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Impact of Hydropower Regulation on River Water Composition in Northern Sweden

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Abstract

Using hydrogeochemical analysis of two large boreal rivers (pristine Kalix and hydropower regulated Lule) discharging into the Gulf of Bothnia, the major impacts of regulation on water discharge, element transport and their seasonal redistribution have been assessed. The pre-regulation hydrogeochemical features were assumed to be similar for the two rivers. For the Lule River, the average maximum runoff was almost halved, while the average minimum was tripled as a result of the regulation. The fraction of winter transport of total organic carbon (TOC), Fe, Si, suspended Mn and P in the Lule River was, according to a conservative estimate, two to three times higher than in the pristine river. Longer residence time in the Lule River delayed arrival of the suspended Mn peak and dissolved Si decline to the river mouth. During summer, the suspended C/N ratio in the regulated river was 10–20 compared to <10 for the pristine, suggesting presence of predominantly old organic material. This was supported by a virtually constant suspended P/Fe ratio throughout the year in the Lule River, indicating low abundance of phytoplankton. TOC varied irregularly in the Lule River suggesting temporal disconnection between the river and the upper riparian zone. The disappearance of the spring flow maximum, a shift of element transport from spring to winter and supply of mainly old organic material during the vegetation growth season may have a pronounced impact on the ecosystem of the Gulf of Bothnia and the river itself.

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Acknowledgments

This study was mainly financed by grants from STEM (Statens Energimyndighet), Sweden, which is gratefully acknowledged. The interpretation of the collected data was performed within the framework of the GENESIS project (http://www.thegenesisproject.eu) financed by the European Commission 7FP contract 226536 and by Formas contract 242-2010-1187. Collaboration with Vattenfall and their help during the project are greatly appreciated. We would like to thank Milan Vnuk for preparing the figures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, 971 87, Luleå, Sweden

    Dmytro Siergieiev, Anders Widerlund, Angela Lundberg, Lisbeth Almqvist, Magali Collomp, Johan Ingri & Björn Öhlander

  2. Waste Department, Technical Management, City of Luleå, Luleå, Sweden

    Lisbeth Almqvist

  3. ARCADIS, Environmental Sector, Marseille, France

    Magali Collomp

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  1. Dmytro Siergieiev
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Correspondence to Dmytro Siergieiev.

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Siergieiev, D., Widerlund, A., Lundberg, A. et al. Impact of Hydropower Regulation on River Water Composition in Northern Sweden. Aquat Geochem 20, 59–80 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-013-9215-6

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