Reservoir Attributes Display Cascading Spatial Patterns Along River Basins

Considering reservoirs as linear fragments in a basin's river network could improve understanding, predictability, and management efficiency. We looked for general cascading spatial patterns across five categories of reservoir attributes: land cover, morphology and hydrology, fish habitat, fish...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water resources research 2022-01, Vol.58 (1), p.n/a
Main Authors: Faucheux, Nicky M., Sample, Andrew R., Aldridge, Caleb A., Norris, David M., Owens, Conner, Starnes, Victoria R., VanderBloemen, Spencer, Miranda, Leandro E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Basins
Cascading
cascading reservoir continuum concept
catchment
Catchment area
Catchment areas
Catchments
Downstream
Ecology
Fish
Fisheries
Habitats
Headwaters
Hydrology
Land cover
Land use
Linear functions
Nutrients
Reservoir fisheries
Reservoir management
Reservoirs
River basins
River mouth
River mouths
River networks
Rivers
Streams
Water quality
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Considering reservoirs as linear fragments in a basin's river network could improve understanding, predictability, and management efficiency. We looked for general cascading spatial patterns across five categories of reservoir attributes: land cover, morphology and hydrology, fish habitat, fish assemblages, and fisheries. Attributes were pulled from various databases for large reservoirs (>100 ha) located in the United States. 16 widely distributed river basins, each including a minimum of 15 large reservoirs, were selected for analysis. Using analysis of covariance with basin as the class variable, we tested each attribute as a linear function of catchment area, which is an index of reservoir position in the basin. The majority of reservoir attributes displayed log‐linear patterns as catchment area increased, indicating that reservoirs act as members of a larger network just as river reaches do. Several patterns were detected including attributes with no apparent lengthwise arrangement along the basin; cascading spatial patterns in which attributes increase or decrease from upstream to downstream within a basin; and attributes that increase with catchment area in some basins, decrease in others, or may simply remain constant throughout the basin. We conclude that each pattern may have different implications for management, and that the effectiveness with which most management activities influence reservoirs is likely to increase or decrease along river basins. Plain Language Summary Characteristics of rivers change from the headwaters downstream to the river mouth. Rivers become wider, deeper, and carry more nutrients and sediment as they progress downstream. The numbers and types of fish species also change as streams increase in size. We investigated patterns in hydrology, water quality, fish ecology, and fisheries in reservoirs installed in series along 16 river basins in the continental United States. We found that most of the characteristics we examined do display lengthwise patterns as catchment area increases, which shows that reservoirs act as members of a larger network just as different reaches of a river do. The patterns we report may lead to more efficient management of hydrology, fish habitat, and fisheries in reservoirs as knowledge of these patterns may reduce the need for monitoring each reservoir in the river series. Key Points Confirmation of lengthwise patterns in reservoir attributes across multiple basins supports the Cascading Reserv
ISSN:0043-1397
1944-7973
DOI:10.1029/2021WR029910