lynn valley
river engineering and restoration

OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

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 biological and ecological engineering

 college of engineering

 college of agricultural science

     
meeting multiple objectives through dam reoperation under climate change scenarios

 

In the Pacific Northwest and many other areas where hydrology is snow dominated, changing climate trends are expected to warm the air, increase instream temperatures, decrease snowpack, and lead to earlier spring runoff. The implications for the countless dams providing benefits of flood protection, hydropower, and environmental flows are unclear, including the ability of this infrastructure to meet the multiple objectives designated by Congress. Through modeling of hydrologic changes and dam releases, this project will investigate the optimization of multiple objectives through different dam operation schemes under three future climate scenarios on the Willamette and Yangtze Rivers. In addition, this five-year project includes analysis of and short courses on modeling and optimization uncertainty to facilitate communicating results of analysis to engineers and policymakers.

 

Cottage Grove Dam on the Coast Fork of the Willamette River   © US Army Corp of Engineers

 

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