Flooding dynamics of the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain
1
Utrecht University,
2Volzhsky Institute of Humanities In cooperation with:
Wageningen University, IMARES, Institute for Inland Water Management and Waste Water Treatment (RIZA), Volgograd State Fisheries Institute, WL | Delft Hydraulics, Moscow State University
Volga-Akhtuba floodplain is annually flooded in spring due to the release of snowmelt water from the Volgograd hydropower dam. Then, a complex system of channels and lakes in the floodplain becomes connected, and large areas of land are flooded for several weeks. During this period, many fish species find habitats to spawn within the inundated floodplain.
flooded grassland habitat fry (larvae) of bleak, rudd and goldfish
In accordance with the Flood Pulse- Concept (Junk, 1989), the presence of the annual flood is expected to be a dominant factor in the reproduction success of many floodplain fish species.
In the future the size and timing of floods however may change due to changes in climate, land use and reservoir management.
Objective:
To document and simulate the annual flooding pattern in the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain L.V. van den Bosch 1 , M.A. Crone, D. Zolotaryev 2 , L.M. de Bruijn 1 ,
O.V. Filippov 2 , A.V. Plyakin 2 , H. Middelkoop 1
Floods & fish habitat
Observations
Habitat prediction
Volga Basin
Determination of flooded area at several stages using satellite
images (Landsat TM, ASTER)
1995/05/27
LandsatTM4-5; P 171; R 26
Akhtuba
Volga
Volgograd reservoir dam
Flooding process Floodplain surface
-14.00 -12.00 -10.00 -8.00 -6.00 -4.00
01/04/2005 01/05/2005 31/05/2005 30/06/2005 30/07/2005 Date
m a.s.l.
Discharge at the Volgograd dam
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
15/4/07 30/4/07 15/5/07 30/5/07 14/6/07 Date
W a te r le v e l ri s e ( m )
Measuring water levels along the transect Leninsk - Bulgakov (2007)
Digitized contour lines and channels
2D Digital Elevation Model from SRTM data
Digital land cover map from satellite data: roughness
Numerical modelling
1D elements
• Floodplain channels
• Dikes and bridges
• Constructions (culverts, dams)
2D grids
• Elevation
• Surface roughness
Model input time series
• Inflow (Q)
• Outflow (h)
SOBEK 1D/2D model
1D channel flow + 2D overland flow
Model output: 2D time series
• Water levels
• Flow velocities
• Inundation duration Analysis of fish habitats in ArcGIS
using model output (inception,
duration, connectivity, flow velocity, water depth), and other ecological
parameters (vegetation, shore length, temperature)
Boyarski St. Akhtuba Belayevski Kudajevski Talovoie Marchenko Bulgakov
