The role dams could play in modulating the impacts of climate change in shared river systems: insights from the Tigris Euphrates watershed
Abstract
The projected increase in flood frequency and drought events in the twenty-first century due to climate change will impact many of the world's major watersheds. The Tigris Euphrates watershed covers an area of 1×106 km2 with two main rivers, the Euphrates River (length: 2800 km) and the Tigris River (length: 1900 km) originate from the highlands of Turkey, Iran, and Syria and flow downstream towards Iraq. Here, we quantify the potential role of dams in drought mitigation and sustenance of water supplies through storage to address water management challenges in the Tigris Euphrates watershed. Our analysis of multiple satellite missions (e.g., GRACE, GRACE Follow-On, Landsat 5,7,8, and satellite radar altimetry) and global land surface models over the highly engineered Tigris Euphrates watershed (30 dams) showed an impressive recovery of the system following a prolonged drought (2007-2018; Average Annual Precipitation [AAP]: ~400 km3) by an extreme precipitation event in 2019 (726 km3) with no parallels in the past 100 years. This recovery (113±11 km3) compensated for 50% of the losses endured during drought by impounding a large portion of the runoff within the reservoirs (capacity: 250 km3). Findings highlight the role dams, especially those with high storage capacity, can play in regulating and managing the projected extreme flooding and drought events in the 21st century. More than ever, there is a need for cooperation between riparian countries to manage water shares and reservoir operation schemes.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2022
- Bibcode:
- 2022AGUFM.U25A..02A