Abstract
The Brazos River, the second largest basin in Texas, represents one of the most highly developed river systems in the state. Thirty-nine reservoirs with capacities greater than 5,000 acre-feet are currently in operation in the basin. Impacts on stream ecosystems are evidenced by changes in flow regimes and resulting changes in fish assemblages over the past 50 years. These changes have been widely attributed to human impacts, through the construction of dams, diversion of water supplies for agricultural and municipal uses, and land use change. However, streamflow regimes result from a complex mix of drivers that include climate, topography, land cover, land use practices, reservoir management practices, dam releases, and water consumption patterns, making determination of anthropogenic impacts problematic. This study quantifies changes in flow regime and probable historical drivers including precipitation, dam construction, population growth, and changing water demand in the Brazos River basin over the past 100 years. Results indicate that the climate of the basin has been relatively stable over the study period, while large-scale changes in human population densities and intense water resources development are correlated with impacts on flow regimes, decreasing the frequency and magnitude of high flow events and stabilizing low flows. These changes have resulted in an increase of habitat generalist fish species, a decrease of native obligate riverine fishes, and an overall homogenization of species assemblages. The results of this study indicate the importance of combining ecological data with an assessment of social drivers for a greater understanding of the dynamics of river basin systems.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, K. A., Beitinger, T. L., & Zimmerman, E. G. (1983). Forage fish assemblages in the Brazos River upstream and downstream from Possum Kingdom Reservoir, Texas. Journal of Freshwater Ecology, 2(1), 81–88.
Baxter, R. M., & Glaude, P. (1980). Environmental effects of dams and impoundments in Canada: Experiences and prospects. Canadian Bulletin of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 205, 34.
Bonner, T. H., & Runyan, D. T. (2007). Fish assemblage changes in three Western Gulf Slope drainages (p. 46). Texas Water Development Board, Final Project Report (2005-483-033).
Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) (1997). Ecological regions of North America: Toward a common perspective (p. 71). Montreal, Canada.
Changnon, S. A., & Demissie, M. (1996). Detection of changes in streamflow and floods resulting from climate fluctuations and land use-drainage changes. Climatic Change, 32, 411–421. doi:10.1007/BF00140354
Daniels, R. A., Limburg, K. E., Schmidt, R. E., Strayer, D. L., & Chambers, R. C. (2005). Changes in fish assemblages in the Tidal Hudson River, New York. In J. N. Rinne, R. M. Hughes, & B. Calamusso (Eds.), Historical changes in large river fish assemblages of the Americas, symposium 45 (pp. 471–503). Bethesda, MD: American Fisheries Society.
Dunn, D. D., & Raines, T. H. (2001). Indications and potential sources of change in sand transport in the Brazos River, Texas (p. 38). U.S. Geological Survey, Water-Resources Investigations Report 01-4057.
Dunne, T., & Leopold, L. B. (1978). Water in environmental planning. San Francisco: Freeman.
Freese & Nichols (2001). Naturalized flow estimates for the Brazos River Basin and the San Jacinto-Brazos Coastal Basin. Prepared by Freese and Nichols, HDR Engineering, Crespo Consulting Services, and Densmore and DuFrain Consulting for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Austin, Texas.
Gergel, S. E., Turner, M. G., Miller, J. R., Stanley, E. H., & Melack, J. M. (2002). Landscape indicators of human impacts to riverine systems. Aquatic Sciences, 64, 118–128. doi:10.1007/s00027-002-8060-2.
Gibbons, J. D. (1985). Nonparametric methods for quantitative analysis (2nd ed., p. 481). Columbus, OH: American Sciences.
Gore, J. A., & Shields, F. D. Jr. (1995). Can large rivers be restored? Bioscience, 45, 142–152. doi:10.2307/1312553.
Greene, W. H. (1997). Econometric analysis (p. 1075). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Holden, P. B. (1979). Ecology of riverine fishes in regulated stream systems with emphasis on the Colorado River. In J. V. Ward, & J. A. Stanford (Eds.), The ecology of regulated streams (pp. 57–74). New York: Plenum.
Kianifard, F., & Swallow, W. H. (1996). A review of the development and application of recursive residuals in linear models. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 91(433), 391–400. doi:10.2307/2291419.
Lomas, T. (2003). Create Thiessen Polygons 3.0. ArcGIS script. Retrieved October 22, 2006, from http://arcscripts.esri.com/details.asp?dbid=11958.
Molnar, P., Burlando, P., & Ruf, W. (2002). Integrated catchment assessment of riverine landscape dynamics. Aquatic Sciences, 64(2), 129–140. doi:10.1007/s00027-002-8061-1.
National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) (2006). Climate and weather—global surface data. NOAA Satellite and Information Service, NESDIS. Retrieved February 1, 2006, from cdo.ncdc.noaa.gov/CDO/cdo.
Poff, N. L., Allan, J. D., Bain, M. B., Karr, J. R., Prestegaard, K. L., Richter, B. D., et al. (1997). The natural flow regime: A paradigm for river conservation and restoration. Bioscience, 47, 769–784. doi:10.2307/1313099
Raines, T. H. (1998). Peak-discharge frequency and potential extreme peak discharge for natural streams in the Brazos River Basin, Texas (p. 47). U.S. Geological Survey. Water-Resources Investigations Report 98-4178.
Raines, T. H., & Asquith, W. H. (1997). Analysis of minimum 7-day discharges and estimation of minimum 7-day, 2-year discharges for streamflow-gaging stations in the Brazos River Basin, Texas (p. 29). US Geological Survey, Water-Resources Investigations Report 97-4117.
Richter, B. D., Mathews, R., Harrison, D. L., & Wigington, R. (2003). Ecologically sustainable water management: Managing river flows for ecological integrity. Ecological Applications, 13(1), 206–224. doi:10.1890/1051-0761(2003)013[0206:ESWMMR]2.0.CO;2.
Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) (2006a). 2007 State water plan. Retrieved September 22, 2006, from http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/publications/reports/State_Water_Plan/2007/2007StateWaterPlan/2007StateWaterPlan.htm.
Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) (2006b). Biological data collection: Brazos River study area (p. 23). Final Project Report (2005-483-561). Retrieved June 25, 2006, from http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/RWPG/rpgm_rpts/2005483561_BiologicalDataCollection.pdf.
US Census Bureau (2000). County population census counts 1900–90. Retrieved March 14, 2006, from http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/cencounts.html.
US Geological Survey (2006). Water use in the United States: 50 years of water use information 1950–2000. Retrieved November 12, 2006, from http://water.usgs.gov/watuse/.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10661-009-0845-5
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vogl, A.L., Lopes, V.L. Impacts of water resources development on flow regimes in the Brazos River. Environ Monit Assess 157, 331–345 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-008-0538-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-008-0538-5