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Quantitative assessment of check dam system impacts on catchment flood characteristics – a case in hilly and gully area of the Loess Plateau, China

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of check dams on catchment hydrological response in a small catchment on the hilly and gully area of Chinese Loess Plateau by applying a numerical model at 2 m resolution DEM. The results showed that check dams significantly increase the so-called runoff lag times (lag to generation, lag to peak and lag to end of runoff) at the channel outlet compared to catchments without check dams. Furthermore, the peak runoff discharge at the catchment outlet without check dams decreased by 93.0% compared to with check dams. The total outlet discharge, surface water stored, and infiltration were, respectively, 20.1%, 74.9% and 5.0% of the total precipitation in the check dam catchment, while 75.4%, 22.6% and 2.0% in the system without check dams. Installation of check dams also altered the spatial water distribution of maximum discharge, moving the occurrences of maximum discharge further upstream and, thus, increasing safety downstream. In conclusion, implementing check dams significantly and effectively mitigated flood processes and increased runoff infiltration upstream.

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The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2017YFC0504704), the National Natural Science Foundations of China (Nos. 51779204 and 41731289), the Shaanxi Province Innovation Talent Promotion Plan Project Technology Innovation Team (Nos. 2020TD-023 and 2018TD-037). In addition, we thank the reviewers for their useful comments and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Eco-Hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region of China, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’ an , 710048, Shaanxi, China

    Tian Wang, Jingming Hou, Peng Li, Zhanbin Li & Liping Ma

  2. Chair of Water Resources Management and Modeling of Hydrosystems, Department of Civil Engineering, Technische Universität Berlin, TIB 1-B14, Gustav-Meyer-Allee 25, 13355, Berlin, Germany

    Tian Wang, Jiaheng Zhao, Elena Matta & Reinhard Hinkelmann

  3. Key Laboratory of National Forestry Administration On Ecological Hydrology and Disaster Prevention in Arid Regions, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an, 710048, Shaanxi, China

    Tian Wang, Peng Li & Zhanbin Li

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  1. Tian Wang
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Wang, T., Hou, J., Li, P. et al. Quantitative assessment of check dam system impacts on catchment flood characteristics – a case in hilly and gully area of the Loess Plateau, China. Nat Hazards 105, 3059–3077 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-020-04441-7

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