COMPLEX RESPONSE OF CHANNEL FILL-SCOUR BEHAVIOR TO RESERVOIR CONSTRUCTION: AN EXAMPLE OF THE UPPER YELLOW RIVER, CHINA

ABSTRACT The influence of a reservoir on downstream hydrological regime and channel adjustment depends on the operational mode of the reservoir. The Liujiaxia and Longyangxia Reservoirs were completed in 1968 and 1985, respectively, both above Lanzhou. The former controls most suspended sediment supply from the drainage area above Lanzhou station, and the latter controls most runoff generated from the same area; the former has relatively small storage capacity and is used for interseasonal regulation of river flow, and the latter has much larger storage capacity and is used for multiannual regulation of river flow. Thus, the former changes sediment regime greatly, whereas the latter changes flow regime significantly. Of the runoff of the upper Yellow River, more than 95% comes from the drainage area above Lanzhou and less than 5% from below Lanzhou; of the sediment supply, 46% comes from the drainage area above Lanzhou and 56% from below Lanzhou, which cannot be regulated by the two reservoirs. Influenced by these factors, channel fill–scour behaviour after the reservoir construction exhibited a complex response, which can be separated as two stages. The response at the first stage was dominated by the Liujiaxia Reservoir and at the second by the Longyangxia Reservoir. The first stage of response can be generalized as follows: completion of the Liujiaxia Reservoir → large quantity of sediment trapped → downstream channel scour → sediment trapping attenuating due to the decrease of storage capacity → channel scour declining. The second stage of response can be generalized as follows: completion of the Longyangxia Reservoir → significant reduction of high‐flow season flow → downstream river flow incapable of carrying sediment supplied below the dam → downstream channel sedimentation enhanced. The changes induced by the two reservoirs occurred successively, and a cycle of complex response occurred during the river channel adjustment. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.