Proceedings of the 19th IAHR-APD Congress 2014, Hanoi, Vietnam

ISBN 978604821338-1

EVALUATION OF ECOLOGICAL DISCHARGE BASED ON FLOW DURATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL

MANAGEMENT CLASS IN DAY RIVER, VIETNAM

NGUYEN THI PHUONG THUY(1), JOO-CHEOL KIM (2) & KWANSUE JUNG (3)
(1)
Graduate student, Civil Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea,
thuywru101@gmail.com
(2)
Chief Researcher, International Water Resources Research Institute, Chungnam National University, Daejeo,Korea,
kjc@cnu.ac.kr
(3)
Professor, Civil Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea,
ksjung@cnu.ac.kr

ABSTRACT
Rivers, which are critical to social and economic growth of the countries, have been severely impacted by climate change
and human activities. As a contributor to preservation of natural river ecosystem, this study provides new technique
and procedures via analyzing flow duration in a river basin. The process is carried out by applying a method to estimate
environmental flow developed by the International Water Management Institute, and simulate the effects of runoff
characteristics to a river and frequently changes of flow under basin development on aquatic ecosystem. A water
balance analysis based upon the water requirements in the river basin is used to estimate natural flow in the Day river
basin, a tributary of Red River. Afterwards, flow duration curves are analyzed and assessed according to EMCs based
upon natural flow of the river. Additionally, the typical species of fishes in the river are determined to present the
properties of habitats making favorable conditions for estimating allowable ecological discharge. For this study,
PHABSIM (Physical Habitat Simulation System) is used to project the relations between flow discharge and Weighted
Usable Area (WUA), and EMCs consistent with flow duration curves along with in-stream flow are evaluated. The
results from this study are seen as a fundamental data sources in making plan helping water practitioners monitor and
manage aquatic ecosystems in the river system efficiently.

Keywords: Ecological flow rate, flow duration, EMC, GEFC and PHABSIM

1. INTRODUCTION
Under the impacts of climate change and human
activities, water resources in the river in terms of quality
and quantity have changed significantly leading to
adverse impacts on the river ecosystem. Native fish,
once providing both food and commercial catch, are now
on the brink of extinction (Flow-The essentials of
environmental flows, 2nd edition. Grand, Switzerland:
IUCN) is an example. The deterioration of water quality,
water shortages and uneven distribution of water sources
reduce the crops yields which once growing strongly in
the clean and sufficient water. In the long term, the
conservation of aquatic ecosystem is becoming essential
to our wellbeing, especially fishers, farmers,
environmental activists and recreational river users.
In these days, the science of environmental flow (EF)
which once called instream flow is still relatively a young
concept with many water specialists, but it plays an
important role in the field of integrated water resources
management (IWRM), especially conservation of aquatic
ecosystem. It is defined as the water regime provided
within a river, wetland or coastal zone to maintain
ecosystems and their benefits where there are competing
water uses and where flows are regulated (Flow-The
essentials of environmental flows, 2nd edition. Grand,
Switzerland: IUCN). In other words, it can be seen as a
flow regime to maintain a healthy river satisfying
environmental criteria and ensuring the development of
the species on the river, but still meets the water
resources development requirement for water-related
users in agriculture, industry and domestic water use.
There are many environmental flow assessment
techniques, which have emerged in recent years and have
been reviewed in some sources (Tharme, 2003; Acreman
M, Dunbar MJ, 2004). They consist of hydrological
methods, ecological methods, hydraulic methods,
optimization, and so on. However, Smakhtin and
Eriyagama (2008) agreed that the estimation of EF in
reality is complex because of the distinct gaps in
awareness and the lack of ecological quantitative data
involved about the relationship between the studied
rivers flows and multiple components of their ecology.
They are the fundamental input data to produce reliable
outcomes for users.
Bunn SE, and Arthington AH (2002) presented in term of
hydrological characteristics that many ecologists are
paying attention to an significantly important factor of
the rives called flow variability. This not only has
effects on the structural and functional diversity of the
rivers, but also impacts to their floodplains, from which
affects to the diversity of the aquatic species. The natural
hydrological regime and the ecological condition of a
river system are related to each other (Hughes DA,
Hannart P 2003; Naiman et al. 2002; Richter et al. 1997;
Smakhtin et al. 2006). In 2008, the International Water
Management Institute in Sri Lanka, in collaboration with

1
the Water Systems Analysis Group of the University of
New Hampshire provided such a tool called Global
Environment Flow Calculator (GFEC) to predict EF
roughly. The software package targets a large audience in
water sector without requiring any parameters, especially
provides a default simulated flow data source over the
world (Smakhtin and Eriyagama 2008). GEFC is based on
the behaviors of the flow duration curve (FDC) a
cumulative probability distribution function of the flows.
Park SD (2003) showed that FDC gives the measured
flow values at a given time intervals to the percentage of
time, at which the flow values is probably to be equal or
exceeded. FDC could be considered as a hydrological
method in order to assess intuitively of flow variability at
a studied location. From the output of GEFC, behaviors
of the estimated FDC could be used to approximately
evaluate the ecological situations in the researched river
basin.
River is a complicated system (Smakhtin and Eriyagama
2008). In order to evaluate the healthiness of a river, it is
better to consider not only hydrological factors but also
ecological and hydraulic ones with the support of
analysis models. How to estimate the flow rate which is
necessary for recovering aquatic ecosystems considering
fish habitats is still a challenging question (Lee et al.
2012). Since 1960s, a decrease in the number of
Salmonidae has seen in the USA. In order to deal with
this problem, a research on the ecological flow rate was
introduced to contribute to the protection of fish in the
river. In this research, a relationship of flow-weighted
usable area (WUA) provided by using the Physical
Habitat Simulation System (PHABSIM) in 2001 allows
specialists to find out the suitable flow rate for fish
habitats. Stalnaker et al. (1995) reported that in 1970s, the
Fish and Wild-life Service (FWS) used a method called in-
stream flow incremental method (IFIM) to estimate the
flow rate from species of fish, their developing stages,
and their habitats conditions. In addition, continuously
and systematically monitored various organisms named
Monitoring protocol were established by the United
States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and
United States Geological Survey (USGS) (Lee et al. 2012).
The monitoring data from these organisms can be used
for multi-purposes consisting of habitat analyses,
multidisciplinary joint surveys, and riparian restoration
and so on.
In this study, the applicability of the two hydrological
and ecological methods mentioned above will be applied
to estimate the ecological discharge in Day River, a
tributary of Red river in Vietnam. Following hydrological
method, a water balance analysis in conjunction with
water requirements is used to approximate the flow
value in Day River. Besides, a typical species of fish in the
river is selected to represent the characteristics of the
habitats, and then PHABSIM is applied to estimate
optimal ecological discharge in Day River.
2. STUDY AREA
Management planning of using water resources and
protecting water environment in Nhue - Day river basin
until 2015 and orientation until 2020", Day river basin
covers an area of about 6,592 km2 accounting for 83%
total area of Nhue-Day river basin. It is a large tributary
of Red river in the northern part of Vietnam. The average
annual amount of water in Day river is about 38 billion
m3 estimated from rainfall data, head works and intake
water structures, in which water from rainfall is very
small (about 2,303 billion m3) in comparison with the
amount of water coming from other tributaries. In dry
season, the amount of water is just around 6.5 billion m3.
Day river is 240km long and flows from Hat Mon in Red
River, past the capital city (Hanoi), four districts of Hoa
Binh province (including Kim Boi, Lac Thuy, Yen Thuy,
Luong Son) and Ninh Binh, Ha Nam and Nam Dinh
provinces to the Indochina sea at Day gate (Institute for
water resources planning 2010). Day river basin is
divided into two parts. The right side of the basin is
almost mountainous areas and the plain site is considered
as a proper part of Day River with tributaries of Tich
river, Thanh Ha river, Hoang Long river, and Vac river.
However, the left side of the basin of Day River is the
plains which belong to both Red river and Day river
basins.
Due to the construction of Day dam in the upstream part
of Day River in 1937, there is no water coming into Day
River except in the flooding years in Red river. Thus, the
river segment from upstream part to Ba Tha hydrologic
station (about 70 km long) is considered as a dying river.
A hydraulic model was applied for taking water into Day
river based upon three principles including improving of
environment by keeping regular runoff in Day river,
preventing flooding in the important zone on in term of
economics along the river and ensuring drainage
requirements when heavy rain appears in the field (Tran
KT et al. 2012). However, there are not any projects
studying in Day Rivers ecological environment. It is
important that study on keeping ecological flow in Day
River is a major work of managers not only for flooding
water drainage, ecological and recreational purposes but
also for the rehabilitation of Day river (a river inside
green corridor of Hanoi capital city) as its receiving
water.
In this research, the study site (for ecological discharge
estimation) is located from Day dam to Phu Ly
hydrological station with about 132km long, as showed
in the figure 1. Day dam is selected to be the upstream
end of the main stream of the river and Phu Ly a
hydrological gauging station is selected to represent the
controlling point for calculating environmental flow in
Day River.
2.2 Data collection
The data required for estimating environmental flow was
collected from different agencies and experts with Day
River system and given in the Table 1.

2.1 Day river

Day river basin is located in the southwest of the
northern delta (geographical coordinates: From 20o-
21o20' northern latitude and from 105o-106o30' eastern
longitude). According to data reported from the project

2

Figure.1. Day River basin in Vietnam
Table1. Availability of Data from Day river basin
SAMPLING FLOW DATA
OTHER DATA AVAILABILITY
STATION AVAILABILITY
BA THA 1992; 2002 Basin information and data
required as input are
PHU LY 1981-2000 available
3. MEHTODOLOGY
In this study, hydrological and ecological based
approaches are used to assess EF in Day River. The
specific characteristics of each method are illustrated, as
follows.
3.1 FDC shifting method
Flow duration curve shifting method is one of new
hydrological universal tools, developed by Smakhtin and
Anputhas (2006). A FDC can be understood as a section
of a spectrum containing all components representing
flow regime in a stream point, providing a critical
important for flow variability assessment (Lee et al.
2012). Park 2003 reported that there are two common
methods in FDC analysis. The first one is used in mean
annual flow duration, usually used in Korea (Lee et al.
2012), in which estimated flow values is ranked following
a decreasing order from the 1st to the 365th, and then
mean flow values in specific days of the flow duration is
estimated in proportion to the data period. Another
method is applied in flow duration analysis over the
entire data period, usually used in the United State and
Europe (Lee et al. 2012), in which collected flow data for
the same period are also ranked in descending order, and
then their non-exceeding probability is represented in
form of percentage. The latter technique is applied for
this study with the support of GEFC, for desktop
assessments of Environmental flow rates EFRs in river
basins (Smakhtin and Eriyagama 2008).
In detail, GEFC consists of the following subsequent
steps.
Step 1: Simulation of reference hydrological conditions
In this method, FDCs are described by a table of
discharge data with 17 fixed percentage points including
0.01, 0.1, 1, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 95, 99, 99.9,
and 99.99 %. These can cover the entire range of flow
data and it is convenient to be used in the next steps.
Particularly, the probability of exceedance of 95% (called
Q95 flow index) has been used for different purposes by
researchers all over the world (Table 2).
Step 2: Definition of environmental management class
The aims of the estimation of ecological discharge are to
protect and improve an ecosystem under negotiated
conditions. To be easer, a category of ecological
management was set corresponding to the specific levels
of environmental protection. Following the classes in the
category, the higher EMCs are, the more water is
required for the conservation of aquatic ecosystem, and
higher preservation of variability of flow regime. In
reality, the best EMCs should illustrate clearly the
relationship between flow values and their corresponding
ecological conditions. Nevertheless, until now there has
not been evidence for specific limit values in each class.
Hence, six EMCs in terms of concept proposed by the
IWMI are used as showed in the table 3. They are similar
to those presented in the White Paper on a National
Water Policy for South Africa from the Department of
Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF 1997) (Smakhtin and
Eriyagama 2008).
Table 2. Uses of Q95 for Low Flow Studies (Ramakar Jha et al.
2008)
FLOW
PURPOSES STUDIES
INDEX
Commonly used low Riggs et al.(1980), Brilly
flow index or indicator et al. (1997), Smakhtin
Q95
of extreme low flow (2001), Wallace and Cox
conditions (2002), Tharme (2003)
Minimum flow to
Petts (1996)
protect the river
Minimum monthly Michigan Department of
condition for point Environmental Quality
discharges (2002)
Table 3 Environmental management classes (EMCs) used in the
FDC shifting method (Smakhtin and Eriyagama 2008, Smakhtin
VU, Anputhas M (2006)

GEFC is coded in Visual Basic 2005 and uses the FDC EMC
MOST LIKELY
ECOLOGICAL CONDITION
shifting technique to roughly estimate EF. It uses time
Natural rivers with minor
series of monthly natural flow data between 1901 and
modification of in-stream
2000 which coming from simulations based upon A and riparian habitats
meteorological water balance in the world (Lee et al.
2012). Particularly, these data are built in scale of 50km
square grid. Hence, in order to gain more reliable input Slightly modified and/or
data, after finding the discharge at controlling point, a ecologically important
water balance analysis is done with the supply of water rivers with largely intact
B bio-diversity and habitats
demand data in terms of agriculture, industry, and
despite water resources
domestic use to approximate natural flow at the development and/or
controlling point. Finally, the time series of flow data is basin modifications
used for the model to estimate a flow duration curve at C The habitats and
Phu Ly station. dynamics of the biota
have been disturbed, but
basic ecosystem functions
MANAGEMENT
PERSPECTIVE
Protected rivers and
basins. Reserves and
national parks. No new
water projects (dam,
diversions) allowed
Water supply schemes or
irrigation development
present and/or allowed.
Multiple disturbances
associated with the need
for socioeconomic
development, e.g., dams,

3
 are still intact. Some diversions, habitats tail of the shifted curve. From this procedure, it could be
sensitive species are lost modification and seen that the process simulates impacts of decrease trend
and/or reduced in extent. reduced water quality
Alien species present
in flow on the ecosystem under the growth in the river
Large changes in natural Significant and clearly basin when the flow variability of river is still
habitats, biota and basic visible disturbances maintained.
ecosystem functions have associated with basin
occurred. A clearly lower and water resources Step 4: Simulation of monthly time series of EFs.
D than expected species development, including
Environmental FDCs estimated from the step 3
richness. Much lowered dams, diversions,
presence of intolerant transfers, habitats
summarize the general information on acceptable flow
species. Alien species modification and water for each given EMC. Interestingly, these curves can be
prevail quality degradation converted into time series of environmental monthly flow
Habitats diversity and High human population using spatial interpolation method which was proposed
availability have declined. density and extensive by Hughes DA, Smakhtin VU (1996). To do this, two
A strikingly lower than water resources procedures need to be done for each month to first
expected species richness. exploitation. Generally, determine the position of the percentage point of the
Only tolerant species this status should not be
remain. Indigenous acceptable as a
natural discharge in the period record FDC of the natural
E species can no longer management goal. flow, and then from the ecological FDC to identify values
breed. Alien species have Management of monthly discharge for corresponding percentage
invaded the ecosystem interventions are point.
necessary to restore flow
pattern and to move a In this approach, mean annual environmental runoff
river to a higher (MAER) and mean annual runoff (MAR) use the same
management category method of calculation using EF time series and the
Modifications have This status is not original time series, respectively. Afterward, the
reached a critical level acceptable from the proportion of MAR in each EMC is determined from
and ecosystem has been management
dividing MAER by MAR.
completely modified with perspective.
almost total loss of Management
natural habitats and biota. interventions are 3.2 Method to estimate ecological flow rate using
F
In the worst case, the necessary to restore flow PHABSIM model
basic ecosystem functions pattern and river
have been destroyed and habitats (if still Step 1: Field methods for fish assemblage sampling
the changes are possible/feasible) to
The controlling point for estimating EF is at Phu Ly
irreversible move a river to a higher
management category
hydrological station, 132km long from the upstream end
of the river. From the statistic data in the river provided
by preliminary survey, grass carp fish is selected to be
representative in the studied river. Additionally, 7 cross
sections surrounding Phu Ly station which are measured
from previous researches are used for determining cross
section areas in the controlling point. Combining with the
estimated discharge at Phu Ly station, the real velocity is
determined without using electromagnetic flow meter.
The cross sections are grouped corresponding to
Rosgens method (Rosgen 1994). Also, if the bed slopes of
the river is considered to be mild slope, so the water
depth is relatively equal to the water level in Phu Ly
station. Woo (2001) proposed substrate-size classes to
divide materials in the river bed into silts (0.1 mm or
Figure. 2 Estimation of environmental FDCs for different smaller), sand (0.11.0 mm), fine gravels (1.050.0 mm),
Environmental Management Classes by lateral shift (Smakhtin
coarse gravels (50.0100.0 mm), cobbles (100.0300.0 mm)
and Eriyagama 2008)
and boulders (300.0 mm or larger). Rosgen (1994) showed
Step 3: Estimation of environmental FDCs based on reference the way to classify the cross section of the river. From the
condition previous studies and surveying, grass carp fish is taken to
be the representative fish in Day River.
Smakhtin and Anputhas (2006) proposed a simple
Step 2: Estimation of habitat suitability index (HIS)
method to estimate environmental FDC corresponding to
each EMC. Firstly, based on the natural flow data at the Fish sample, grass carp fish, is used in this study to
controlling point in the target river, the reference FDC for predict HSI in the researched area. Grass carp fish is an
natural flow is created, and then the following FDCs for important fish which usually being caught by the local
each EMC are determined by the lateral shift point by people. For further study, the dominant, important
point to the left along the probability axis as shown in the species and sensitive to water flow rate should be taken.
figure.2. The probability axis or the percentage of time Stalnaker et al. (1995) reported that HSI estimation was
includes 17 points (0.01, 0.1, 1, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, described by The Instream Flow Study Guidelines, which
is recommended by the Washington Department of Fish
80, 90, 95, 99, 99.9 and 99.99 %). These percentages are
and Wildlife. In details, HIS is estimated based on the
used as steps in the shifting process, in which a linear
amount of fish number appearing at the surveying point
extrapolation is applied to estimate the low flows at the
and the cross sections in the river. The value of HIS is

4
usually from 0 to 1.0 and the remaining of the HIS values The flow duration curves at Phu Ly station are roughly
is calculated from the relative ratio with the maximum estimated with the support of global environmental flow
value. The river characteristics and parameter on its cross calculator using time series of mean monthly flow data
sections are found from the previous reports. Lee et al. which were estimated under a scenario conditional on
(2012) presented that HSI (for bed materials) is estimated unregulated flow (or natural flow). The result is
using dichotomy, and HSI (for water depth and flow illustrated in the figures 3. The figure has shown that
velocity) is estimated using a univariate curve. Hur and along with the development in the Day river basin, a
Kim (2009) conducted a study on choosing the sites and decreasing trend in stream flow is seen while the shape of
technique for estimating HIS value. According to their the FDCs or the flow regime of natural flow is still
research, the studied sites might be natural without maintained. When MAR in the river reduces to 2/3 of
structures obstructing river flow at their cross sections, natural MAR or lower, the probability that the river
and that riffles, pools, runs, and so on can be embedded. might be kept healthy could decrease from high to
The cross section and width of the river are determined moderate (Jones 2002). Besides, according to Tennant
from the whole station and water flow rate is determined (1976), if the MAR in a river is greater than
from water depth and flow velocity. Then, all approximately 10% of natural flow, the river can
information of the river is used to estimate area ratio maintain its aquatic ecosystems. The FDCs by EMCs from
corresponding to the range of specific water depth, flow this research are useful for making plan for efficiently
velocity and bed materials to total area (in percentage) monitoring and management of aquatic ecosystems in
with the support of the computer system. In the next Day river basin.
step, fish is collected, and then being identified,
measured and counted on the site. Finally, at each
studied cross section, the nescessary values are identified
and HIS was estimated.
Step 3: Estimate ecological flow rate
From the flow characteristics, PHABSIM model is used to
project the change in physical habitats of the fish species.
Input data are surveyed data in the target river such as
stage, cross section of the river, flow discharge, and so
on; HIS. As a result, the curve showing the relations
flow-Weighted Usable Area (WUA) is estimated. From
this curve, Petts and Maddock (1998) presented in their
study that the optimal environmental flow for the studied
species of fish in the river was also estimated.
In reality, the optimal flow for the fish in the river could Figure 3. Estimated flow duration curves in Day river.
be done by applying hydraulic model. For finding the
ecological discharge in this study, WUA is estimated to Table 4. Estimation of long-term EF for each EMC
be the summation of the multiplication of the reach cell
size and its combined HIS, as the following equation (Lee
et al. 2012). Sites LONG-TERM EF (% NATURAL MAR)
A B C D E F
Phu Ly 77.0 57.0 42.7 32.6 25.7 20.9

Where, Results from the simulation of monthly time series of Efs

Ai is the area of cell i; The time series of mean monthly flow data by EMC (in
Ci is the combined HIS of the cell i. the period from 1981 to 2000) are created from FDCs in
The value of Ci is estimated from the combination of Day River. The result is shown in figure 4.
suitability criteria of velocity, substrate size, and depth
(Gordon et al. 1993). It is found by standard calculation,
geometric mean technique and minimum value
technique. Following Palmer and Snyder (1985), this
study applies the standard calculation using the below
formula.

Where,
vi is the HIS of cell i regarding velocity;
di is the HIS of cell i regarding depth of flow;
ci is HIS of cell i regarding substrate size.
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 FDC shifting method

Results from the estimation of environmental FDCs based on

reference condition

5

Figure 4. Time series of monthly flow data at Phu Ly station from
1981 to 2000.
From the figures above, it can be seen that the observed
flow behaviors close to the natural flow. Smakhtin and
Eriyagama (2008) reported that many rivers all over the
world have under class C probability. Thus, the result
from this analysis is quite surprising in general cases.
There are two hypotheses given to the ecological flow in
the Day river from Day dam to Phu Ly station. The first
one is that the change in flow duration due to amount of
water used by people along the studied river during the
period of study almost had no impacts on the aquatic
ecosystem in consideration of flow regime in the Day
river basin. Another one is that the characteristics of the
flow duration in the Day river basin are more sensitive
than that in the rivers of other countries. In fact, during
the duration of study from the upstream to Phu Ly
station, Day River has not received any supplied water
from Red river (which connects with Day river in the
upstream) because of the construction of Day Dam since
1973. The river segment from Day dam to Ba Tha station
(which is located in the middle of studied river part)
looks like a dead river. Thus, the sources of natural flow
of Day River in this study consider almost rainfall
coming from its basin. Accordingly, for better estimation
of environmental flow in Day River, the natural flow in
Day River before the construction of Day dam should be
done. Additionally, to consider the seasonal variations of
rainfall in Day River basin, it reasonablely estimate FDCs
based upon 17 percentages of time on the horizontal axis.
This point of view was also suggested by Smakhtin and
Eriyagama (2008) who developed FDC shifting method.
These hypotheses mentioned above can be validated if
more studies in the effects of the changes in flow
duration on aquatic ecosystems in the Day River are
done. The findings in this study are expected to become
the fundamental data for further studies on estimation of
environmental flow in the rivers.
4.2 Ecological method using PHABSIM model
This method identified the habitats characteristics
through the representative fishes in the river, then
estimate EF for maintaining ecosystem of the river. First,
the evaluation of habitat suitability index (HIS) will be
done, and then using PHABSIM, ecological flow rate in
the river is estimated. The results from this part will be
done in the future time.
5. CONCLUSIONS
Ecological flow in a river is a critical important part in
integrated water resources management, in which many
water resources projects and multi-purpose activities for
development of the river are being proposed. This study
presents both hydrological and ecological methodologies
to estimate environmental flow in Day River in Vietnam.
In the former method, flow data in 20 years (from 1981 to
2000) at Phu Ly hydrological station in Day River were
simulated using GEFC, developed by IWME, in
combination with EMCs to roughly estimate the EFs in
the Day River before and after water uses. As the results,
the FDCs at Phu Ly station corresponding to natural flow
and each EMC (from class A to class F) were produced.
The ratio of MAR by EMC to MAR under natural flow at
the Phu Ly station ranged from 77.0 to 20.9 % (Table 4).
Also, the time series of mean monthly flow data by EMC
in the coverage period was created, and then plotted
together with those of simulated flow data by water
using scenario in agricultural, industrial, and domestic
uses. It can be seen from the results that the flow
duration before and after using water is almost the same
together. In other words, the amount of water using by
people did not have adverse effects on the aquatic
ecosystems in charge of flow regime in Day River.
However, based upon the situation in the field, Day River
from upstream to Phu Ly station does not receive enough
water due to the construction of Day dam in 1973 in the
upstream part. Therefore, the environment flow in Day
River can be more accurate when considering flow data
in Day River before 1973. Another way is that a supposed
amount of in-stream flow should be taken into account
during water balance analysis process for estimating the
natural reference flow in Day River. At the present, some
projects are proposing for taking water from Red River
into Day River in consideration of flood control for Hanoi
capital city. Equally important, those projects had better
to pay attention to maintaining the ecological
environment in the Day River.
In the latter one, the habitat suitability indices of the
proposed species of fish in Day River along with cross
section data in Day River are identified, and then optimal
ecological flow rate is estimated. By applying PHABSIM
(a physical habitat simulation system), the relations
between WUA (Weighted Usable Area) and flow
discharge in Day River are projected. This method is still
on the process and the results will be showed in the
coming time.
From this study, data on ecological flow rate in Day River
will be used as fundamental information for further
analyzing and assessing flow duration in Day River.
During the process, improvements in terms of
methodology and input data will be done to enable
making more reliable evaluation of the impacts of flow
changes on aquatic ecosystems in the Day. From this
basic study, more reliable researches can implemented in
order to contribute to better monitoring and management
of Day River.
6
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Smakhtin VU, Anputhas M (2006) An assessment of
environmental flows and implications for Indian river
This research was supported by a grant (11-TI-C06) from
basins, IWMI Research Report 107, International Water
Advanced Water Management Research Program funded
Management Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka
by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of
Smakhtin V.U., Eriyagama N (2008), Developing a
Korean government.
software package for global desktop assessment of
environmental flows, Environmental Modelling &
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