Reducing Climate Change Induced Flood at the Cost of Hydropower in the Lancang‐Mekong River Basin
Abstract Hydropower dams are proliferating in the riparian countries of the Lancang‐Mekong River Basin (LMRB) driven by the pursuit of renewable electricity and societal resilience to flooding. However, the tradeoffs between hydropower production and flood control are unclear in a changing environme...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094243 |
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| author | Xiaobo Yun Qiuhong Tang Siao Sun Jie Wang |
| author_facet | Xiaobo Yun Qiuhong Tang Siao Sun Jie Wang |
| author_sort | Xiaobo Yun |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Hydropower dams are proliferating in the riparian countries of the Lancang‐Mekong River Basin (LMRB) driven by the pursuit of renewable electricity and societal resilience to flooding. However, the tradeoffs between hydropower production and flood control are unclear in a changing environment. Here, we use a hydrological variable infiltration capacity model combined with a reservoir module to quantify the relative effects of climate change and reservoir operation on flood and hydropower generation in LMRB. Results show that while climate change would increase flood magnitude and frequency, adaptive reservoir operation can reduce flood magnitude by 5.6%–6.4% and frequency by 17.1%–18.9% at the cost of 9.8%–14.4% of basin‐wide hydropower generation. Particularly, upstream reservoirs suffer more hydropower loss (5.4 times) than downstream ones when flood control is prioritized in reservoir regulation. Our findings have implications for integrated water and energy management at the transboundary river basin under climate change. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a445c9a2c59d4da8a8cb45c33a5d35d3 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-a445c9a2c59d4da8a8cb45c33a5d35d32025-08-20T02:36:28ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072021-10-014820n/an/a10.1029/2021GL094243Reducing Climate Change Induced Flood at the Cost of Hydropower in the Lancang‐Mekong River BasinXiaobo Yun0Qiuhong Tang1Siao Sun2Jie Wang3Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaKey Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaUniversity of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaKey Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaAbstract Hydropower dams are proliferating in the riparian countries of the Lancang‐Mekong River Basin (LMRB) driven by the pursuit of renewable electricity and societal resilience to flooding. However, the tradeoffs between hydropower production and flood control are unclear in a changing environment. Here, we use a hydrological variable infiltration capacity model combined with a reservoir module to quantify the relative effects of climate change and reservoir operation on flood and hydropower generation in LMRB. Results show that while climate change would increase flood magnitude and frequency, adaptive reservoir operation can reduce flood magnitude by 5.6%–6.4% and frequency by 17.1%–18.9% at the cost of 9.8%–14.4% of basin‐wide hydropower generation. Particularly, upstream reservoirs suffer more hydropower loss (5.4 times) than downstream ones when flood control is prioritized in reservoir regulation. Our findings have implications for integrated water and energy management at the transboundary river basin under climate change.https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094243reservoirsclimate changethe Lancang‐Mekong River Basintradeoffs |
| spellingShingle | Xiaobo Yun Qiuhong Tang Siao Sun Jie Wang Reducing Climate Change Induced Flood at the Cost of Hydropower in the Lancang‐Mekong River Basin Geophysical Research Letters reservoirs climate change the Lancang‐Mekong River Basin tradeoffs |
| title | Reducing Climate Change Induced Flood at the Cost of Hydropower in the Lancang‐Mekong River Basin |
| title_full | Reducing Climate Change Induced Flood at the Cost of Hydropower in the Lancang‐Mekong River Basin |
| title_fullStr | Reducing Climate Change Induced Flood at the Cost of Hydropower in the Lancang‐Mekong River Basin |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reducing Climate Change Induced Flood at the Cost of Hydropower in the Lancang‐Mekong River Basin |
| title_short | Reducing Climate Change Induced Flood at the Cost of Hydropower in the Lancang‐Mekong River Basin |
| title_sort | reducing climate change induced flood at the cost of hydropower in the lancang mekong river basin |
| topic | reservoirs climate change the Lancang‐Mekong River Basin tradeoffs |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094243 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT xiaoboyun reducingclimatechangeinducedfloodatthecostofhydropowerinthelancangmekongriverbasin AT qiuhongtang reducingclimatechangeinducedfloodatthecostofhydropowerinthelancangmekongriverbasin AT siaosun reducingclimatechangeinducedfloodatthecostofhydropowerinthelancangmekongriverbasin AT jiewang reducingclimatechangeinducedfloodatthecostofhydropowerinthelancangmekongriverbasin |