How a vast digital twin of the Yangtze River could prevent flooding in China
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[...] the hydropower company China Yangtze Power, based in Beijing, has found that the average drought period is now two weeks longer than it was in 2000. In 2020, unusually heavy rains led to the Three Gorges Dam in Yichang having the highest inflow rates since its construction in 2003. Management of the water flow in that reservoir helped to mitigate flooding, but this inundation still affected 45 million people, with more than 140 people dead or missing and caused an estimated US$16.5 million in damages1.
A smarter, more robust system of tracking, modelling and managing water in this basin will help to alleviate such issues, resulting in enhanced operational safety and reduced costs. To this end, the Changjiang Water Resources Commission (CJW) is spearheading the Smart Yangtze River Project (see go.nature.com/4h51xzf), under the auspices of the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources. This project was proposed in 2022 and now has 597 million yuan (US$82 million) of dedicated government investment, for a basin-wide, full-coverage water-monitoring system, with a planned completion date of 2035 for the preliminary design. Many hydropower companies are also contributing hundreds of millions of yuan to the initiative.
At the heart of the project is a digital twin of the Yangtze River basin. This twin consists of an advanced 3D simulation of the whole region, using data on weather, water flow, ecology, sediment properties, topography, energy demand and more, to provide real-time modelling of projected flood routing, water engineering, scheduling, shipping, ecological impacts and other outcomes.
The intuitive interface provides a reliable assessment of the impact of resource-management decisions and watershed-protection actions on sustainable development and biodiversity health. It can be used for forecasting, early warning, emergency-system rehearsals and contingency planning. A first version of this digital twin already exists and is in use (see 'Yangtze river basin', and go.nature.com/3wvchj1), encompassing two supplementary watersheds (of the Han and Lishui rivers) and four dams (the Three Gorges, Danjiangkou, Jiangya and Zaoshi). This will be substantially improved and expanded with more data and modelling over the coming years.
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