Dam Impacts on Seasonality of Water and Sediment Transport in Intensively Managed River Basins: A Case Study of the Yangtze River

Extensive studies have been performed on water and sediment transport of the Yangtze River in recent decades, but very few studies were focused on seasonal and daily variations. After the construction of Three Gorges Dam (TGD) in 2003, several key cascade dams were built on the Yangtze upstream. Annual, monthly, and daily data were used to study the seasonality change on water level, water discharge, and sediment load in response to multiple reservoir impoundments. TGD impacted the water level inside the reservoir greatly by shifting the peak water level from summer to winter and made the hydrograph more asymmetrical. In contrast, minor changes in water levels (