FLOW DIVERSION FROM A RUN-OF-RIVER HYDROPOWER DAM AND CHANGING PATTERNS IN RIVER BIOFILM

Abstract

Even though run-of-river hydropower dams are a widespread, only a few studies have tried to clarify their impact on the downstream ecosystem. The current study aims to clarify the mechanism of ecosystem degradation in the downstream of a run-of-river hydropower dam due to water diversion for energy purposes. Field investigations were conducted in summer days at high and low flow stages to investigate the impact of discharge on downstream ecosystem represented by benthic attached algae in particular. Having this categorization of the collected data and with the help of 2D hydraulic simulations the influence of water diversion on the downstream hydraulic properties and patterns of ecosystem change were clarified