and plasma depletion layer match all observations closely. Theoretical predictions on stagnation line flow near this low-shear magnetopause are confirmed by the experimental findings. Our theory does not give, and the data on this pass do not show, any localized density enhancements in the inner magnetosheath region just outside the plasma depletion layer.     

Temporal variation of river flow renewability in the middle Yellow River and the influencing factors

In the past 30 years, the measured annual river flow of the Yellow River has declined significantly. After adding the diverted water back to get the ‘natural’ annual river flow, the tendency of decrease can still be seen. This indicates that the river flow renewability of the Yellow River has changed. The river flow renewability is indexed as the ratio of annual ‘natural’ river flow to annual precipitation over a river drainage basin, where the ‘natural’ river flow is the measured annual river flow plus the annual ‘net’ water diversion from the river. By using this index, based on the data from the drainage area between Hekouzhen and Longmen stations on the middle Yellow River, a study has been made of the river flow renewability of the Yellow River in the changing environment of the past 50 years. The river flow renewability index (I_rr) in the drainage area between Hekouzhen and Longmen in the middle Yellow River basin has been found to decline significantly with time. In the meantime, annual precipitation decreased, annual air temperature increased, but the area of water and soil conservation measures has been increased. It has been found that I_rr is positively correlated with the areal averaged annual precipitation, but negatively correlated with annual air temperature. There is close, negative correlation between I_rr and the area of water and soil conservation measures including land terracing, tree and grass planting and checkdam building, implying that water and soil conservation measures have reduced the river flow renewability. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estimation of irrigation return flow on monthly time resolution using SWAT model under limited data availability

ABSTRACT

This study is an assessment of the return flow ratio of an irrigation abstraction using the flow records of a downstream stream-gauging station, with the example of the Kozluk scheme irrigated by diverted water from Garzan Creek flowing through the southeastern region of Turkey. In the planning reports of the major dam projects of the region, an unverified return ratio was assumed in eliminating the influence of this irrigation on the flow measurements of Garzan Creek. The correctness of this assumed return ratio is evaluated by analysing the monthly streamflow measurements of the Besiri station through a Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model constructed with the coarse-scale topography, land use and soil data from open source databases. The results show the necessity of irrigation project-based return flow analyses using regional fine-scale datasets, instead of rule-of-thumb assumptions, to determine the effects of irrigation activities on flow regimes more accurately.     

Linear and non‐linear scaling of the Yangtze River flow

Power law correlation properties of sign and magnitude series have been studied based on the series of observation records of flow of the River Yangtze. The results obtained give improved insight into and understanding of the linear and non‐linear processes of the water cycle. With the newly developed Delayed Vector Variance method and the surrogate test, the documented linkage between the sign series and the linear process, and that between the magnitude series and non‐linear process can be verified. The spectra estimated by detrended fluctuation analysis method show different properties of intra‐annual and inter‐annual correlations in both sign and magnitude series. The linear process behaves as an 1/f noise at a time scale less than about 60 days, but shows features of anti‐persistence in terms of long‐term fluctuation. The magnitudes are clustered in three ways mainly caused by non‐linear processes, i.e. periodic clustering, strong short‐term clustering of 1/f noise at time scales less than 20 days, and long‐term clustering with weak persistence. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

欧洲洪水影响评价技术在长江流域的运用及其若干修正

本文回顾了欧洲洪水影响评价技术.突出的问题是怎样处理洪灾及如何使洪灾损失降到最低.很明显在长江流域开展洪水风险和潜在的损失评价非常有意义.而现有的欧洲洪水影响评价技术难以在长江流域直接运用.我们对其进行了若干修正,并引入了基于GIS/RS的综合水文水动力和最小损失评价模型,该模型己经较好地运用于长江流域洪水影响评价的研究项目.     

Tidal flow asymmetry in the diurnal regime: bed-load transport and morphologic changes around the Red River Delta

The relation between tidal flow asymmetry and net transport of sediment in the semidiurnal regime has been extensively described. This study reveals that in the diurnal regime, the direction of long-term net bed-load transport and resulting morphologic changes is partly determined by the phase-angle relationship of O₁, K₁, and M₂. Simple analytical formulations of time-averaged bed-load transport were derived which separate the relative contributions of tidal asymmetry from that of residual flow with tidal stirring. In this particular case, the Red River Delta in Vietnam, transports related to tidal asymmetry are larger than those induced by the monsoon currents, and are an order of magnitude larger than those associated with topographic residual flow around the delta. Tide-induced morphologic changes dominate at water depths between 10 and 25 m, of which the patterns of erosion and deposition overlap with observed bathymetric changes. Additional observed changes that occur in more shallow water cannot be explained by tidal asymmetry and are probably related to wave action and to deposition from the buoyant river plume.Responsible Editor: Jens Kappenberg     

Inverse methods for subsurface flow: A critical review of stochastic techniques

The development of stochastic methods for groundwater flow representation has undergone enormous expansion in recent years. The calibration of groundwater models, the inverse problem, has lately received comparable attention especially and almost exclusively from the stochastic perspective. In this review we trace the evolution of the methods to date with a specific view toward identifying the most important issues involved in the usefulness of the approaches. The methods are critiqued regarding practical usefulness, and future directions for requisite study are discussed.     

Ecological and environmental instream flow requirements for the Wei River—the largest tributary of the Yellow River

Instream flows are essential determinants of channel morphology, riparian and aquatic flora and fauna, water quality estuarine inflow and stream load transport. The ecological and environmental instream flow requirements (EEIFR) should be estimated to make the exploitation and utilization of water resources in a highly efficient and sustainable way and maintain the river ecosystem good health. As the largest tributary of the Yellow River, the Wei River is the ‘Mother River’ of Guanzhong region in Shaanxi province. It plays a great role in the development of West China and the health of the ecosystem of the Yellow River. The objective of this study is to estimate the EEIFR for improving the Wei River's ecological and environmental condition and develop the river healthily. Concerning the main ecological and environmental functions of the Wei River in Shaanxi Province, the EEIFR for each section of the Wei River including minimum instream flow requirements (IFR) for aquicolous biotopes maintenance, IFR for channel seepage, channel evaporation, stream self‐purification and sediment transportation were estimated in this paper. The methods to estimate the instream flow requirements for stream self‐purification and instream flow requirements for sediment transportation were proposed. The temporal scale of typical years include the year with the probability 25% of occurrence (high‐flow year), the year with the probability 50% (normal‐flow year) and the year with the probability 75% (low‐flow year). The results show that the EEIFR for the Wei River mainly include instream flow requirements for self‐purification and sediment transportation in each typical year. From high‐flow year to low‐flow year, the annual EEIFR for each reach decrease, except those for the reach from Linjiacun to Weijiabao, and from Linjiacun at the upper reaches to Huaxian at the lower reaches, and the annual reach EEIFR decrease in a sequence. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tree‐ring records unveil long‐term influence of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation on snowpack dynamics in the Stikine River basin,northern British Columbia

Long hydroclimate records are essential elements for the assessment and management of changing freshwater resources. These records are especially important in transboundary watersheds where international cooperation is required in the joint planning and management process of shared basins. Dendrochronological techniques were used to develop a multicentury record of April 1 snow water equivalent (SWE) for the Stikine River basin in northern British Columbia, Canada, from moisture‐sensitive white spruce (Picea glauca) tree rings. Explaining 43% of the instrumental SWE variability, to our knowledge, this research represents the first attempt to develop long‐term snowpack reconstructions in northern British Columbia. The results indicated that 15 extreme low April 1 SWE events occurred from 1789 to the beginning of the instrumental record in 1974. The reconstruction record also shows that the occurrence of hydrological extremes in the Stikine River basin is characterized by persistent below‐average periods in SWE consistent with phase shifts of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). Spectral analyses indicate a very distinct in‐phase (positive) relationship between the multidecadal frequencies of variability (~40 years) extracted from the SWE tree‐ring reconstruction and other reconstructed winter and spring PDO indices. Comparison of the reconstructed SWE record with other tree‐ring‐derived PDO proxy records shows coherence at multidecadal frequencies of variability. The research has significant implications for regional watershed management by highlighting the hydrological response of the Stikine River basin to prior climate changes.     

云南小江流域典型泥石流沟中底栖动物群落特征及其对河流地貌的响应

云南小江流域为典型干热河谷区,该区域干热少雨,流域内泥石流沟众多,生态环境十分脆弱.2017年4月和9月对小江流域的吊嘎河、蒋家沟、蓝泥坪沟、清水沟、陶家小河5条泥石流沟及小江干流开展了系统调查,旨在摸清5条泥石流沟及小江干流河流地貌、水环境及底栖动物群落现状,分析不同河床结构发育程度的泥石流沟间的底栖动物群落差异,揭示底栖动物对反映河床结构发育程度的河流地貌特征参数凹凸度的响应关系.调查期间于5条泥石流沟及小江干流中共采集到底栖动物70种,隶属于4门6纲38科69属,其中环节动物6种,软体动物2种,节肢动物61种,扁形动物1种.从种类类群来看,5条泥石流沟及小江干流的底栖动物物种数、密度、生物量上均以节肢动物占绝对优势,分别占总量的78.0%~92.5%、98.7%~100%、65.0%~100%.从功能摄食类群上来看,5条泥石流沟及小江干流底栖动物密度上均以直接收集者为主,占总量的74.3%~96.3%.回归分析表明,5条泥石流沟中底栖动物物种数、密度及生物量均与河流地貌特征参数凹凸度呈正相关关系,由此可见,发育良好的河床结构在维持河流地貌稳定和改善河流生态方面起着举足轻重的作用.本研究结果可为小江流域山区河流泥石流沟河床结构重建及生态修复提供科学依据.     

Response of braiding channel morphodynamics to peak discharge changes in the Upper Yellow River

The braiding intensity and dynamics in large braiding rivers are well known to depend on peak discharges, but the response in braiding and channel–floodplain transformations to changes in discharge regime are poorly known. This modelling study addresses the morphodynamic effects of increasing annual peak discharges in braiding rivers. The study site is a braiding reach of the Upper Yellow River. We estimated the effects on the larger‐scale channel pattern, and on the smaller‐scale bars, channel branches and floodplains. Furthermore, we determined the sensitivity of the channel pattern to model input parameters. The results showed that the dominant effect of a higher peak discharge is the development of chute channels on the floodplains, formed by connecting head‐cut channels and avulsive channels. Widening of the main channel by bank erosion was found to be less dominant. In addition, sedimentation on the bars and floodplains increased with increasing peak discharge. The model results also showed that the modelled channel pattern is especially sensitive to parametrization of the bed slope effect, whereas the effect of median grain size was found to be relatively small. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.