2022 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Virtual Conference
March 13 - 15, 2022
5/24/2018 | 9:30 AM - 9:45 AM | POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF NEW ANDEAN DAMS ON SEDIMENT AND NUTRIENT SUPPLIES OF THE AMAZON RIVER | 430 B
POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF NEW ANDEAN DAMS ON SEDIMENT AND NUTRIENT SUPPLIES OF THE AMAZON RIVER
Increased energy demand has led to plans for building many new dams in the Western Amazon, mostly in the Andean region. Historical data and mechanistic scenarios were used to examine the potential impacts of six of the largest dams planned for the region on downstream sediment and nutrient supplies. Together, these six dams are predicted to reduce the supply of sediments, phosphorus and nitrogen from the Andean region by 69, 67 and 57% and from the entire Amazon basin by 64, 51 and 23%, respectively. The effects of these changes will be greatest near the dams, but are expected to extend to the lowland floodplain and delta regions. The large reduction in sediment supply will have major impacts on channel geomorphology, increasing channel depth and reducing channel migration and material exchange with the floodplains. It could also contribute to the submersion of the Amazon Delta. The decline in nutrient supplies is expected to significantly reduce floodplain fertility, causing declines in both agricultural and aquatic productivity, and also reduce the final export of nutrients to the ocean, resulting in a decline in coastal productivity.
- Sediment
- Nutrients
- Hydropower
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Presenters/Authors
Bruce Forsberg
(), National Institute of Amazon Research, Manaus, AM, Brazil, brforsberg@gmail.com;
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Thomas Dunne
(), University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, tdunne@bren.ucsb.edu;
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John Melack
(), University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, melack@lifesci.ucsb.edu;
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Alexander Flecker
(), Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA, asf3@cornell.edu;
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