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This study examines the impact of the world's largest dam, the Three Gorges Dam (TGD), on the thermal dynamics of the Yangtze River (China). The analysis uses long-term observations of river water temperature (RWT) in four stations and reconstructs the RWT that would have occurred in absence of the TGD. Relative to pre-TGD conditions, RWT consistently warmed in the region due to air temperature (AT) increase. In addition, the analysis demonstrates that the TGD significantly affected RWT in the downstream reach. At the closest downstream station (Yichang) to the TGD, the annual cycle of RWT experienced a damped response to AT and a marked seasonal alteration: warming during all seasons except for spring and early summer which were characterized by cooling. Both effects were a direct consequence of the larger thermal inertia of the massive water volume stored in the TGD reservoir, causing the downstream reach to be more thermally resilient. The approach used here to quantify the separate contributions of climate and human interventions on RWT can be used to set scientific guidelines for river management and conservation planning strategies.

The effect of flooding on soil enzyme activities and soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics remains a widely debated topic. Here, we investigated spatial variations in C-hydrolyzing enzyme activities, soil C contents in different fractions [i.e. labile and recalcitrant carbon (LC and RC)] from 6 sites with four different elevations at two soil depths (0–10 cm and 10–30 cm) in riparian zones of the Three Gorges Reservoir, China. At region scales, the SOC, RC contents, and RC/SOC (RIC) generally showed decreasing tendency from the upstream to the downstream. The C-hydrolyzing enzyme activities were higher in the midstream compared to other sites, which did not correspond well with the changing trend of SOC content, but matched with the spatial variation in LC content. At ecosystem scales, the RC and RIC declined with decreased elevations, but the LC showed opposite trend. Whereas, the four C-hydrolyzing enzyme activities and the specific enzyme activities were corresponded well with the changing trend of LC content. Soil C contents and enzyme activities were generally higher in top soil than deep soil across sites and elevation zones. These results reveal that the LC is the tightest factor in regulating C-hydrolyzing enzyme activities, whereas the soil C quality (i.e. RIC) and flooding collectively drive C-hydrolyzing enzyme activities possibly by affecting decomposition rates of SOC in the riparian zones.

We use multitemporal analyses based on Synthetic Aperture Radar differential interferometry (DInSAR) to study the slope adjacent to the large Punatsangchhu-I hydropower plant, a concrete gravity dam under construction in Bhutan since 2009. Several slope failures affected the site since 2013, probably as a consequence of toe undercutting of a previously unrecognised active landslide. Our results indicate that downslope displacement, likely related to the natural instability, was already visible in 2007 on various sectors of the entire valley flank. Moreover, the area with active displacements impinging on the dam site has continuously increased in size since 2007 and into 2018, even though stabilization measures have been implemented since 2013. Stabilisation measures currently only focus on a small portion of the slope, however, the unstable area is larger than previously evaluated. Highly damaged rock is present across many areas of the entire valley flank, indicating that the volumes involved may be orders of magnitude higher than the area on which stabilisation efforts have been concentrated after the 2013 failure. The results highlight that satellite-based DInSAR could be systematically used to support decision making processes in the different phases of a complex hydropower project, from the feasibility study, to the dam site selection and construction phase.

There are ninety thousand registered dams in the United States, fifty thousand of them classified as \"major.\" Nearly all of this infrastructure was built during a forty-year period, from 1932 to 1972, in an era of public investment and political consensus that seems inconceivable today. These incredible structures-sometimes called the American Pyramids-helped the country rebound from the Great Depression, brought water and electricity to enormous reaches, helped win World War II for the Allies, and became the basis for decades of prosperous stability. At the Base of the Giant's Throat dives into the history of dam-building in the United States as natural waterscapes have been replaced with engineered environments and the bone-dry West became America's produce aisle. From the Folsom Powerhouse cranking sixty-hertz alternating current in the 1890s to the iconic Hoover Dam and the gargantuan Grand Coulee Dam, Anthony R. Palumbi lays out how dams and water projects changed the North American continent forever and laid the groundwork for an age of unprecedented prosperity. He also describes how institutional complacency corrupted the ethos of public power and public works-and how the influence of rich landowners undermined the credibility of that ethos. Palumbi shows how our nation's ability to cope with natural disasters has been fatally compromised by underinvestment in decaying infrastructure. He argues that a livable future demands investment on a scale few Americans currently grasp. To win that future we must interrogate the history of our most vital public works: the dams, canals, and levees helping to channel life's most precious molecule. At the Base of the Giant's Throat tells the story of America through its water, sweeping across five hundred years of history, from the swashbuckling exploits of French colonist Samuel de Champlain to the nightmarish urban flooding of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy.

Tropical dams are often falsely portrayed as 'clean' emissions-free energy sources. The letter by de Faria et al (2015 Environ. Res. Lett. 10 124019) adds to evidence questioning this myth. Calculations are made for 18 dams that are planned or under construction in Brazilian Amazonia and show that emissions from storage hydroelectric dams would exceed those from electricity generation based on fossil fuels. Fossil fuels need not be the alternative, because Brazil has vast potential for wind and solar power as well as opportunities for energy conservation. Because dam-building is rapidly shifting to humid tropical areas, where emissions are higher than in other climatic zones, the impact of these emissions needs to be given proper weight in energy-policy decisions.

The shallow ultra-soft soil needs to be consolidated quickly to form the early working layer in more and more land reclamation. Through the innovation and improvement of the conventional vacuum preloading method, the technology for rapid consolidation of the shallow ultra-soft soil is created, which adopts auxiliary measures such as erection of foam floating bridges, construction of water retaining dams, and laying of geotextiles on the mud to realize the manual construction of plastic drain plates, and innovatively applies of the recyclable tri-planer geonet instead of the sand cushion. The technology has been successfully applied to the practical reinforcement engineering of the shallow ultra-soft soil and achieved good effect, which has a good prospect of popularization and application.

This study was constructed in 1953 with the aim of clarifying the effects of differences in structural installation conditions, such as the downstream slope and the installation of concrete dams directly above, on the degree of wear of wooden check dam elements. A wear survey was conducted on the wooden check dam, and wear was compared with that of the wooden check dam located downstream. As a result, in the second to fourth tier counted from the top, there is a difference of nearly two times in the average value of the residual ratio of the cross-sectional area, and a small downstream slope affects the progress of wear. Considering the fact that sand and gravels with large particle sizes are suppressed at the time of water discharge by the concrete dam directly above, the wear of the elements is 1–5 years with the flow of water containing fine sediments in non-flooding. It was considered to be progressing in the range of 2 mm/year. The number of years of loss of element diameter is estimated to be up to 100 years in the case of an element diameter of about 200 mm, which is not largely inconsistent with the actual condition of the wooden check dam, which has been destroyed for 98 years in this survey site.

In this research article, I emphasize the meaning of procedural rights for just transition to Green Economy. I argue that different justice arguments play a role in the context of Green Economy policies but can be traded-off against one another. Whereas intergenerational and international injustice can be diminished by zero-carbon policies, Green Economy transition processes can exacerbate already existing intrasocietal injustices. This is even more the case if vulnerable societal groups cannot participate and are not adequately represented in repressive political systems. In such cases, installing procedural justice mechanisms and comprehensively considering different justice concerns in Green Economy policies can lead to more sustainable outcomes. My empirical analysis focuses on Ethiopia as a case study placing an emphasis on the hydroelectric Gibe III dam. Empirically, it is based on a content analysis of policy documents and field research comprising expert interviews with governmental representatives, international organizations and civil society.

Cahora Bassa Dam on the Zambezi River, built in the early 1970s during the final years of Portuguese rule, was the last major infrastructure project constructed in Africa during the turbulent era of decolonization. Engineers and hydrologists praised the dam for its technical complexity and the skills required to construct what was then the world's fifth-largest mega-dam. Portuguese colonial officials cited benefits they expected from the dam - from expansion of irrigated farming and European settlement, to improved transportation throughout the Zambezi River Valley, to reduced flooding in this area of unpredictable rainfall. \"The project, however, actually resulted in cascading layers of human displacement, violence, and environmental destruction. Its electricity benefited few Mozambicans, even after the former guerrillas of FRELIMO (Frente de Libertação de Moçambique) came to power; instead, it fed industrialization in apartheid South Africa.\" (Richard Roberts) This in-depth study of the region examines the dominant developmentalist narrative that has surrounded the dam, chronicles the continual violence that has accompanied its existence, and gives voice to previously unheard narratives of forced labor, displacement, and historical and contemporary life in the dam's shadow.

Lateinamerika avancierte im 20. Jahrhundert zu einem wichtigen Hotspot des weltweiten Staudammbaus. Anhand von Beispielen aus Brasilien, Mexiko, Venezuela und Uruguay wird gezeigt, dass viele Länder der Region Wissenszentren aus einheimischen Ingenieuren, Firmen und Behörden aufbauten, die ab den 1960er Jahren die damals weltweit größten Talsperren errichteten, darunter den venezolanischen Guri-Damm und den brasilianischen Tucuruí-Damm. Die neu formierten technischen Eliten konnten mit ihren Wissensbeständen globale Machtverhältnisse herausfordern, vor allem die Technologieabhängigkeit zum globalen Norden. Talsperren waren in entwicklungspolitische Vorstellungen eingebunden und sollten wirtschaftliches Wachstum entfachen. Die ambivalenten Erfahrungen Lateinamerikas mit dieser Entwicklungspolitik, aber auch mit Umweltzerstörung und zivilgesellschaftlichem Widerstand trugen zur sich global ändernden Wahrnehmung von Talsperren bei.