Zhang et al. (2025) Multi-stage flood utilization framework to support ecological flow protection and groundwater recovery mechanisms

Identification

• Journal: Journal of Hydrology
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-10-31
• Authors: Libin Zhang, Yonggen Zhang, Ting Zhang, Shi Lian, Lei Li, Ting Zhang, Ping Feng, Yi Ren, Yuanyuan Li, Lutz Weihermüller
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.134494

Research Groups

• State Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Engineering Intelligent Construction and Operation, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
• Institute of Surface-Earth System Science, School of Earth System Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
• Hebei Provincial Hydrologic Survey and Research Center, Shijiazhuang 050051, China
• Ninth Geological Brigade of Hebei Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Xingtai 054000, China
• Agrosphere Institute IBG-3, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich 52428, Germany

Short Summary

This study introduces a multi-stage flood utilization framework that integrates ecological flow protection with groundwater recharge to address water scarcity. The framework significantly improves downstream ecological flow protection by eliminating flow interruptions and enhances groundwater recovery in water-scarce regions.

Objective

• To develop and evaluate a multi-stage flood utilization framework that combines multi-stage flood limit water level scheduling and multi-stage risk coordination scheduling to optimize floodwater utilization potential, thereby supporting ecological flow protection and groundwater recovery mechanisms in water-scarce regions.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Zhi River basin
• Temporal Scale: Flood season, autumn irrigation season

Methodology and Data

• Models used: A three-dimensional groundwater numerical model.
• Data sources: Hydrological data (implied from flood events, reservoir operations, and groundwater levels).

Main Results

• The multi-stage flood utilization framework reduced the duration of downstream ecological flow interruption from 57 days to 0 days.
• Maximum reservoir water level during the flood season decreased by 2.61 m and 4.41 m for the two proposed strategies, respectively.
• Reservoir storage at the end of the flood season increased by 15.65 × 10⁶ m³ and 8.95 × 10⁶ m³ for the two strategies, respectively.
• Average groundwater level recoveries of 0.59 m and 0.34 m were achieved in the Zhi River basin.
• The area with groundwater level decline during the autumn irrigation season was reduced by 26.8 % and 12.3 % for the two strategies, respectively.

Contributions

• Presents a novel multi-stage flood utilization framework that integrates ecological flow protection with groundwater recharge.
• Provides new insights into the role of flood utilization in groundwater recovery.
• Offers innovative solutions for sustainable water resource management in water-scarce regions, particularly under increasing extreme rainfall events.

Funding

• The provided paper text does not contain information about specific funding projects or programs.

Citation

@article{Zhang2025Multistage,
  author = {Zhang, Libin and Zhang, Yonggen and Zhang, Ting and Lian, Shi and Li, Lei and Zhang, Ting and Feng, Ping and Ren, Yi and Li, Yuanyuan and Weihermüller, Lutz},
  title = {Multi-stage flood utilization framework to support ecological flow protection and groundwater recovery mechanisms},
  journal = {Journal of Hydrology},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.134494},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.134494}
}

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