5th UF Water Institute Symposium Abstract

   
Submitter's Name Kelsie Timpe
Session Name Poster Session - Watershed & Wetland Management
Poster Number 66
 
Author(s) Kelsie Timpe,  SNRE, ESSIE, Watershed Ecology Lab (Presenting Author)
   
  Quantifying the Hydrological Impacts of Damming the Amazon
   
  There is increasing concern about the integrity of the Amazon ecosystem, particularly with the loss of connectivity along Amazonian rivers due to the installation of hydroelectric dams. Quantifying dam-induced hydrological changes is critical for understanding the cascade of ecological and social impacts driven by hydraulic infrastructure development in the Amazon. In this work, we apply the Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration (IHA) approach to synthesize hydrological changes due to dam construction and operation across the entire Amazon basin. With this research, we hope to paint a better picture of the hydrologic and resulting ecological changes that have happened already in the Amazon in order to better predict the alterations that will come with the construction of additional dams in the ensuing decades. We also hope that this research will offer useful environmental flow recommendations for the hydroelectric dams analyzed in this study.