Quantifying dam-related sediment (Dis)connectivity and its implications for the Godavari Delta (India)

IF 4.7 2区地球科学 Q2 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Anthropocene Pub Date : 2026-06-01 Epub Date: 2026-05-30 DOI:10.1016/j.ancene.2026.100552

Abhishek Dixit , Vikrant Jain , S.K. Tandon

{"title":"Quantifying dam-related sediment (Dis)connectivity and its implications for the Godavari Delta (India)","authors":"Abhishek Dixit , Vikrant Jain , S.K. Tandon","doi":"10.1016/j.ancene.2026.100552","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sediment load in river systems varies over modern timescales in response to both climatic factors (e.g., changes in rainfall) and human interventions such as deforestation and dam construction. However, the relative contribution of these forcing factors remains inadequately quantified. In this study, we analysed the sediment storage in the dams and sediment load reduction in the Godavari River basin in India with over 900 dams and documented evidence of significant sediment decline over the past 2–3 decades. Using sedimentation rates from 48 major dams and sediment load data from 23 gauging stations, we find that between 1969 and 2013, sediment load decreased by 115 Mt/a, while reservoir storage increased by 101 Mt/a. This near-complementary relationship suggests that a previously well-connected fluvial system has been disrupted by dam construction. In sub-basins with minimal dam influence, sediment load changes are lesser or insignificant, reinforcing the spatial coherence of this connectivity. Importantly, this connectivity extends all the way to the delta, where only 20% of the incoming sediment is retained. Our findings suggest that dam-induced sediment trapping has significantly contributed to sediment starvation in the delta, placing parts of it at risk of sinking.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":56021,"journal":{"name":"Anthropocene","volume":"54 ","pages":"Article 100552"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7000,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Anthropocene","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213305426000275","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/5/30 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Sediment load in river systems varies over modern timescales in response to both climatic factors (e.g., changes in rainfall) and human interventions such as deforestation and dam construction. However, the relative contribution of these forcing factors remains inadequately quantified. In this study, we analysed the sediment storage in the dams and sediment load reduction in the Godavari River basin in India with over 900 dams and documented evidence of significant sediment decline over the past 2–3 decades. Using sedimentation rates from 48 major dams and sediment load data from 23 gauging stations, we find that between 1969 and 2013, sediment load decreased by 115 Mt/a, while reservoir storage increased by 101 Mt/a. This near-complementary relationship suggests that a previously well-connected fluvial system has been disrupted by dam construction. In sub-basins with minimal dam influence, sediment load changes are lesser or insignificant, reinforcing the spatial coherence of this connectivity. Importantly, this connectivity extends all the way to the delta, where only 20% of the incoming sediment is retained. Our findings suggest that dam-induced sediment trapping has significantly contributed to sediment starvation in the delta, placing parts of it at risk of sinking.

查看原文本刊更多论文

印度戈达瓦里三角洲泥沙连通性定量分析及其意义

河流系统的泥沙负荷在现代时间尺度上随气候因素（如降雨变化）和人为干预（如森林砍伐和大坝建设）的变化而变化。然而，这些强迫因素的相对贡献仍然没有得到充分的量化。在这项研究中，我们分析了印度戈达瓦里河流域900多个水坝的泥沙储存和泥沙负荷减少，并记录了过去20 - 30年泥沙显著减少的证据。利用48座主要水坝的沉积速率和23个测量站的泥沙负荷数据，我们发现1969 - 2013年间，泥沙负荷减少了115 Mt/a，而水库蓄水量增加了101 Mt/a。这种近乎互补的关系表明，以前紧密相连的河流系统已被大坝建设所破坏。在水坝影响最小的子流域，泥沙负荷变化较小或不显著，增强了这种连通性的空间相干性。重要的是，这种连通性一直延伸到三角洲，那里只有20%的进入沉积物被保留。我们的研究结果表明，大坝引起的沉积物捕获在很大程度上导致了三角洲的沉积物饥饿，使部分地区面临下沉的危险。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Anthropocene Earth and Planetary Sciences-Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)

CiteScore

6.30

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

102 days

期刊介绍： Anthropocene is an interdisciplinary journal that publishes peer-reviewed works addressing the nature, scale, and extent of interactions that people have with Earth processes and systems. The scope of the journal includes the significance of human activities in altering Earth’s landscapes, oceans, the atmosphere, cryosphere, and ecosystems over a range of time and space scales - from global phenomena over geologic eras to single isolated events - including the linkages, couplings, and feedbacks among physical, chemical, and biological components of Earth systems. The journal also addresses how such alterations can have profound effects on, and implications for, human society. As the scale and pace of human interactions with Earth systems have intensified in recent decades, understanding human-induced alterations in the past and present is critical to our ability to anticipate, mitigate, and adapt to changes in the future. The journal aims to provide a venue to focus research findings, discussions, and debates toward advancing predictive understanding of human interactions with Earth systems - one of the grand challenges of our time.