DAMS AND RESERVOIRS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS QUANTIFICATIONMETHOD

摘要

Dams and reservoirs cause specific disturbances in the environment. The common practice is to prepare an environmental impact assessment in the feasibility study and then to analyze environmental impacts of technical alternatives for particular dams and reservoirs. This paper proposes a new quantification method for different environmental impacts associated with dam construction, within the very first planning step. The new methodology expresses environmental parameters through the objective synthetic quantificators for impacts of dams and reservoirs, such as: ground water flow, surface water flow, climate effects, bank stability, induced seismicity, flora and fauna, sediment regime, water quality, historical and natural resources, social and economic impacts, etc. Incorporation of this method allows one to reach the optimal technical solution for a dam as early as in the preliminary project phase. The method is universally applicable in all mathematical models for decision-making process. Its performance is tested here on the example of hydropower utilization of the Drina River in Bosnia.