This document introduces a study tour on river health and environmental flows in China. It discusses monitoring river condition through both traditional and biological monitoring. It will consider how to build effective monitoring systems and use the information for management. The study tour will trial international approaches to river health assessment and environmental flows assessment to help apply these methods nationally in China. It provides background on river basin management in Australia as a point of comparison. The objective is to pilot these assessment methods in select river basins in China to evaluate application to national policies.

1. River Health and Environmental Flows in
China – Study Tour Introduction
Robert Speed, Team Leader
罗伯特·斯皮德 项目主管

2. Study tour themes
• River health
– Monitoring, assessment and reporting on river condition
– Biological monitoring, in addition to traditional water quality and
hydrology monitoring
What to monitor?
How to build a monitoring system?
How to use the information in management?
Reporting?

3. Study tour themes
• Environmental flows
– Flows required to sustain important ecosystem assets and
values
– More than just minimum flows: the size, frequency, duration,
timing, and variability of the flow regime
What assets/services are important?
How to decide which flows are important?
How to provide them?

4. Australian Water Institutions
• State Government Water Agencies
– Primary responsibility for water resources management:
– water allocation plans;
– licensing: abstraction and pollution discharge
– monitoring
Example: Queensland Department of Environment and Resource
Management (DERM)

5. Australian Water Institutions
• National Government Water Agencies
– Department of Environment, Sustainability, Water, Population
and Communities: coordinate national water reform agenda;
responsibilities for major water programs (water buyback;
infrastructure upgrades)
– Murray Darling Basin Authority: prepare whole-of-basin plan;
define sustainable diversion limits
– National Water Commission: monitor and audit implementation
of the National Water Initiative; Framework for assessment of
river and wetland health
– Commonwealth Scientific and Industry Research Organisation

7. Project objective 项目目标
• Trial international approaches to river health
assessment and environmental flows
assessment 采用国际通用的评估方法评估河流
健康与环境流量
• Consider application to national-level policies
将改方法在全国范围内推广

8. Liao River
Basin
- River health
Yellow River
Basin
-E-flows
-River health
Pearl River Basin
- River health
assessment

9. Project timeline
Agreement Fieldwork Presentation Final workshop
on scope and and data of pilot results and final report
objectives collection
Capacity Data analysis Distil Further
building lessons work???
Inception Project wrap
phase项目启 Pilot study phase 项目工作阶段 up项目收尾
动阶段 阶段
August December December July
2009 2009 2010 2011

10. River health assessment methodology河流
健康评估方法
Underlying philosophy 基本原理
1. River health is important河流健康很重要
2. River health is much more than the quality of the water河
流健康不仅仅包括水质达标
3. Biological indicators can be more sensitive to changes in
river condition生物指标更易于反映河流健康状况
4. Biological monitoring programs can provide valuable
support to management生物监测可以为流域管理者提供
有价值的帮助
5. Monitoring should focus on assets of importance监测范
围应该集中在重要的河流资产

11. River health assessment methodology
河流健康评估方法
Objective 目标
• Ability to compare sites against each over 不同评估地
点之间存在可比性
• Understand likely cause of changes in river health 理解
影响河流健康的因素
• Assess effectiveness of management responses评估管
理效率
• Report on river health提供河流健康报告

12. River health assessment methodology
河流健康评估方法
Key issues 主要问题
• What to measure? 需要评估的内容
– Many indicators available: which are relevant? 有许
多不同的指标可供评估，应当选取哪种？
• What do the results mean? 评估结果的意义
– What is a good score, what is a bad score? 何为优良
的评估结果？何为不达标的评估结果？
• How to use the results? 如何应用评估结果

13. Important steps 项目发展的重要步骤
1 Identify the objectives the program 确定项目目标
Identify the objectives of of the program 确定项目目标
2 Identify suitable measures (indicators) of drivers, stressors and response
确认合适的驱使因素，压力源和反应的指标
3 Develop conceptual models linking range of drivers to potential impacts
联系驱使因素和潜在影响开发概念模型
4 River Classification to identify homogenous „river types‟
河流分类从而确认相同的河流类型
5 Trial sampling program and refinement of indicators 采样试验，完善指标
6 Selection of suitable benchmarks for ecological indicators
选取合适的生态指标的基准
7 Reporting & Communication 报告和交流
8 Implement management actions to address priority areas/threats
执行管理行动，明确地区/威胁的优先顺序

14. Building a river health monitoring program构
建河流健康评估项目
Proof of Pilot Routine
concept概 studies试 monitoring
念论证 点研究 例行监测

15. Objectives of the pilot study 试点研究目标
• Demonstrate a method for developing a river
monitoring program阐述开展一个河流健康监测项目的方
法
• Undertake a preliminary assessment of the condition of
the pilot site 开展试点河流健康初步评估
• Only a demonstration: limits on the results

16. Preliminary steps 评
估步骤
• Agree on approach to pilot
确定评估方法
• Agree on objectives –
sensitive indicators due to
high conservation value 确
定评估目标
• Identify sites确定评估试点
• Determine data to be
collected确定采集数据类型

17. Fieldwork to collect samples
Macroinvert
Channel
condition
fish
Macrophytes
diatom

18. Phylum Arthropoda
Collation of data
Mollusca Mollusca Mollusca Mollusca Mollusca Mollusca Mollusca
Class Crustacea Bivalvia Gastropoda Gastropoda Bivalvia Gastropoda Gastropoda Gastropoda
Decapoda Mytiloida
编号 Order
Atyidae Mytilidae Viviparidae Lymnaeidae Corbiculidae Lymnaeidae Valvatidae Melaniidae
编号 Family
Caridina Limnoperna Bellamya Radix corbicula physa Valvata Semisulcospira
编号 Genera
lacustris aeruginosa Radixswinboei fluminea
编号 Species
米虾属 淡水壳菜 铜锈 椭圆 河蚬 膀胱螺 盘螺 短沟卷
编号 Species name_Chinese
平度村 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
No.1
No.2 龙江 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0
富罗 71 1 1 27 7 1 4 38
No.3
黄姚 110 0 4 0 12 0 0 0
No.4
下福水电站 0 0 0 4 1 0 6 11
No.5
siqinjiang2 7 23 0 0 43 0 6 57
No.6
红花镇siqinjiang1 0 0 0 3 5 32 0 0
No.7
昭平水电站 2 216 1 1 0 0 0 2
No.8
恭城水文站 0 0 5 25 0 0 0 31
No.9
龙岭 10 0 3 6 4 0 52 28
No.10
荔浦水文站 138 0 0 0 0 11 0 0
No.11
念村 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
No.12
阳朔水文站 27 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
No.13
No.14 遇龙河 32 0 1 0 0 0 0 17
冠岩 10 0 1 1 11 1 4 7
No.15
潮田河 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0
No.16
新寨 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
No.17
桂林水文站 47 0 3 8 1 3 0 0
No.18
兰田 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
No.19
东江 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
No.20
灵渠 37 0 9 8 6 2 7 1
No.21
大榕江 10 0 6 9 1 0 0 0
No.22
杉木河（猫儿山） 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
No.23
六洞河 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 8
No.24
乌龟江 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
No.25

19. Testing indicators against a disturbance
gradient 测试指标与干扰变化
Ecological health indicator
生态健康参数指标
Reference values 参数值
Low低 High高
Disturbance gradient 干扰变化

20. Classification 河流分类
Different types of
river will:
不同的河流将
• Require different
indicators
要求不同的指示物
• Have different targets
有不同的目标
Presentation Heading

21. Weighting indicator scores
Freq.
All sites – all years，所有点，所有年
(# obs.)，监测频率
Reference sites Single site， Standard
– all years，参考点，所有年
to achieve values
– report year，单
50th 点，报告年
%’ile 95th %’ile
80th %’ile
1 0
Concentration，浓度
(reference)，参考点 (worst case)，最差
Convert all values to common scale to allow comparison转化所有结果
使其成具有可比性
Compare values against:结果比较
- other sites in study; other studies 与其他点进行比较，与其他研究结
果进行比较
- national standards; international standards国家标准，国际标准

22. Reporting on river health

23. Reaches and Assets River channel 4
3
Delta
2 wetlands
Dongping
Lake
1
Zhengzhou
Mengjin Kaifeng
wetlands
wetlands wetlands

24. Start with objectives (from YRCC)
• 1 × Ultimate target
– “Keeping the Yellow River Healthy”
• 4 × Criteria (“the 4-nos”)
– No embankment breaching
– No river running dry
– No water pollution beyond standard
– No riverbed rising further

25. Establish a framework (from YRCC)
Indicator groups
“Healthy Indicators of the Yellow River”
• Flow continuity Hydrology
• Channel configuration for water and Geomorphology
sediment transportation
Water quality
• Water quality standard
• River ecosystem Ecology
• Water supply capacity Social-economic

26. River Health Index
Social/Economic Environmental
Indicators… Ecology Physical form Hydrology Water quality
Wetland
vegetation
Fish (remote sensing)
Invertebrates
Primary
Vegetation productivity Survey and
Hydraulic modelling
habitat
Presentation Heading
Presentation Heading

27. Sediment flushing flow
(flow exceeded 5% of the time)
Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep Target 3,500 m3/s
4,000
sediment regulation season daily
Exceeded 5% of time - water-
3,000
First releases
discharge (m 3/s)
Huayuankou
2,000
Sunkou
Huayuankou
1,000
Lijin
0
Xiaolangdi Dam

28. No drying-up
Cumulative annual days of cease to f low
Lijin
Annual peak cease to f low spell duration
350
Days of cease to flow
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Xiaolangdi Dam

29. Trend in water quality (Grade III target)
Annual - Proportion of High flow - Proportion of Low flow - Proportion of
months target achieved months target achieved months target achieved
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
1994 1994 1994
1995 1995 1995
1996 1996 1996
1997 1997 1997
1998 1998 1998
1999 1999 1999
2000 2000 2000
2001 2001 2001
2002 2002 2002
2003 2003 2003
2004 2004 2004
2005 2005 2005
2006 2006 2006
2007 2007 2007
2008 2008 2008
2009 2009 2009
Huayuankou

30. Channel capacity
9,000
8,000
Target
7,000 Huayuankou bankf ull
capacity (measured)
Discharge (m 3/s)
6,000
Lijin bankf ull capacity
5,000
(Ru et al., 2003)
4,000
Huayuankou f lood
3,000 season average
discharge
2,000
5-year moving
1,000 average
0
1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

31. Additional indicators
• Socio-economic
• Biological
Presentation Heading

32. River Health Index
Social/Economic Environmental
Indicators… Ecology Physical form Hydrology Water quality
Wetland
vegetation
Fish (remote sensing)
Invertebrates
Primary
Vegetation productivity Survey and
Hydraulic modelling
habitat
Presentation Heading
Presentation Heading

33. Environmental flow requirements
• Consolidation of existing studies, together with expert opinion
• Identify flow requirements for the key assets (wetlands, delta),
focussed on:
– Fish
– Vegetation
– Birds
• Hydrological model to assess capacity to achieve recommended
flows
Presentation Heading

34. Step 3: Defining environmental flow requirements
Determining important flow components
Bankfull flows and
overbank floods: channel
forming flows
High flow pulses:
trigger breeding
and migration
Low flows:
Maintain
habitat

35. Conclusions 总结 (1)
• Need to distinguish between:需要区分以下工作
– Work to develop a monitoring program 如何设计开展监测工作
– Routine monitoring 例行监测工作
• Small step on path to developing monitoring program 设计开展监
测工作的一些步骤
– Limited reference sites/samples 缩小参照点范围
– quality of results will improve over time 评估项目的设计质量将
逐步完善

36. Conclusions 总结(2)
• Many different policy decisions relating to:许多不同政策制定均与以
下各因素相关：
– What is an acceptable level of health 河流健康的可接受底线
– How information should be presented 信息的表现方式
– Suitability of different methods and indicators 各种不同方法及
评估指标的适用性
• Suitability will depend on: 这些适用性主要由以下各因素决定：
– Objectives 目标
– Resources 资源
– Capacity 能力

37. Conclusions 总结
• Importance of making informed decisions, that ensure
we get the best possible outcomes from our rivers
– Awareness of what is important in the river
– Understanding the flow requirements of the
ecosystem
– Understanding the health of our river system
– Conscious decisions about what is acceptable and
what is not; and what we will do about it