Auxiliary material for
Dams on the Mekong: Cumulative sediment starvation
G.M. Kondolf, Z.K. Rubin, and J.T. Minear
Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, University of
California, 202 Wurster Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720–2000 USA
Journal: Water Resources Research
Introduction
This table presents data on 133 dams in the lower Mekong River basin, built, under
construction, and planned, drawn principally from the database of the Mekong River
Commission (MRC) in 2010-2012, and augmented by new data. The auxiliary figure
is a map identifying locations of all 133 dams.
LowerMekongDamLocations.tif:
The figure is a map showing the locations of all 133 dams in the database.
Lower Mekong Dams.xls:
ID# is the unique identifier for each dam, identified by supplemental Figure 1.
Dam Name is the name of each project as labeled by the MRC.
Mainstem Dam indicates whether a project is on the Mekong mainstem.
Included in the ‘Definite Future Scenario’ indicates whether a project in included in
the MRC’s list of certain projects.
Estimated Dam Completion Year shows MRC estimates for completion year. If no
MRC estimates were available, we assumed a completion year of 2020.
Coordinates show the UTM coordinates of dams as included in the MRC database.
Geomorphic Region(s) shows the allocation the total contributing area into
geomorphic regions as described in the main text.
Drainage Area is the contributing area to the dam site, from the MRC database.
Sediment Yield to Reservoir is the weighted average sediment yield to the dam,
calculated by combining the total drainage area, the percentage in each region as
labeled in the Geomorphic Regions column and the sediment yield of each region, as
listed in Table 1.
Upstream Reservoirs lists the ID numbers of all reservoirs in the contributing area
to the dam.
Mean Annual Flow is an estimate of total annual flow as listed in the MRC database.
Total Reservoir Storage is an estimate of total reservoir storage, from project
reports, or from unpublished rule-curve estimates by MRC staff. For nine small
dams without total storage capacity estimates, we interpolated based on
relationships between total and active storage capacity of the other dams with
available total storage estimates. In many cases, the estimates are based on limited
information for dams that may undergo design changes before construction, or may
never be built at all. Estimates are the best available given the limited information
on project specifications.
Source of Total Storage Estimate indicates the source of the Total Reservoir Storage
estimate.
Active Storage is the active storage estimate from the MRC database.
Initial Brune Trapping Efficiency is estimated using an approximation of the median
0.05
curve show by Brune [1953] where trap efficiency: TE = 1where CI is the
CI
ratio of total reservoir storage to total annual flow.
Downstream Sediment Deficit in yr 2020-Full Build is the 3W model output showing
the predicted sediment deficit downstream from the specified dam for the “fullbuild” scenario in the year 2020, when all dams are assumed to have been built.
% Full in 2420-Full Build is the 3W model output showing the predicted percentage
of total reservoir storage that is occupied by sediment after ~300 years (year 2420)
under the “full-build” dam scenario.
Downstream Sediment Deficit in yr 2020-No Mainstem Dams is the 3W model
output showing the predicted sediment deficit downstream from the specified dam
for the “full-build without mainstem dams” scenario in the year 2020, when all dams
are assumed to have been built.
% Full in 2420-No Mainstem Dams is the 3W model output showing the predicted
percentage of total reservoir storage that is occupied by sediment after ~300 years
(year 2420) under the “full-build without mainstem dams” dam building scenario.
Downstream Sediment Deficit in yr 2020-Definite Future is the 3W model output
showing the predicted sediment deficit downstream from the specified dam for the
“definite future” scenario in the year 2020, when all dams are assumed to have been
built.
% Full in 2420-Definite Future is the 3W model output showing the predicted
percentage of total reservoir storage that is occupied by sediment after ~300 years
(year 2420) under the “definite future” dam building scenario.