Title
The potential impact of climate variability on siltation of Andean reservoirs
Date Issued
01 February 2020
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Publisher(s)
Elsevier B.V.
Abstract
Recent changes in global climate, and especially changes in precipitation patterns, may negatively impact on siltation of Andean storage reservoirs, thereby putting at risk the provision of resources to the local population. The extent to which this may happen is poorly understood. We therefore studied the catchment of the Cañete River in the western Peruvian Coastal Range as it plays an important role in the socioeconomic development of the region. It houses the 220 MW El Platanal hydroelectric plant and the Capillucas reservoir that provide the surrounding areas with water and energy. We used a hydrological model (HEC-HMS) coupled with a sediment transport model (HEC-RAS) to simulate future changes in river discharge and sediment load. This information was then used to calculate the siltation of the Capillucas storage reservoir. Ten scenarios were developed, a combination of two different precipitation patterns and five different precipitation rates. The precipitation patterns differed in the distribution of the precipitation change during the rainfall season, and the precipitation rates differed in the extent of change in precipitation amounts. The average sediment load of the Cañete River was estimated at 981 kTon/yr upstream of the Capillucas reservoir and showed that the calculated life span of the Capillucas reservoir is about 17 years. The most pessimistic scenario suggested a reduction in the life span of the reservoir to 7 years and the most optimistic scenario to 31 years. Even under the most optimistic scenario, the life span of the reservoir is shorter than its officially expected functionality of 50 years. As such, our results demonstrated the vulnerability of Andean hydroelectric reservoirs against future climate change.
Volume
581
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Geografía física Investigación climática
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85076025752
Source
Journal of Hydrology
ISSN of the container
00221694
Sponsor(s)
This study was supported by the Proyecto Glaciares+ , implemented by CARE Peru and the University of Zurich (Switzerland) and funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and by the ARES POP project on “Erosion and sediment yield in response to climate change and variability” funded by the Coopération au développement de l’Académie de Recherche et d’Enseignement supérieur (Belgium). Miluska Rosas was supported by a PhD Scholarship from the Conseil de l’Action Internationale from UCLouvain (Grant No. ADRI/CD/CA/2016-NR 51). We extend our thanks to CELEPSA and Ambiand for data supplied.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus