Evaluation of water environmental capacity in a northern river-reservoir continuum using environmental fluid dynamics code

Qingqing Sun; Huanlian Ren; Mohd Aadil Bhat; Na Liu; Zhaolun Li; Zechao Li; Qiliang Cheng; Yimeng Ren; Ning Yang; Zhuoni Ma

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.178274

Evaluation of water environmental capacity in a northern river-reservoir continuum using environmental fluid dynamics code

Sci Total Environ. 2025 Jan 2:959:178274. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.178274. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Qingqing Sun¹, Huanlian Ren², Mohd Aadil Bhat³, Na Liu⁴, Zhaolun Li⁵, Zechao Li², Qiliang Cheng², Yimeng Ren⁶, Ning Yang⁷, Zhuoni Ma⁸

Affiliations

¹ School of Earth System Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China. Electronic address: sunqingqing17@tju.edu.cn.
² Changzhi Hydrology and Water Resources Survey Station, Changzhi 046011, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China.
⁴ Hydrology and Water Resources Survey Station of Shanxi Province, Taiyuan 030001, China.
⁵ Luoyang Hydrology and Water Resources Survey Bureau, Yellow River Conservancy Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources, Luoyang 471013, China.
⁶ Shanxi Water Conservancy Development Center, Taiyuan 030002, China.
⁷ College of Management and Economics, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China; School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Henan University of Urban Construction, Pingdingshan 467036, China; Henan Chengyuan Zhuoyue Comprehensive Design and Research Institute Co, Ltd, Pingdingshan 467036, China.
⁸ School of Earth System Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.

PMID: 39752985
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.178274

Abstract

The hydrodynamics, water temperature, and water quality model for the Dan River and Renzhuang Reservoir continuum were developed using field monitoring data and the Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code (EFDC). An in-situ water discharge experiment enabled the calculation of water propagation time using a simulated flood progression method and the hydrodynamics module of EFDC. Based on these model results, degradation coefficients for chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), fluoride, arsenic were determined, revealing significantly higher values when the wetland barrage was opening. According to field monitoring and EFDC model outputs, the water environment capacity (WEC) of total nitrogen (TN) in Dan River was even negative, with the WEC of TN and total phosphorus (TP) in Renzhuang Reservoir being very low at 147 kg/d and 1490 kg/d, respective. Furthermore, the water environment carrying capacity (WECC) was found to be extremely low (~0.2 %) and limited by TN and TP. The results demonstrated that the spatiotemporal variations of water quality presented by the EFDC model facilitate an intuitive and comprehensive observation of water quality compliance rates over time and space, providing valuable references for decision-makers. The WEC and WECC of the study area underscored the urgency of N and P coordination control.

Keywords: Dan River; Degradation coefficient; Renzhuang Reservoir; Water environmental carrying capacity; Water quality; Wetland.