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Impact of Dam Construction on Water Quality and Water Self-Purification

Capacity of the Lancang River, China

Article  in  Water Resources Management · July 2009

DOI: 10.1007/s11269-008-9351-8

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Water Resour Manage (2009) 23:1763–1780
DOI 10.1007/s11269-008-9351-8

Impact of Dam Construction on Water Quality

and Water Self-Purification Capacity
of the Lancang River, China

GuoLiang Wei · ZhiFeng Yang · BaoShan Cui ·

Bing Li · He Chen · JunHong Bai · ShiKui Dong

Received: 25 August 2007 / Accepted: 9 September 2008 /

Published online: 7 November 2008
© Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2008

Abstract Along with the sequent completion of Manwan and Dachaoshan Dam, the
river continuum of the middle and lower reaches of the Lancang River was separated
into three types of segments: reservoir, below-dam segment and downstream flowing
segment. The long-term series of water quality and river flow data over 20 years
were analyzed in order to study the impact of dam construction and operation on
water quality and water self-purification capacity of these different river segments.
From pre-dam period to the first 7 years after Manwan Dam had been accomplished,
the water quality of Manwan Reservoir became worse due to the accumulation of
pollutants, and then to the next 5 years the water quality became better in virtue of
the water self-purification of the reservoir. The cooperative operation of Manwan
and Dachaoshan Dam had cumulatively positive impacts on water quality of their
below-dam segment but no impacts on that of downstream flowing segment. From
pre-dam period to the first 7 years after the closure of Manwan Dam, the water self-
purification capacity of Xiaowan–Manwan segment for BOD5 , CODMn and NH3 –
N decreased. Also, the water self-purification capacity of Manwan–Dachaoshan
segment for BOD5 and CODMn decreased but for NH3 –N increased. However, the
water self-purification capacity of Jinghong–Ganlanba segment changed contrary
to Manwan–Dachaoshan segment. In general, the construction of Manwan Dam
negatively affected the water self-purification capacity of reservoir and below-dam

G. L. Wei · Z. F. Yang · B. S. Cui (B) · H. Chen · J. H. Bai · S. K. Dong

State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation,
School of Environment, Beijing Normal University,
Beijing 100875, P. R. China
e-mail: [email protected]

G. L. Wei · B. Li
Nuclear and Radiation Safety Centre,
State Environmental Protection Administration,
Beijing 100088, P. R. China
1764 G.L. Wei et al.

segment but impose little impact on that of downstream flowing segment. This study
suggested that it is necessary to pay attention to the effect of complicated temporal
and spatial characteristics of dam on aquatic ecosystem.

Keywords Dam · Water quality · Water self-purification capacity · Impact ·

Reservoir · Below-dam segment · Downstream flowing segment

1 Introduction

During the twentieth century, large dams emerged as one of the most significant and
visible tools for the management of water resources (World Commission on Dams
2000). Most of large river systems in the world are strongly or moderately affected
by dams and flow regulations (Dynesius and Nilsson 1994; Pohl 2004). By the end
of the twentieth century, there were over 45000 large dams in over 140 countries.
Approximately two thirds of the world’s existing large dams are in developing
countries (World Commission on Dams 2000). Large dams play an important role in
promoting economic and social development and provide important services such as
electricity generation (Sule 1988; Feder 2004), water supplies (Ibáñez-Castillo et al.
1997; Ben Alaya et al. 2003; Mugabe et al. 2003), flood control (Agthe et al. 2000; Le
et al. 2007), assistant navigation (Xie 2004) and so on. However, the environmental
costs of these structures are becoming apparent (World Commission on Dams 2000;
Pohl 2004; Scodanibbio and Mañez 2005). Dams typically alter rivers’ configuration
and flow regime (Petts 1979; Everitt 1993; Topping et al. 2000; Kileshye Onema
et al. 2006), which negatively affects the river communities and riparian dwellers
(Ligon et al. 1995; Jansson et al. 2000). Dams break down the river continuum and
interrupt the transportation of organic matters and metals in a fluvial system and
finally influence the chemical and biological characteristics of river ecosystem. Some
studies showed that trace elements could accumulate in reservoir more easily than
in running water because of the long water residence time (Harding et al. 1981; Ewa
and Grażyna 2002).
In many parts of the world, the limited clean, fresh water is a major constraint to
further social and economic development (Jewitt 2002) and deterioration of water
quality is a major environmental degradation issue (World Commission on Dams
2000; Newham et al. 2004; Saadatpour and Afshar 2007). To a limited extent, rivers,
wetland and other aquatic ecosystems are able to store and recycle certain amounts
of organic and inorganic human waste through dilution, assimilation and chemical
re-composition acting as ‘free’ water purification plants (Groot et al. 2002). Water
self-purification and the improvement of water quality are necessary for the self-
maintenance of the entire aquatic ecosystem, as they provide for the remediation of
the habitats of aquatic species. Thus, water self-purification is as important for an
aquatic ecosystem as DNA repair is for the heredity system. This allows us to regard
water self-purification as an ecological repair in aquatic ecosystems (Ostroumov
2005).
The role of self-purification increases due to the deterioration of natural water
quality (Moiseenko 1999; Dolgonosov 2003) and increased anthropogenic load on
water bodies and streams (Moiseenko 1999; Ostroumov 2005). In recent years, Most
studies focused on the water quality and water self-purification of industrial polluted
Impact of dam construction on the Lancang River, China 1765

river as well as on the mechanism of water self-purification processes (Skurlatov

1988; Heidenwag et al. 2001; Selifonova and Lukina 2001; Ostroumov 2002, 2005;
Vagnetti et al. 2003; Korfali and Davies 2005), rather than on how dam construction
and operation affect the water quality and water self-purification. Actually, the
system of self-purification and water quality formation is labile and easily transforms
when environmental conditions change (Ostroumov 2005). Dam construction is one
of the primary drivers that alter environmental conditions of river ecosystems and
may thus affect water quality and water self-purification. Based on this hypothesis,
this study is conducted to quantify the impact of dam construction and operation on
water quality and water self-purification capacity of different segments of the middle
and lower reaches of the Lancang River, the upper reach of Mekong River. The
primary objective of this study is to present a new idea and method for studying
the impact of dam development on river water quality and water self-purification
capacity. Also, this study will recommend a method for effectively managing river
ecosystem.

2 The Study Area

The headwaters of the Lancang-Mekong River lie in the south-western Himalaya

Mountains, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. The river flows to the South China Sea
along the south and east directions crossing six nations including China, Myanmar,
Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia and it is the hydrologic backbone of
mainland of Southeast Asia. This international river has a total length of 4,880 km
from the headwaters to its mouth and nearly half flows through Yunnan Province in
China (He 1996).
The part of this international river in China is called the Lancang River
(Fig. 1). The Lancang River exhibits strong seasonality of runoff, reflecting the
basin’s monsoon climate. The rainy season (roughly June through October) has 70%
of the overall annual water flow and the highest water flow occurs normally in August
and September. The dry season extends from December to May of next year with
little precipitation and channel flows are sustained by snowmelt from the extreme
upper basin (Jacobs 2002).
The Lancang River is a coarse-bed mountain stream and has a main channel drop
of 5,000 m which is about 91% of the total channel drop of the Lancang–Mekong
River including a drop of 1,780 m in Yunnan Province. The upstream of the Lancang
River has an average gradient of 1.5 and the middle and the downstream from
0.8 to 1 so the river has a huge potential energy by electricity output. Nowadays,
there have been two completed hydropower dams (Manwan Dam and Dachaoshan
Dam) on the middle reach of the Lancang River as well as several more dams and
storage reservoirs for hydropower production under construction and in planning
(Table 1).
The two completed dams along the Lancang mainstream namely Manwan and
Dachaoshan can generally be considered as run-of-river dams with limited flow
regulation capacity. Currently, the impacts of these dams on the flow volumes of the
Lancang and lower Mekong Rivers are not apparent. However, once Xiaowan and
Nuozhadu, the two largest dams, are completed, the seasonal regulation capacity of
the Lancang discharge will reach 100%, with yearly regulation capacity of 23%. This
1766 G.L. Wei et al.

Fig. 1 Location of the study segments on the middle and lower reaches of the Lancang River

Table 1 The parameters of main hydropower projects on the middle and lower reaches of the
Lancang River
Hydropower Hydro- Water Reservoir Average Watershed Developing
dam capacity level capacity runoff area course
(MW) (M) (108 m3 ) (m3 /s) (104 km2 )
Xiaowan 420 1,242 10.06 1,210 11.33 Under construction
from 2002a
Manwan 150 994 9.6 1,230 11.45 Completed in 1993a
Dachaoshan 126 895 237.0 1,340 12.1 Completed in 2001a
Nuozhadu 450 807 110.3 1,750 14.47 Under construction
from 2005a
Jinghong 135 602 10.0 1,840 14.91 Under construction
from 2003a
Ganlanba 15 533 1,880 15.18 In planning
Impact of dam construction on the Lancang River, China 1767

condition will have an obvious effect on the distribution of water volumes throughout
any given year and during dry seasons such an effect will likely reach all the way to
the Mekong delta (He et al. 2006). Apparently future cooperative operation of these
dams may make a significant difference in the dams’ downstream ecological impacts
(Jacobs 2002).

3 Methods

3.1 Data Collection and Processing

The impact of dam construction and operation is a long-term event and abundant
monitor data is essential and necessary to reflect the full-scale impact. A great deal
of water quality data that consisted of monthly determinations over a 20-year period
from 1985 to 2005 and daily flow data covering about 45 years from 1958 to 2000
were collected from the local Environmental Authorities. There are several monitor
stations along the middle and lower reaches of the Lancang River including Manwan,
Jiajiu, Jinglinqiao and Yunjinghong monitor stations. All the data of water flow and
water quality were collected from these monitor stations (Fig. 1, Table 2).
According to the time of completion of the two dams, the collected data was
processed by calculating the average values in three time periods of 1985–1992, 1993–
2000, and 2001–2005 to compare the water condition between pre-dam period and
post-dam period.

3.2 Temporal and Spatial Classification

Inartificial flowing rivers belong to the much dynamic ecosystems on earth (Power
et al. 1995) with enormous temporal and spatial complexity. Filling dams enhance

Table 2 The location, transformation and control stations of different river segments
Segment Length Time Type of Location Control
(km) period segment station
Xiaowan– 70 I Flowing N24◦ 37 ∼24◦ 4 Manwan
Manwan
II, III Reservoir E100◦ 06 ∼100◦ 2

Manwan– 92 I Flowing N24◦ 02 ∼24◦ 3 Jiajiu

Dachaoshan
II Below-dam E100◦ 22 ∼100◦ 2
III Reservoir

Dachaoshan– 105 I, II Flowing N22◦ 38 ∼23◦ 2 Jinglinqiao

Jinglinqiao
III Below-dam E100◦ 17 ∼100◦ 2

Jinghong– 40 I, II, III Flowing N21◦ 55 ∼22◦ 0 Yunjinghong

Ganlanba
E100◦ 46 ∼100◦ 5
1768 G.L. Wei et al.

Fig. 2 Transformation of
three types of river segments Downstream flowing
Dam Below-dam segment Dam Reservoir
segment

Dam

this complexity. The construction of one dam would separate a river continuum
into three types of segments: reservoir, below-dam segment and downstream flowing
segment. When one more dam appeared, the three segment types would trans-
form in the river segments and filling dam is the milestone of the transformation
(Fig. 2). According to the relative location of dams and monitor stations along the
Lancang mainstream, the Xiaowan–Manwan, Manwan–Dachaoshan, Dachaoshan–
Jinglinqiao and Jinghong–Ganlanba segments were selected as the case segments in
this comparison study (Fig. 1). The Manwan, Jiajiu, Jinglinqiao and Yunjinghong
monitor stations work as respective control stations for the selected river segments.
Before 1993, the Lancang River flowed naturally. When the Manwan Dam was com-
pleted in 1993, the Xiaowan–Manwan segment was transformed into reservoir, the
Manwan–Dachaoshan segment became below-dam segment and both Dachaoshan–
Jinglinqiao and Jinghong–Ganlanba segments remained as downstream flowing
segment. Since 2001 when the Dachaoshan Reservoir was filled, Xiaowan–Manwan
and Manwan–Dachaoshan segments became connective reservoirs, Dachaoshan–
Jinglinqiao segment became below-dam segment and Jinghong–Ganlanba segment
was still remaining as downstream flowing segment (Table 2). Based on the time
sequence of accomplishment of Manwan and Dachaoshan Dam, the periods of 1985–
1992, 1993–2000, and 2001–2005 are partitioned and respectively showed as period I
period II and period III in this comparing study. In view of the huge seasonal variety
of water flows and pollutants importing into the river, the analysis was carried out in
dry season (December to the next May) and in flood season (June to October).

3.3 Water Quality Assessment

Water quality includes physical, chemical and biological constituents affecting a

stream’s physical and chemical conditions. This article focused on the chemical
constituents including dissolved oxygen (DO), 5-day biochemical oxygen demand
(BOD5 ), chemical oxygen demand (CODMn ), NH3 –N, and Hg, Pb, As, F− etc,which
are primary pollutants in water body of the Lancang River. Two assessment indexes
of organic pollution index and toxic pollution index were used to evaluate water
quality condition. The indexes are explained as follows:
1. Organic pollution index

BODi CODi NH3 − Ni DOi

A= + + − (1)
BOD0 COD0 NH3 − N0 DO0
where A is the organic pollution index, while BODi , CODi , NH3 –Ni and DOi are the
monitored pollution concentrations in different segments and BOD0 , COD0 , NH3 –
N0 and DO0 are the guidelines that stand for the maximal amount of permitted
pollution content. If A ≥ 2, the river water began to be contaminated by organic
matters.
Impact of dam construction on the Lancang River, China 1769

Table 3 The proposed water quality guidelines in the Lancang River (mg/L)
Item DO BOD5 CODMn NH3 –N Hg Pb As F−
Criterion 10 4 6 1 0.0001 0.05 0.05 1.0
GB3838-2002

2. Toxic pollution index

CHg CPb CAs CF−

TU= + + + (2)
MACHg MACPb MACAs MACF−

where TU is the toxic pollution index, while CHg , CPb , CAs and CF − are the monitored
pollution concentrations in different segments and MACHg , MACPb , MACAs and
MACF− are the concentrations of guidelines. The greater TU is, the more serious
that the river water is contaminated by toxic pollutants.
The proposed water quality guidelines for BOD5 , CODMn , DO, NH3 –N and toxic
substances including Hg, Pb, As and F− refer to the level 3 protection guidelines
of Chinese assessment guidelines of surface water (GB3838-2002). In addition, DO0
was revised as 10 mg/L due to the clean background of water body in the Lancang
River. These guidelines for the maintenance of river ecosystems are shown in
Table 3.

3.4 Water Self-Purification Capacity Assessment

Water self-purification capacity refers to the maximal capacity of a river segment

to take in pollutant without any risk and it is a kind of dynamic function and a
potential resource of river ecosystem. Water self-purification capacity depends on
several factors such as flow volume, flow velocity, pollutant concentration, pollutant
decomposition rate and so on and it is explained as follows:
L
W=Q (CS − C0 ) +KCS Q (3)
U
Where W is the water self-purification capacity of a river segment, while Q is
segment flow volume, CS is the water quality guidelines and C0 is the input pollutant
concentration at the entrance into the segment, L is the length of the river segment,
U is the flow velocity, K is decomposition rate of pollutants.

Table 4 The pollution indices of the three river segments in the three time periods
Time period Season Xiaowan–Manwan Dachaoshan–Jinglinqiao Jinghong–Ganlanba
A TU A TU A TU
I Dry −0.2158 2.0360 −0.1391 0.6842
Flood 0.5892 2.7200 1.4510 1.2930
II Dry 0.5752 3.8220 0.1662 2.1127 0.1501 0.4988
Flood 0.5488 2.7930 0.1312 3.1007 1.7551 0.3692
III Dry −0.0802 1.0170 −0.2196 0.7830 −0.1517 1.7963
Flood 0.0662 0.7240 0.1311 0.9288 0.6355 0.2140
There lacks of the monitored data of Dachaoshan-Jinglinqiao segment from 1985 to 1992
1770 G.L. Wei et al.

Table 5 The measured water quality data of Xiaowan–Manwan segment in the three time
periods (mg/L)
Season Time period BOD5 CODMn NH3 –N Hg Pb As F−
Dry I 0.430000 2.200000 0.220000 0.000100 0.026000 0.010000 0.316000
II 2.410000 2.860000 0.210000 0.000300 0.014000 0.009000 0.362000
III 0.695000 1.196667 0.375750 0.000005 0.022850 0.015500 0.200000
Flood I 1.270000 4.090000 0.400000 0.000200 0.020000 0.010000 0.120000
II 1.870000 3.470000 0.240000 0.000200 0.021000 0.010000 0.173000
III 0.468333 2.433333 0.241250 0.000013 0.007117 0.016500 0.121667

4 Results and Discussion

4.1 Temporal and Spatial Characteristics of Water Quality

The Jiajiu station that is the control station of Manwan–Dachaoshan segment locates
about 12 km below the Manwan Dam and it usually also reflects the water qual-
ity of Manwan Reservoir. Xiaowan–Manwan and Manwan–Dachaoshan segments
have similar trends of water quality, so this study selected Xiaowan–Manwan,
Dachaoshan–Jinglinqiao and Jinghong–Ganlanba segments to analyze the impact of
dam construction on the water quality of different types of river segments.
From Table 4, during the period from 1985 to 2005, the water body of Xiaowan–
Manwan, Dachaoshan–Jinglinqiao and Jinghong–Ganlanba segments were hardly
polluted by organic matters with A < 2 at all times. Moreover, the water body
was polluted by toxic pollutants very slightly with the TU value ranged from 0.1 to
4.0. The results indicated that the negative impact of construction and operation of
Manwan and Dachaoshan Dam on the water quality of the middle and lower reaches
of the Lancang River was not serious up to now. The measured water quality data
shown in Tables 5, 6 and 7 also proved this situation. Though the water quality of
the whole reach keeps good, construction and operation of dams affected differently
water quality of reservoir, below-dam segment and downstream flowing segment.

4.1.1 Reservoir
After 1993, Xiaowan–Manwan segment was transformed from flowing water body
into stable reservoir ecosystem, and water quality in this segment was directly and
notably influenced by the construction and operation of Manwan Dam. As shown in
Fig. 3, from pre-dam period to the first 7 years after the closure of Manwan Dam,
there was an obvious increase of A and TU values in dry season. It is because that

Table 6 The measured water quality data of Dachaoshan–Jinglinqiao segment in the three time
periods (mg/L)
Season Time period BOD5 CODMn NH3 –N Hg Pb As F−
Dry I
II 2.730000 1.105000 0.100000 0.000150 0.013333 0.009333 0.159333
III 0.860000 1.312000 0.221750 0.000008 0.017700 0.009200 0.170000
Flood I
II 1.240000 2.785000 0.155000 0.000250 0.011000 0.012000 0.140667
III 0.688000 3.358000 0.122250 0.000005 0.019540 0.017600 0.136000
Impact of dam construction on the Lancang River, China 1771

Table 7 The measured water quality data of Jinghong–Ganlanba segment in the three time
periods (mg/L)
Season Time period BOD5 CODMn NH3 –N Hg Pb As F−
Dry I 0.701250 2.427059 0.142353 0.000032 0.001357 0.005800 0.218000
II 0.490714 2.239286 0.506000 0.000000 0.000000 0.008267 0.333429
III 1.093333 1.720000 0.136667 0.000150 0.000000 0.004444 0.207375
Flood I 1.000833 8.638333 0.535000 0.000070 0.009100 0.011900 0.173000
II 0.763750 11.181250 0.460625 0.000000 0.000000 0.008067 0.207867
III 0.845000 5.052500 0.362500 0.000000 0.000000 0.002125 0.171500

at the beginning of filling dam a great deal of pollutants from upstream gathered
in reservoir in a short time. Besides, since the hydropower dam improved the local
living conditions, many people migrated here from other districts and they added
much more wastes and pollutants into the reservoir through living and agricultural
activities. From Table 5, in period I, the concentration of BOD5 , CODMn , Hg and
F− were 0.43, 2.20, 0.0001 and 0.316 mg/L, respectively, but 2.41, 2.86, 0.0003 and
0.362 mg/L in period II, respectively. In flood season, there was little change of A and
TU values from period I to period II, which can be attributed to quick exchange of
reservoir water at greater flow volume. After the construction of Manwan Reservoir-
from period II to period III the organic and toxic pollution level declined obviously
both in dry season and in flood season. The reasons might be that the abundant
water body in the reservoir diluted and assimilated pollutants effectively. Besides, the
eco-environment around the reservoir was improved resulting in reduced pollutants
into the reservoir. For example, in dry season, the concentration of BOD5 , CODMn ,
Hg and F− decreased from 2.41, 2.86, 0.0003 and 0.362 mg/L to 0.695, 1.197, 0.000005
and 0.2 mg/L, respectively. In flood season, they decreased from 1.87, 3.47, 0.0002
and 0.173 mg/L to 0.47, 2.43, 0.00001 and 0.122 mg/L, respectively.

4.1.2 Below-Dam Segment

After the construction of Dachaoshan Dam in 2001, Dachaoshan–Jinglinqiao seg-
ment was diverted from downstream flowing segment into below-dam segment, and
the water quality was affected by the construction and operation of both Manwan and
Dachaoshan Dam. As shown in Fig. 4, annual organic and toxic pollution contents
declined from period II to period III The reasons are as follows: Manwan Reservoir

Fig. 3 Change of water quality Xiaowan-Manwan

in Manwan Reservoir from 4.50
pre-dam to post-dam period 4.00
3.50
3.00
Water quality

2.50
2.00 A
1.50 TU
1.00
0.50
0.00
-0.50
Dry season Flood season
1772 G.L. Wei et al.

Fig. 4 Change of water quality Dachaoshan-Jinglinqiao

in below-dam segment from 3.50
pre-dam to post-dam period
3.00

2.50

Water quality
2.00

1.50 A

1.00 TU

0.50

0.00

-0.50
Dry season Flood season

had been in use several years before Dachaoshan Dam was completed and the
water self-purification function of Manwan Reservoir reduced the concentration of
pollutants in the discharged water into Dachaoshan Reservoir and Dachaoshan–
Jinglinqiao segment. In addition, as shown in Fig. 1, the Dachaoshan Reservoir lies
closely under the Manwan Reservoir. Since Manwan Reservoir blocked and purified
some pollutants, the Dachaoshan Reservoir received few pollutants in the early days
after the closure of the dam. Thus the huge and clean water body in Dachaoshan
Reservoir was able to immediately play an effective role in purifying soon after
the dam had been completed and reduce the pollutants discharged into its below-
dam segment. From Table 6, the concentration of BOD5 decreased from 2.73 to
0.86 mg/L in dry season and from 1.24 to 0.69 mg/L in flood season. The concentration
of Hg decreased from 0.00015 to 0.000008 mg/L in dry season and from 0.00025 to
0.000005 mg/L in flood season, respectively. So it can be concluded that cooperative
reservoirs have stronger self-purification ability and do more good to their below-
dam segment’s water quality than a single reservoir do.

4.1.3 Downstream Flowing Segment

Jinghong–Ganlanba segment is far away from the completed Manwan and
Dachaoshan Dam and is flowing naturally. Figure 5 shows that the organic pollution
level increased from period I to period II and declined from period II to period III in
all-year time. However, the toxic pollution level doesn’t follow this dynamic pattern.
Figures 3 and 4 show that organic and toxic pollution level had the similar trend

Fig. 5 Change of water quality Jinghong-Ganlanba

in downstream flowing 2.00
segment from pre-dam to
post-dam period 1.50
Water quality

1.00
A

0.50 TU

0.00

-0.50 Dry season Flood season

Impact of dam construction on the Lancang River, China 1773

under the impact of dam construction. So it can be concluded that the water quality
of Jinghong–Ganlanba segment have not been affected by upstream Manwan and
Dachaoshan Dam. By comparing Fig. 5 with Figs. 3 and 4, it is clear that Jinghong–
Ganlanba segment had higher organic pollution level and lower toxic pollution level
than Xiaowan–Manwan and Dachaoshan–Jinglinqiao segments did. The reason was
that a great deal of organic waste water that released from many riparian sugar
and rubber industries as well as the agricultural pollution and domestic sewage
had been draining into Jinghong–Ganlanba segment. In contrast, Xiaowan–Manwan
and Dachaoshan–Jinglinqiao segments received a lot of toxic waste water that was
produced from industries in Dali city and the Pb–Zn mine in Lanping County at
upstream. As shown in Tables 5, 6 and 7, the concentration of toxic pollutants was
mostly higher and of organic pollutants was mostly lower in Xiaowan–Manwan and
Dachaoshan–Jinglinqiao segments than those in Jinghong–Ganlanba segment.

4.2 Temporal and Spatial Characteristics of Water Self-Purification Capacity

The formation of water self-purification in aquatic ecosystems is governed by physi-

cal, chemical, and biotic processes. Waste water pollution mostly affects the chemical
and biotic processes and dam construction affects all the processes by altering
flow regime, water quality and biotic community in a river segment. Water self-
purification for organic pollutant and for toxic pollutant has different mechanisms
and characteristics and only the former was studied in this article. We know that
the impact of dam blocking river continuum primarily behaves as the changes of flow
volume, flow velocity and water temperature, which are vital factors restricting water
self-purification capacity of a river. Toxic pollutants are hardly to be decomposed
and the correlation between which with river flow regime and water temperature are
not notable. However, the concentration of organic pollutants closely correlates with
river flow regime and water temperature. Dams slow down river flow velocity and
raise water temperature, thus decrease the water self-purification capacity. So the
organic pollutants are available to reflect the effective impact of dam construction
and operation on river water self-purification. This is helpful to achieve the aim of
this study.
All the values of water self-purification capacity were calculated in dry season
which reflects the minimal purification capacity of a segment. Because of the lack
of water quality data this study only analyzed the water self-purification capacity of
different segments in period I and period II. Before 2001 only Manwan Dam had
been completed, so the Xiaowan–Manwan, Manwan–Dachaoshan and Jinghong–
Ganlanba segments were selected to represent the three types of river segments.

4.2.1 Reservoir
Figure 6 shows the change of water self-purification capacity for different pollutants
of Xiaowan–Manwan segment from period I to period II. It is evident that after
construction of the Manwan Dam, the water self-purification capacity for BOD5 ,
CODMn and NH3 –N of Xiaowan–Manwan segment were greatly reduced. This
shift can be attributed to two important factors: longer water residence time and
slower flow velocity that allow the pollutants accumulated in reservoir and result
in increase of concentration of BOD5 , CODMn and NH3 –N. The flow velocity in
the segment in pre-dam period was 0.7 m/s but that in post-dam period was only
1774 G.L. Wei et al.

Fig. 6 Change of water 400 Xiaowan-Manwan

self-purification capacity of

Water self-purification capacity (t/d)

Manwan Reservoir from 350
pre-dam to post-dam period
300

250
BOD5
200 CODMn

150 NH3-N

100

50

0
I II Period

0.1 m/s. Water temperature also played a key role. Damming reservoir often has
higher water temperature which leads to the decrease of dissolved oxygen and make
decomposition rate of pollutants drop. Referring to measured water quality data, the
C0 of BOD5 , CODMn , NH3 –N were 0.43, 2.20, 0.22 mg/L in period I and 2.31, 4.64,
0.35 mg/L in period II respectively in the segment.

4.2.2 Below-Dam Segment

From period I to period II the water self-purification capacity of Manwan–
Dachaoshan segment for BOD5 and CODMn decreased and that for NH3 –N in-
creased. In the first 7 years after Manwan Dam had been accomplished, the dis-
charged water from Manwan Reservoir contained more organic pollutants with
higher concentration of BOD5 and CODMn (2.41 and 2.86 mg/L) which resulted in
that the Manwan–Dachaoshan segment below the Manwan Dam had lower self-
purification capacity for BOD5 and CODMn than it had in period I. Comparing Fig. 7
with Fig. 6, it is known that the water self-purification capacity for BOD5 and CODMn
of Manwan–Dachaoshan segment decreased less than that of Xiaowan–Manwan
segment. It is because that in period II Manwan–Dachaoshan segment maintained
the same flow velocity (0.7 m/s) as that in period I which was much quicker than
that in Manwan Reservoir (0.1 m/s). Thus Manwan–Dachaoshan segment could
dilute pollutants more quickly than the Manwan Reservoir did. For example, the

Fig. 7 Change of water 500

Manwan-Dachaoshan
self-purification capacity of
Water self-purification capacity (t/d)

below-dam segment from 450

pre-dam to post-dam period 400
350
300 BOD5
250 CODMn
200 NH3-N
150
100
50
0
I II Period
Impact of dam construction on the Lancang River, China 1775

measured concentration of CODMn in Manwan Reservoir was 4.64 mg/L and which
was 2.86 mg/L in Manwan–Dachaoshan segment. The water self-purification capacity
for NH3 –N increased a little because of the declined concentration of NH3 –N and
the increased flow volume below the Manwan Dam. The declined concentration of
NH3 –N was probably related to the fact that less nitrogen-rich sewage was released
into the river in period II and the increased flow volume in below-dam segment was
due to the regulation of Manwan Dam. The analysis of river flow data indicated that
the Manwan Dam had made the below-dam and downstream flow volumes a little
increase in dry season and a little decrease in flood season. The measured water
quality data showed that the C0 of NH3 –N were 0.22 mg/L in period I and 0.21 mg/L
in period II. Moreover, the average flow volume was 588.79 m3 /s in period I and
611.15 m3 /s in period II in the segment.

4.2.3 Downstream Flowing Segment

The downstream Jinghong–Ganlanba segment is far away from Manwan Dam and its
water self-purification capacity is mostly affected by natural factors and other human
activities. From Fig. 8, the water self-purification capacity for BOD5 and CODMn
in Jinghong–Ganlanba segment increased a little due to the declined pollutant
concentration and the enhanced water flow volume from period I to period II. The
measured water quality data showed that the C0 of BOD5 and CODMn were 0.70 and
2.43 mg/L in period I and 0.49 and 2.24 mg/L in period II. The average flow volume
was 765.80 m3 /s in period I and 771.36 m3 /s in period II in the segment. It is well
known that the Jinghong city is adjacent to the lower reach of the Lancang River
and famous for its tourism industry and rubber plantation in recent years. Because
of the rapid rise of population and fast agriculture development in the Jinghong city,
more and more nutrient-rich wastes was exported into the reach, which resulted in
the decline of water self-purification capacity for NH3 –N. Referring to the measured
water quality data, the C0 of NH3 –N were 0.142 mg/L in period I and 0.506 mg/L in
period II.
In general, the construction of Manwan Dam negatively affected the water self-
purification capacity of reservoir and below-dam segment and did hardly on that of
downstream flowing segment.

Fig. 8 Change of water 450 Jinghong-Ganlanba

Water self-purification capacity (t/d)

self-purification capacity of 400

downstream flowing segment
from pre-dam to post-dam 350
period 300
BOD5
250
CODMn
200
NH3-N
150

100

50

0
I II Period
1776 G.L. Wei et al.

4.3 Long-Term Impact Prediction

Nowadays there are two contrary opinions on the impact of dam construction on
water environment of rivers. Some studies indicated that dam construction weakened
river water quality and water self-purification capacity with the reasons such as
vegetation decomposing in the impoundment, phosphorus releasing from sediments,
pollutants diffusing slowly and so on (Luo et al. 1999; World Commission on Dams
2000; Fearnside 2001; Cortes et al. 2002; Kim et al. 2004; Zhu 2004; Gülbahar and
Elhatip 2005; Qi and Ruan 2005; Chen and Liu 2005). Other studies made clear that
dam construction slightly decrease the concentration of water quality constituents
due to a long hydraulic residence time and the exposure to chemicals by aquatic
organisms or populations that ingest the water and the dilution by runoff from winter
snowmelt and spring rainfalls (Marneffe et al. 1998; Penczak 1999; Zhou and Yuan
2001; Zhang et al. 2003; Huang et al. 2004; Kurunc et al. 2006). However, these
studies only paid attention to the one-off change of water quality and water self-
purification capacity from pre-dam to post-dam periods. The probable conclusions
were found such as water quality becoming better or worse and dam bringing positive
or negative impact. There lacked the more particular data of changes of water quality
and water self-purification capacity from pre-dam period to the first then to the next
several years after the dam had been completed. At the same time, the comparison
among the different river segments was also not mentioned.
In fact, it is a dynamic process that dam construction and operation affects
positively or negatively water environment of river ecosystems of different segments
during different periods. This study did a more particular work than other ones
by comparing the change of water quality and water self-purification of three
river segments from period I to period II and to period III. The findings showed
construction and operation of dams affected water quality and water self-purification
capacity of reservoir, below-dam segment and downstream flowing segment in
three periods differently. Thus it is necessary to consider the full temporal and
spatial characteristics of the impact of dam development on river ecosystem. The
construction of dams transforms the types of segments with the alteration of river
flow condition and leads to the change of water quality and water self-purification
capacity. However, in the past there was little attention to this. This article presented
the issue and conducted an elementary research in order to contribute a new idea
and method for river management.
Reservoir is a sensitive region and attracts more attention than other river
segments do, so the Manwan Reservoir was taken as a case to predict the long-
term impact of dam construction and operation on reservoir water quality and
water self-purification capacity. Because of the restricted data this article only
studied the impact of dam development during about 20 years from pre-dam to
post-dam periods. The study clearly showed that the water quality and water self-
purification capacity of Manwan Reservoir became first worse then better from pre-
dam period to the first 7 years and then to the next 5 years after the dam had
been completed. However, along with the dam processing more and more pollutants
would accumulate and deposit in the reservoir. It can be forecasted that in a long time
the water quality and water self-purification capacity of reservoir would continually
decline until to the worst. The prediction was consistent with the conclusion of WCD
report who indicated that large dams generally have more negative than positive
Impact of dam construction on the Lancang River, China 1777

Fig. 9 The possible trends of

water quality and water
self-purification capacity of
reservoir under the impact of
dam construction and
operation

impacts on river ecosystem and lead to irreversible loss of ecosystems including water
quality deterioration (World Commission on Dams 2000). So under the impact of
dam construction and operation the water quality and water self-purification capacity
of reservoir would change as a curve as shown in Fig. 9. When a natural flowing river
was altered to dammed water, the water quality and water self-purification capacity
in reservoir would become first worse then better and then probably decrease to the
worst without rehabilitation in a long time. The curve was founded only based on
the study on Manwan Reservoir and limited water quality data, so the more future
data and research cases were needed to validate it. For example, the water quality
and flow data would be measured sequentially at the Manwan, Jiajiu, Jinglinqiao and
Yunjinghong stations for a long time. The future organic pollution index ( A) and
toxic pollution index (TU) and water self-purification capacity of Xiaowan–Manwan,
Manwan–Dachaoshan, Dachaoshan–Jinglinqiao and Jinghong–Ganlanba segments
would be calculated. Through comparing these parameters with those in the past,
the curve would be checked. At the same time, the researches on other rivers were
also helpful to validate the curve. From this study another fact could be found that
there is a farthest distance beyond which the dam would have no impact on the water
quality and water self-purification capacity of the downstream flowing segment and
the continued research and future monitored data would also be needed to search
out this distance.

5 Conclusions

Dam construction and operation has various impacts on water quality and water
self-purification capacity of different segments in different periods. From pre-dam
period to the first 7 years after the Manwan Dam had been accomplished, the
dam affected reservoir water quality negatively in dry season and did little in flood
season. And then to the next 5 years after the closure of the Manwan Dam, the dam
affected reservoir water quality positively in both dry season and flood season. The
cooperative operation of Manwan and Dachaoshan Dam had cumulatively positive
impact on water quality of the below-dam segment and had no impact on that of
downstream flowing segment. From pre-dam period to the first 7 years after the
1778 G.L. Wei et al.

closure of Manwan Dam, the water self-purification capacity for BOD5 , CODMn and
NH3 –N in Xiaowan–Manwan segment decreased; and that for BOD5 and CODMn
decreased but for NH3 –N increased a little in Manwan–Dachaoshan segment; and
that for BOD5 and CODMn increased but for NH3 –N decreased in Jinghong–
Ganlanba segment. In general, the construction of Manwan Dam negatively affected
the water self-purification capacity of reservoir and below-dam segment and did
hardly on that of downstream flowing segment.

Acknowledgements This work was funded by the National Key Basic Research Project of People’s
Republic of China with the No. 2003CB415104. The authors would like to thank Jinghong, Simao
and Lincang EPA for their assistance in collecting monitored data. The authors are grateful to the
editors and the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions.

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