usgs2011.8.30---湄公河水域

usgs2011.8.30---湄公河水域
Forecast Mekong: Visualizing Shared Waters
Forecast Mekong: Visualizing Shared Waters
Audio Script -- July 2011

The Mekong is one of the world's great rivers cascading through six Asian countries from the Tibetan Plateau to the South China Sea, connecting China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

How one country uses or changes the waters of the Mekong upstream can have important implications for the health of the river and people downstream.

Increasing demands for hydropower and irrigation have prompted several countries to plan the construction of large dams on the Mekong River and its tributaries. The cumulative effects of such dams can be quantified through the use of hydrologic data and computer models. Visualization tools can help people develop a shared understanding of river resources and provide a science basis for critical decisions about regional development and sustainability.




In 1995, the nations of the Lower Mekong basin established the Mekong River Commission to assist in the integrated management of the river flow and its ecosystem benefits.

The Mekong River Commission, or MRC, has developed a suite of hydrology models within a decision-support framework to forecast changes in river flow and water quality from proposed development projects such as dams.

The U.S. Department of State in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey and university partners are developing visualization tools to help policy makers and planners communicate and evaluate complex river issues.

The flood waters of the Mekong River are critical to the food security and livelihoods of millions of people in Southeast Asia.

From July to December, the Mekong swells with the addition of snow melt and monsoon rains, peaking in September and October, before receding to annual lows during the normal dry season.

When turbid flood waters of the Mekong join the Tonle Sap River in Cambodia, there is a reversal of flow which more than quadruples the size of the unique Tonle Sap Lake.

The natural expansion and contraction of the Tonle Sap Lake each year accounts for one of the world's most abundant inland fisheries -- a resource that is critical to food security in the region.

Upstream dams pose potential environmental threats to the Tonle Sap and the lower Mekong River and Delta. While dams and reservoirs provide valuable services to society, they can also alter normal or natural flow regimes and fish migration.

And while the impact of a single dam may be minimal, the cumulative effect of tens or hundreds of small tributary dams within a larger river system can be substantial depending on dam location, operation, and size.

Over the next 20-30 years, the major area of water resource development is anticipated to be hydropower, the fundamental feature of which is the shift of water from the wet to the dry season via reservoir storage.

Increased dry season flow decreases the risk of water shortages and increases the options for dry season irrigation to produce a second or third rice crop.

Reservoirs and dams, depending on design, slow river runoff and capture sediment important for river life and delta nourishment downstream.

New engineering methods, such as sluice gates, are being incorporated into dam designs to enhance the flush of sediments from reservoirs and minimize some of the downstream effects of dams.

The flow regulation that results from dam construction may benefit some Mekong River residents, but changing natural water flow patterns can be problematic for sustaining the rich biodiversity of fish in the Mekong, particularly some species with long-distance migratory patterns.

Migration patterns of important species can be graphically captured in the visualization to aid impact assessments of proposed dams with increased understanding of fisheries ecology of the Mekong.

Forecast Mekong is building partnerships with the Mekong River Commission and others to develop advanced computer applications and visualizations that will enhance the understanding of complex river issues and the results of hydrologic models used to coordinate the development of water resources in the Mekong Basin from the mountains to the sea.

The six nations that share the Mekong River will all benefit from a commonly-held understanding of the benefits, trade-offs, and impacts of water resource development. Scientific visualization provides a powerful tool for improving future planning and harmonizing the development of the Mekong for people, fish, and wildlife.

湄公河預測：分享水域的可視化
湄公河預測：分享水域的可視化
音頻腳本 - 2011年7月

湄公河是世界上最偉大的河流，從青藏高原到中國南海的六個亞洲國家的級聯，連接中國，緬甸，老撾，泰國，柬埔寨和越南。

如何能有一個國家使用或更改的湄公河上游水域為河流的健康和人民下游具有重要意義。

水電和灌溉需求的增加也促使幾個國家計劃在湄公河及其支流上的大型水壩的建設。通過使用的水文數據和計算機模型可以量化這種水壩的累積效應。可視化工具，可以幫助人們開發的河流資源共享的了解，關於區域發展和可持續發展的關鍵決策提供了科學依據。




1995年，下湄公河流域國家成立了湄公河委員會，以協助在河流徑流量和其生態系統效益的綜合管理。

湄公河委員會，湄公河委員會，決策支持的框架內制定了一套水文模型預測建議發展項目，如大壩的河流徑流量的和水質的變化。

美國能源部的國家與美國地質調查局和大學的合作夥伴合作開發的可視化工具，以幫助決策者和規劃者溝通和評估複雜的河流問題。

湄公河流域的洪水在東南亞數以百萬計的人的糧食安全和生計的關鍵。

從 7月至12月，積雪融化和季風降雨此外湄公河驟升，最高峰是在九月和十月，前後退正常的旱季期間每年的低點。

當渾濁的洪水湄公河參加在柬埔寨洞裡薩河，有一個流動的逆轉，其中超過四倍獨特的洞裡薩湖的大小。

自然擴張和收縮的洞裡薩湖世界上最豐富的內陸漁業之一，每年帳戶 - 一種資源，是在該地區的糧食安全的關鍵。

上游水壩造成對環境的潛在威脅，洞裡薩河和湄公河下游和三角洲。水壩和水庫，為社會提供有價值的服務，他們還可以改變正常或自然流動的制度和魚類的洄游。

而單一大壩的影響可能微乎其微，在一個較大的河流系統的小支流大壩的幾十或數百的累積效應可以大幅取決於大壩的位置，操作和大小。

在未來 20-30年，預計將水電水資源開發的主要區域，其基本特點是水從濕轉移到通過水庫蓄水旱季。

增加旱季流量減少了水資源短缺的風險，增加旱季灌溉的選項，產生第二或第三的水稻作物。

水庫和大壩，根據設計，緩慢的河川徑流和河流生命和三角洲滋養下游泥沙的重要捕捉。

被納入新的工程方法，如水閘，大壩的設計，以提高水庫沉積物沖洗，盡量減少一些大壩下游影響。

流量調節，從大壩建設的結果，可能一些湄公河流域居民受益，但可以維持豐富的魚在湄公河生物多樣性，特別是一些具有長途遷徙模式的物種，改變自然水流模式問題。

重要物種的遷移模式，可以圖形捕獲可視化水庫提出影響評估，以幫助增加對湄公河的生態漁業的認識。

預測湄公河建設與湄公河委員會和其他的合作夥伴關係，以開發先進的計算機應用和可視化，這將提高複雜的河流問題的理解和用來從山上來協調水資源開發，湄公河流域的水文模型的結果海。

共享湄公河六國，都將受益於一個普遍持有的利益，權衡和水資源開發的影響的認識。科學可視化，為改善未來的規劃和協調人，魚和野生動物對湄公河的發展提供了強大的