Damming the prairie: Human alteration of Great Plains river regimes

Summary Many studies have investigated post-impoundment hydrologic regime alteration; however, the Great Plains of the United States are often excluded from these analyses. The goal of this analysis was to evaluate the pre and post-impact hydrologic regimes of Great Plains rivers. The hydrologic records of nine large rivers were analyzed to quantify the magnitude, duration, and direction of hydrologic alteration attributable to impoundment. An additional tenth system, the Red River of the North, was included in the analysis to provide an example of a comparable regional hydrologic regime without the presence of impoundments on the main-stem of the network. Hydrologic regimes were analyzed using the Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration, a model that estimates 33 hydrologic and ecologically relevant parameters. For many of the parameters, the magnitude, duration, and direction were similar across the systems. The results showed a significant increase in the 1 through 90 day minimum discharges and a significant decrease in the 1 through 90 day maximum discharge; though the magnitude of alteration decreased with increased temporal averaging. The most dramatic alterations were large increases in the number of annual hydrograph reversals and faster rise and fall rates. Results of this study are the first to quantify the widespread hydrologic alteration of Great Plains rivers following impoundment.

[1]  Cliff R. Hupp,et al.  Bottomland Vegetation Distribution along Passage Creek, Virginia, in Relation to Fluvial Landforms , 1985 .

[2]  Witold F. Krajewski,et al.  Examining Flood Frequency Distributions in the Midwest U.S. 1 , 2011 .

[3]  David P. Braun,et al.  A Method for Assessing Hydrologic Alteration within Ecosystems , 1996 .

[4]  F. Magilligan,et al.  Changes in hydrologic regime by dams , 2005 .

[5]  F. Magilligan,et al.  EFFECTS OF DAM IMPOUNDMENT ON THE FLOOD REGIME OF NATURAL FLOODPLAIN COMMUNITIES IN THE UPPER CONNECTICUT RIVER 1 , 2002 .

[6]  C. Nilsson,et al.  Fragmentation and Flow Regulation of River Systems in the Northern Third of the World , 1994, Science.

[7]  A. Samal,et al.  Upstream-downstream relationships in terms of annual streamflow discharges and drought events in Nebraska. , 2009 .

[8]  Rolf Kellerhals,et al.  Morphological effects of interbasin river diversions , 1979 .

[9]  D. Lytle,et al.  Adaptation to natural flow regimes. , 2004, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[10]  K. Gido,et al.  Stream Fragmentation Thresholds for a Reproductive Guild of Great Plains Fishes , 2011 .

[11]  T. Bonner,et al.  Changes in the Canadian River Fish Assemblage Associated with Reservoir Construction , 2000 .

[12]  Robert H. Webb,et al.  Science and Values in River Restoration in the Grand Canyon There is no restoration or rehabilitation strategy that will improve the status of every riverine resource , 1998 .

[13]  J. Olden,et al.  Redundancy and the choice of hydrologic indices for characterizing streamflow regimes , 2003 .

[14]  R. Baxter.  Environmental Effects of Dams and Impoundments , 1977 .

[15]  R. Sparks,et al.  THE NATURAL FLOW REGIME. A PARADIGM FOR RIVER CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION , 1997 .

[16]  W. Dietrich,et al.  Downstream Ecological Effects of Dams: A geomorphic perspective , 1995 .

[17]  T. Bonner,et al.  Long‐term changes in flow regime and fish assemblage composition in the guadalupe and san marcos rivers of texas , 2011 .

[18]  M. Church.  Geomorphic response to river flow regulation: Case studies and time-scales , 1995 .

[19]  Brian Richter,et al.  Application of the Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration Software in Environmental Flow Setting 1 , 2007 .

[20]  Assefa M. Melesse,et al.  Spatiotemporal dynamics of land surface parameters in the Red River of the North Basin , 2004 .

[21]  Gregor T. Auble,et al.  Downstream effects of dams on channel geometry and bottomland vegetation: Regional patterns in the great plains , 1998, Wetlands.

[22]  W. J. Matthews,et al.  Effects of Barriers and Thermal Refugia on Local Movement of the Threatened Leopard Darter, Percina pantherina , 2003, Environmental Biology of Fishes.

[23]  Garnett P. Williams,et al.  The case of the shrinking channels; the North Platte and Platte rivers in Nebraska , 1978 .

[24]  W. Graf.  Downstream hydrologic and geomorphic effects of large dams on American rivers , 2006 .

[25]  A. Moehlman.  The Red River of the North , 1935 .

[26]  Wcd.  Dams and development: A new framework for decision-making , 2000 .

[27]  M. Stieglitz,et al.  Increasing river discharge in the Eurasian Arctic: Consideration of dams, permafrost thaw, and fires as potential agents of change , 2004 .

[28]  Keith B. Gido,et al.  Responses of Native and Nonnative Fishes to Natural Flow Regime Mimicry in the San Juan River , 2004 .

[29]  Joanne Chamberlain,et al.  Hydrologic Manipulations of the Channelized Kissimmee River Implications for restoration , 1998 .

[30]  M. Wolman,et al.  Downstream effects of dams on alluvial rivers. , 1984 .

[31]  R. Sparks,et al.  The Natural Flow Regime , 2006 .

[32]  N. LeRoy Poff,et al.  Implications of Streamflow Variability and Predictability for Lotic Community Structure: A Regional Analysis of Streamflow Patterns , 1989 .

[33]  Yao Yin,et al.  Naturalization of the flood regime in regulated rivers the case of the upper Mississippi River , 1998 .

[34]  Jurgen D. Garbrecht,et al.  Trends in Precipitation, Streamflow, and Evapotranspiration in the Great Plains of the United States , 2004 .

[35]  W. Graf.  Geomorphology and American dams: The scientific, social, and economic context , 2005 .

[36]  N. Poff,et al.  How Dams Vary and Why It Matters for the Emerging Science of Dam Removal , 2002 .

[37]  M. Simpson.  Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States , 2011 .

[38]  C. Paukert,et al.  Effects of floods on fish assemblages in an intermittent prairie stream , 2006 .

[39]  Elineide Eugênio Marques,et al.  Fish ladder of Lajeado Dam: migrations on one-way routes? , 2007 .

[40]  D. Patten,et al.  Establishment of woody riparian vegetation in relation to annual patterns of streamflow, Bill Williams River, Arizona , 1998, Wetlands.

[41]  J. Holden,et al.  The storage and aging of continental runoff in large reservoir systems of the world , 1997 .

[42]  A. V. Vecchia,et al.  Global pattern of trends in streamflow and water availability in a changing climate , 2005, Nature.

[43]  W. C. Johnson.  Adjustment of riparian vegetation to river regulation in the Great Plains, USA , 1998, Wetlands.

[44]  W. Graf.  Dam nation: A geographic census of American dams and their large‐scale hydrologic impacts , 1999 .

[45]  W. J. Matthews,et al.  North American Prairie Streams as Systems for Ecological Study , 1988, Journal of the North American Benthological Society.

[46]  David L. Galat,et al.  Restoring ecological integrity of great rivers: historical hydrographs aid in defining reference conditions for the Missouri River , 2000, Hydrobiologia.

[47]  W. J. Matthews,et al.  Life on the Edge: The Ecology of Great Plains Prairie Streams , 2004 .

[48]  M. O'Neill,et al.  Effects of flow augmentation on stream channel morphology and riparian vegetation: Upper Arkansas River basin, Colorado , 1998, Wetlands.

[49]  A. Roy,et al.  Hydrological alteration along the Missouri River Basin: A time series approach , 2003, Aquatic Sciences.

[50]  J. Blair,et al.  Rainfall Variability, Carbon Cycling, and Plant Species Diversity in a Mesic Grassland , 2002, Science.