River research and applications across borders

Rivers flow across national borders, unfettered by political distinctions, and the ecological health of rivers is closely linked to their degree of connectivity. River research today is more global than it has ever been, but we show that river research, engineering, and management still operate within homegrown local paradigms. As a basis for this discussion, we studied the citation networks surrounding the most widely cited papers in our field, assessing the degree to which researchers have collaborated across geographical boundaries and fully drawn from the international literature. Despite gains over time, our field remains surprisingly and pervasively provincial. The likely explanation for provincial bias is that researchers are generally more familiar and comfortable with their own research methods, sites, and agendas. However, local focus has tangible consequences. For example, contrasting paradigms and differing approaches to river restoration and to flood‐risk management show that opportunities are lost when we fail to learn from the successes and failures of other regions. As we look to the future, increased engagement across political and intellectual and physical borders should propel the field of river science into new and exciting directions.     

松辽流域国际界河水资源保护适应性框架

我国国际界河主要分布在东北、西北、西南地区,以东北地区居多。重视和加强国际界河保护是维护国家利益,保障生态安全,促进和平发展的战略性任务。通过国内外国际界河保护趋势特点、保护进程及存在问题的深入分析,结合松辽流域的实际,提出了加强国际界河保护的基本框架和主要对策。     

基于文献计量的国际河流水资源研究发展态势

以ISI Web of Science论文数据库为数据源,采用美国汤姆森科技信息集团开发的专业数据分析工具TDA(Thomson Data Analyzer)对1951年至2011年(数据入库时间至2011年)国际河流水资源研究研究论文进行数据挖掘和分析.结果表明:国际河流水资源研究持续增长,特别是近20年增速显著;美国在该领域居于引领优势;国际河流水资源研究主要集中于发达国家所属国际河流的可持续发展和水资源管理、关注河流与环境变化之间的问题、河流的跨界及水资源综合管理等.建议密切关注国际河流水资源的发展态势与进展,鼓励我国环境生态学家、水资源学家、生物学家、地质学家、气象学家加强交流合作开展研究,为我国赢取更广泛参与国际河流事务的发展空间.     

Cascade Correlation Artificial Neural Networks for Estimating Missing Monthly Values of Water Quality Parameters in Rivers

Three layer cascade correlation artificial neural network (CCANN) models have been developed for the prediction of monthly values of some water quality parameters in rivers by using monthly values of other existing water quality parameters as input variables. The monthly data of some water quality parameters and discharge, for the time period 1980–1994, of Axios river, at a station near the Greek – FYROM borders and for the time period 1980–1990, of Strymon river, at a station near the Greek – Bulgarian borders, were selected for this study. The training of CCANN models was achieved by the cascade correlation algorithm which is a feed-forward and supervised algorithm. Kalman's learning rule was used to modify the artificial neural network weights. The choice of the input variables introduced to the input layer was based on the stepwise approach. The number of nodes in the hidden layer was determined based on the maximum value of the correlation coefficient. The final network arhitecture and geometry were tested to avoid over-fitting. The selected CCANN models gave very good results for both rivers and seem promising to be applicable for the estimation of missing monthly values of water quality parameters in rivers.     

中国国际河流管理问题分析及建议

介绍中国国际河流管理的现状,分析中国国际河流管理存在的主要问题,并针对这些问题提出以下建议:实现合作共享、优势互补,可持续与环保,带动区域经济发展是中国国际河流合作开发管理的宗旨;中国国际河流管理应向多边合作、区域综合合作、流域整体开发和管理的方向发展;健全、完善并创新现有与国际河流管理有关的法律法规,促使各法律法规协调运行;建立多层次、多主体参与的国际河流管理协商机制。     

International Rivers as Boundaries

Abstract

International rivers serve a number of purposes, the most obvious are the navigational and non-navigational uses. Less noticed is the fact that international rivers are also used to delimit boundaries between nations. The immediate question that would arise is: Where are such boundaries actually drawn across the river? Boundaries, however, are established by treaties and the answer to this question is often included in the interpretation of treaties delimiting such water boundaries, taking into account the special characteristics of the international river. Indeed, this has been the case regarding the boundaries across the Chobe river between Botswana and Namibia. Determining where such boundaries lie would result in deciding to whom a disputed Island, the Kasikili/Sedudu, belongs. In a praiseworthy step, the two countries agreed to take their dispute over the Island, after failure to resolve it through negotiations, to the International Court of Justice. This paper discusses the uses of international rivers as boundaries, and reviews the dispute between Botswana and Namibia, and the decision of the Court thereon.     

利用相关方法推求基于面雨量的断面水量

交界断面的水量是目前水环境综合治理和水环境管理考核的重要数据,对跨界河流水量水质目标考核有着重要意义。利用现有实测降雨量,通过建立交界断面以上流域降雨径流关系推求时段径流量,能够满足一定精度要求,是过渡期推算交界断面水量的可行方法。     

国际水条约对我国西南国际河流开发保护的影响

为了分析国际水条约对我国西南地区国际河流开发与保护的影响,对我国与西南国际河流相关国家签订的主要法律、条约以及下湄公河流域主要管理机构进行了系统的梳理,分析了各条约对我国水能开发可能产生的影响,明确了我国享有的权力和利益以及相关限制和所需承担的义务。在此基础上,提出了对相关影响可采取的对策,可供我国与相关国家进行磋商和谈判作为参考。     

Sharing Rivers for Peace,Development, and Security

Abstract

Water is a finite resource, and with the considerable upsurge in population, urbanization, and industrialization, it is also becoming an increasingly scarce resource. Many countries in the world rely on river waters, and many of those rivers are shared by two or more countries. Dams on those rivers have been a major source of tensions, disputes, and, in some cases, even conflict between riparian countries because dams could result in massive diversion of river flows. Those developments have, inter alia, highlighted the relevance and importance of the principles of international water law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses. The World Commission on Dams has also underscored the importance of, and elaborated on, those principles with regard to dams on shared rivers. This article discusses and analyzes the recommendations of the Commission in this area, and compares them with the principles of international water law as enunciated in the United Nations Convention     

国际河流联合监测机制及其对我国的启示

针对国际河流合作开发中存在的流域整体信息不足、沟通不畅等问题,探讨了国际河流联合监测机制的内涵,从国际河流监测协定框架、监测管理协调组织、监测计划和实施反馈等方面,构建国际河流联合监测机制的一般模式。对莱茵河、多瑙河等国际河流的联合监测机制进行总结和分析,并对我国东北、西北、西南区域的主要河流联合监测实践现状进行分析。最后,在总结多瑙河、莱茵河两条河流联合监测经验的基础上,结合我国周边国际河流的联合监测实践,提出我国国际河流管理应建立区域联合监测框架,提高监测的标准化和信息化水平,形成多主体、多元化联合监测组织模式的意见和建议。     

Computer Support for Implementation of a Systemic Approach to Water Conflict Resolution

Abstract

Water is an important factor in conflicts among stakeholders at the local, regional, and even international level. Water conflicts have taken many forms, but they almost always arise from the fact that the freshwater resources of the world are not partitioned to match the political borders, nor are they evenly distributed in space and time. Two or more countries share the watersheds of 261 major rivers and nearly half of the land area of the world is in international river basins. Water has been used as a military and political goal. Water has been a weapon of war, and water systems have been targets during the war. A systemic approach has been taken in this research to approach resolution of conflicts over water. By helping stakeholders to explore and resolve the underlying structural causes of conflict our approach offers a significant opportunity for its resolution. We define the five main functional activities for assisting the conflict resolution process as: (i) communication; (ii) problem formulation; (iii) data gathering and information generation; (iv) information sharing; and (v) evaluation of consequences. A computerized technical support is developed in the form of the Conflict Resolution Support System (CRSS) for implementation of a systemic approach to water conflicts. Its principal components include an artificial intelligence-based communication system, a database management system, and a model base management system. At this stage of the development, the model base management system consists of tools for multipurpose reservoir operation, river flow routing, multi-criteria decision-making, spatial data analysis, and other general utilities. A hypothetical river basin with potential conflict between stakeholders with respect to water sharing and flood control is used to demonstrate the utility of the new approach and the computer system developed for its implementation.     

东南亚国际河流水资源合作开发的需求研究

为探究东南亚国际河流水资源开发需求,针对东南亚国际河流水资源开发的规划特征和工程建设现状,采用文本分析法、调研法和文献阅读法,依据国际河流合作项目的公开信息,从经济发展和能源规划视角,对东南亚5国的国际河流水资源合作开发需求进行了分析,得出了东南亚国家国际河流开发的合作需求基本情况以及水资源开发过程中的各项需求的具体分布情况。对我国在参与东南亚各国的国际河流水资源合作中具有实际指导意义。     

International River Basins of the World

It is becoming acknowledged that water is likely to be the most pressing environmental concern of the next century. Difficulties in river basin management are only exacerbated when the resource crosses international boundaries. One critical aid in the assessment of international waters has been the Register of International Rivers a compendium which listed 214 international waterways that cover 47% of the earth's continental land surface. The Register, though, was last updated in 1978 by the now defunct United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The purpose of this paper is to update the Register in order to reflect the quantum changes that have taken place over the last 22 years, both in global geopolitics and in map coverage and technology. By accessing digital elevation models at spatial resolutions of 30 arc seconds, corroborating at a unified global map coverage of at least 1:1 000 000, and superimposing the results over complete coverage of current political boundaries, we are able to provide a new register which lists 261 international rivers, covering 45.3% of the land surface of the earth (excluding Antarctica). This paper lists all international rivers with their watershed areas, the nations which share each watershed,their respective territorial percentages, and notes on changes in or disputes over international boundaries since 1978.     

喜马拉雅地区国际河流信息提取与分析

以公开发布的水资源数据以及人口、GDP等社会经济数据为主要数据源,以ARCGIS为技术平台,提取喜马拉雅地区印度河、恒河、雅鲁藏布江-布拉马普特拉河及其主要跨国支流的河流长度、流域面积、年降雨量、年地表径流量、人口、耕地面积和GDP等水资源以及社会经济信息。结果表明,中国境内的水资源量以及人口、耕地、GDP等社会经济量在3大河流系统中所占的比例都很小。印度河、恒河和雅鲁藏布江-布拉马普特拉河的天然径流量分别为2.07×1011m3/a、5.50×1011m3/a和8.28×1011m3/a,其中中国境内的产流量分别为1.00×1011m3/a、0.14×1011m3/a和1.21×1011m3/a,仅占三大河流总径流量的4.83%、2.55%和14.61%。对于包括恒河、布拉马普特拉河和梅克纳河在内的恒河三角洲水系,中国境内产水量的比例只有8.88%。     

Intervention of Naraj Barrage: Its effects on sediment inflows into Chilika Lake,India

Chilika Lake, Asia's largest brackish water lagoon, is located in the state of Odisha on the east coast of India. It was designated as a Ramsar site in 1981, being the first Indian wetland of international importance under the Ramsar convention. Siltation of the lake is become a major concern, because it is leading to various geomorphic changes that are affecting the shape and size of the lagoon, which receives a major silt load through the Daya and Bhargovi rivers (both being branches of the Mahanadi river) via the Kathajodi and Kuakhai rivers. The Naraj barrage was constructed at the mouth of the Kathajodi river to regulate its inflow, and also its silt load, into the lagoon. Two observatories are established in the Daya and Bhargovi rivers to determine the quantity of silt entering Chilika Lake through the rivers, with the bed load and suspended (total solids) being measured. Various effects of siltation in the lagoon because of the barrage are analysed in this study, to include the pre‐ and postconstruction situation. By considering different flood situations in the Mahanadi river, various alternate strategies for operation of the Naraj barrage were studied, with the goal of minimizing the siltation in Chilika Lake. These alternate operation strategies, and their potential effects on the inflow into the lagoon, are analysed and discussed in this report.     

新疆内陆河泛流域水利发展探析

文中阐述了新疆水利发展的特点和现状,指出了新疆水利发展的泛流域化特征,从经济社会发展、生态与环境保护等角度分析了新疆水利发展的动因,探讨了新疆内陆河泛流域化的水利发展态势,提出了内陆河泛流域的水资源调控体系建设、节水型社会建设推进、水管理体系建立和完善以及国际河流开发等新疆水利发展战略。     

Das Makrozoobenthos als Indikatorgruppe zur Bewertung großer Flüsse unter Einbeziehung auenökologischer Aspekte

With the guideline 2000/60/EG, which called for the creation of a framework on water policy, the environmental policy of the European Community took on a new dimension. The goal of the guideline is (among others) the creation of a framework for the protection of inland surface waters, transitional waters, coastal waters and groundwater in order to avoid their deterioration; and to protect and improve the status of aquatic ecosystems, their associated land ecosystems directly dependent on them, and wetlands in terms of their water budget. Thanks to various forms of use, e.g. hydropower production, flood protection and ship traffic, especially major European rivers like the Danube, Rhine and Elbe have changed massively from their original typological characteristics. Reference conditions are hardly anywhere to be found, many native species are now extinct, and river biotopes are often dominated by invasive species. The size and depth of these rivers also pose challenges in terms of taking samples, and it has also become apparent that all methods currently used to assess rivers’ ecological status focus solely on the main channels; the various habitats to be found in large rivers’ riparian systems aren’t taken into account. However, there is international consensus that these systems are key elements in rivers’ processes and biodiversity, and as such are significant for the continuing functionality of major rivers. In the context of an Austrian Ministry of Life-funded research project, the Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management’s Working Group on Benthic Ecology and Ecological Status Assessment, together with the University of Vienna and the Environment Agency Austria, is currently working to develop a practice-oriented riparian zone index based on macrozoobenthos as an indicator of quality. To date, Europe has no Water Framework Directive-compliant assessment systems for riparian zones. Given the fact that established methods are limited to river’s main channels, precluding a holistic view of and approach to river ecosystems, this project represents a pioneering work in the field of European water resource management.     

Register of International Rivers: A Personal Reflection

The issue of management of international rivers has proven to be a difficult subject to deal with at major international fora. Even though the subject has become increasingly important since the 1970s, international organizations are conspicuous by their absence in this area in terms of playing an active role in facilitating operational agreements. The paper briefly reviews developments in this since 1972. It provides a historical background to how the Register of International Rivers was prepared in 1976 and published in 1978. This document is widely quoted, but one would be hard pressed to identify a single reference in recent years that is correct. This probably indicates that very few people have actually read it, but are quoting the text from secondary and tertiary sources.     

Early Warning System for the Lower Mekong River

Abstract

The Mekong River, one of the largest rivers in the world, is among the few rivers that exist in a nearly natural state, without interference from human influences. The floods of the river are among the major sources of well being for the population, and the annual recurrence of the Monsoon floods is a benefit for the country. However, in some years the benefits are reversed: the floods of the river overflow the banks and inundate vast portions of the land for many weeks. Consequently, it is necessary to adjust human activities to the rhythm of the river. The best people can do is to try to anticipate the flood and to be prepared to live with the floods, both when the floods are beneficial and when they are detrimental. This requires forecasting the flood levels sufficiently ahead of time. However, a mere forecast is not sufficient; an efficient flood management system requires augmenting the forecasting activity with actions. The sum of the preparations for a forecast to make it most beneficial to the people is embodied in an efficient early warning system. A novel approach for obtaining such a system consists of direct interactions of international scientists and regional experts—as has been practiced in an experimental international expert meeting for the Mekong River.     

Fish assemblages and biotic integrity of a highly modified floodplain river,the Upper Mississippi,and a large,relatively unimpacted tributary,the Lower Wisconsin

The Upper Mississippi River is a dynamic floodplain river that has been largely transformed by navigational levees and dams since the 1930s. The pools upstream of each dam are lake‐like and only about the upper third of each reach retains a riverine character. In contrast, the Wisconsin River is not managed for commercial navigation and today its lower 149 km represent one of the least‐degraded large river reaches in central North America. Riverine reaches in both the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers have similar macro‐habitats including numerous islands, large side channels, and connected backwaters and floodplain lakes. In this study, shoreline electrofishing samples were collected during summer 2002 and 2003 to characterize resident fish assemblages. We compared fish species abundance, biomass, and biotic integrity along main and side channel borders between the Upper Mississippi River and the Lower Wisconsin River. We expected that, in the absence of environmental degradation, fish composition and structure would be similar between the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers, and between channel types within each river. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling and redundancy analysis revealed that fish species in the Mississippi River, unlike in the Wisconsin River, were characteristic of non‐riverine habitats. We consider non‐riverine fish assemblages indicative of environmental impairment. The main and side channel sites in the Mississippi River had more variable fish assemblages than the Wisconsin River. Analyses of fish index of biotic integrity scores showed that environmental condition was excellent for both channel types in the Wisconsin River, whereas in the Mississippi River the side channel was rated good and the main channel only fair. We conclude that differences between the two rivers and between channel types of the Mississippi River are consistent with direct and indirect effects of navigation. This study demonstrates the utility of a fish index of biotic integrity, an inexpensive and rapid bioassessment tool, for detecting change in ecological health on one of the world's largest rivers. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.