The Construction of dams across rivers has always changed the quantity

and quality of discharge downstream.

Describe and account for the changes with reference to the downstream
area. Assess their consequences on channel morphology and their
ecological effects.

Introduction
Large-scale dams often bring changes on the drainage basin. For example,
changes in the river bed could be traced as far as 560 km downstream from the Hoover
Dam across the Colorado River of USA. Some changes were not intended. In some cases,
the ecological cost of a large dam outweighs its economic benefits.

Quantity changes of discharge

Diagram (a) and (b) shows the storm hydrographs of a river before and after the
construction of a dam. The volume of discharge reduces in the flood period while
discharge increases during the below bank period. The river has a regular flow regime.
Discharge is spread more evenly over time. Man, in fact, has full control on the quantity
of water supply to the channels except during very large flood that exceeds the storage
capacity of the reservoir.

Quality changes of discharge and the ecological consequences

Because people build dam mainly to control flood, he is concerned primarily with
quantity change of the discharge. Recently it is found that the quality changes of
discharge also modify the physical and biological environment downstream. The
experience from the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River in Egypt is often quoted to show
the ecological effects of a large-scale dam and reservoir project. The dam was completed
in the 1964 to provide flood control and irrigation water for the lower Nile Basin and
electricity for Cairo and other parts of Egypt. But the following happened downstream
after the dam was built.

Reduced sediments
 The Nile River used to flood. The floods watered the land and also deposited a
rich layer of silt that made crops grow well. Since the dam was built, silt deposited in the
reservoirs. Farmers downstream of the dam no longer have their fields benefited by the
silt dropped by the flood. This puts an end to the flood-water farming. Cropland in the
Nile Delta Basin now has to be treated with heavy fertilizers at a cost of over $100
million a year to make up for plant nutrients once available at no cost.

Fish catches near shore of the Nile delta have decreased. The nutrient-rich silt no
longer reaches the waters at the river's mouth, Egypt's sardine, mackerel, shrimp and
lobster industry collapsed.

Changes in supply of sediment to stream channels have subtle influences on the

characteristics of the stream --- its width, depth, velocity, nature of flow and channel
gradient through complex feedback mechanisms.

Reduced flushing of the river channels causing

Spread of water borne diseases
A number of water borne diseases spread after the completion of the dam. A kind
of snail spread in the water courses. In the past, the annual flood water washed many
snails into the Mediterranean Sea where they were eaten by fish. The dam ended the
yearly flood that swept away the snails. They spread widely along irrigation ditches. The
snail, transmits a disease (bilharzi) to man. The disease spread along the canal and into
the fields in which peasants worked. As the irrigated area was enlarged, the disease
spread and infected a large area.

Salinization
In the Nile basin, the annual flood used to flush away excessive salts that build up
in the dry season as a result of evaporation. With reduced flood discharge, salts are no
longer flushed from the soil. Salinization reduces food production. The gain in food
production from the new, less productive land irrigated by water from the reservoir is
offset by reduced food production from existing fertile land.

Changes of fish species in stream

The dam discharges water regularly so that water flow is less turbulent but mainly
in quiet and laminar flow. Below the Colorado Dam on Fraser River, Western USA, fish
adapted to the turbulent, muddy water, such as the squawfish, have been replaced by
clear-water species like trout.

Changes in channel morphology downstream

Construction of dam results in changes on channel morphology.
Increase of drainage density
Water stored in reservoir is distributed to the fields by open channels. Creation of
new channels increases the drainage density of the local area.

Channel geometry
 The number of branching channels increases. Large channels subdivide into
smaller channels. This contrasts greatly with upstream where the main channel is the
collector of numerous feeder channels. Now the main channel acts as a server.

Efficient channel shape

The morphology of these artificial channels contrasts greatly with the natural ones
upstream. To allow efficient transport of water, these artificial channels are built in their
most efficient shape. They are usually straight in course, with smooth bed and trapezoidal
in cross section so that they offer the least resistance to flow.

Increased erosion downstream

The river drops most of its physical loads where runoff is trapped by the dam.
Discharge downstream of the dam is now clean of loads. The energy of the running
water, instead of being used to transport the load, is dispensed in eroding the bed and
banks. In the Aswan case, there are 550 reports on bridge foundations between Aswan
and the coast being undermined by increased stream erosion.

The silt reached the sea and built up the Nile delta. Now there is fewer silt and the
shoreline of the fertile delta region is suffering from wave erosion with the shoreline
invading inland, up to 30 m per year.

Long profile of channel becomes step-like

In some cases where the stream is the breeding ground for fish, the dam blocks
the migration of fish up and down stream. The construction of dams on the Fraser River,
on the west coast of Canada, is found to interfere with the migration and spawning of the
salmon runs.

Besides the ecological cost, dam construction is also in conflict with other uses
such as navigation.

Conclusion
Environmental effects of world's large-scale dam construction projects are now
being used as a reference for future ambitious irrigation schemes. Clearly man should
manage the drainage basin with caution. It is suggested that large dam should be replaced
by several small dams so that the effects on the environment are minimized.