Causes of Sedimentation in Reservoirs and possible

Remedies
Sedimentation:
Sedimentation, in Earth's geological science, is the process of depositing a solid material from a
state of suspension or solution into a fluid that is usually air or water, and then is transported to
sediment basins. It also includes the different glacial ice deposits and those materials that are
collected by gravity.

Sedimentation process:
The sedimentation process will depend on the agents in charge of carrying the different particles
to the sedimentary basins. It consists of the sediment transport through water or air that have
been the result of the erosion process. Sedimentation can also be seen from the chemical point of
view and consists of separating by means of gravity the different particles that are suspended and
whose weight is greater than the weight of the water. The main objective of the sedimentation
process is to obtain a type of sludge whose solid concentration is easier to treat and handle. It is
used to remove sediments and organic and inorganic solids, to separate biomass and suspended
solids in biological processes.

Causes of sedimentation:
There are two main causes for sedimentation.

1. One is agricultural areas used for farming that are located in downstream watersheds and
which produce a very poor type of agriculture that leads to much soil loss.

2.The other cause of sedimentation is the forests and the different areas of access for
development located in the lower areas of the rivers, such as forestry, street construction,
buildings and mining. With this type of activity, trees are cut down excessively and reforestation
does not take place, causing runoff to get out of control in the steepest terrain.
Remedies of Sedimentation in Reservoirs:

1.Sedimentation of a reservoir is a natural phenomenon and is a matter of vital concern for

storage projects in meeting various demands, like irrigation, hydroelectric power, flood control.

2.Since it affects the useful capacity of the reservoir based on which projects are expected to be
productive for a design period. Further, the deposited sediment adds to the forces on structures in
dams, spillways, etc.

3.The rate of sedimentation will depend largely on the annual sediment load carried by the
stream and the extent to which the same will be retained in the reservoir. This, in turn, depends
upon a number of factors such as the area and nature of the catchment, level use pattern
(cultivation practices, grazing, logging, construction activities and conservation practices),
rainfall pattern, storage capacity, period of storage in relation to the sediment load of the stream,
particle size distribution in the suspended sediment, channel hydraulics, location and size of
sluices, outlet works, configuration of the reservoir, and the method and purpose of releases
through the dam.

4.Therefore, attention is required to each one of these factors for the efficient control of
sedimentation of reservoirs with a view to enhancing their useful life and some of these methods
are:

 Adequate design of reservoir

 Control of sediment inflow
 Control of sediment deposition
 Removal of deposited sediment.

1. Adequate design of reservoir:

a) The rate of sediment delivery increases with the volume of discharge. The percentage of
sediment trapped by a reservoir with a given drainage area increases with the capacity. In some
cases, an increased capacity will however, result in greater loss of water due to evaporation.
However, with the * The capacity of the reservoir and the size and characteristics of the reservoir
and its drainage area are the most important factors governing the annual rate of accumulation of
sediment.

b) Periodical reservoir sedimentation surveys provide guidance on the rate of sedimentation. In

the absence of observed data for the reservoir concerned, data from other reservoirs of similar
capacity and catchment characteristics may be adopted. Silting takes place not only in the dead
storage but also in the live storage space in the reservoir.

2. Control of sediment inflow:

There are many methods for controlling sediment inflows and they can be divided as under:

a) Watershed management/soil conservation measures to check production and transport of

sediment in the catchment area.

b) Preventive measures to check inflow of sediment into the reservoir. The soil conservation
measures are further sub-divided as:

(i) Engineering,

(ii) Agronomy, and

(iii) Forestry.

The engineering methods include:

(i) Use of check dams formed by building small barriers or dykes across stream channels.

(ii) Contour bounding and trenching;

(iii) Gully plugging;

(iv) Bank protection.

Check Dams: Check dams are helpful for the following reasons:

a) They help arrest degradation of stream bed thereby arresting the slope failure;

b) They reduce the velocity of stream flow, thereby causing the deposition of the sediment load
Contour Bonding and Trenching: These are important methods of controlling soil erosion on the
hills and sloping lands, where gradients of cultivated fields or terraces are flatter, say up to 10
percent. By these methods the hill side is split up into small compartments on which the rain is
retained and surface run-off is modified with prevention of soil erosion. In addition to contour
bunding, side trenching is also provided sometimes

Gully Plugging: This is done by small rock fill dams. These dams will be effective in filling up
the gullies with sediment coming from the upstream of the catchment and also prevent further
widening of the gully.

3. Control of sediment deposition:

a) The deposition of sediment in a reservoir may be controlled to a certain extent by designing

and operating gates or other outlets in the dam in such a manner as to permit selective
withdrawals of water having a higher than average sediment content.

b) The suspended sediment content of the water in reservoirs is higher during and just after flood
flow. Thus, more the water wasted at such times, the smaller will be the percentage of the total
sediment load to settle into permanent deposits.

c) There are generally two methods: (a) density currents, and (b) waste-water release, for
controlling the deposition and both will necessarily result in loss of water.

4. Removal of deposited sediment:

a) The most practical means of maintaining the storage capacity are those designed to prevent
accumulation of permanent deposits as the removal operations are extremely expensive, unless
the material removed is usable.

b) Therefore, the redemption of lost storage by removal should be adopted as a last resort. The
removal of sediment deposit implies in general, that the deposits are sufficiently compacted or
consolidated to act as a solid and, therefore, are unable to flow along with the water.

c) The removal of sediment deposits may be accomplished by a variety of mechanical and

hydraulic or methods, such as excavation, dredging, siphoning, draining, flushing, flood sluicing,
and sluicing aided by such measures as hydraulic or mechanical agitation or blasting of the
sediment. The excavated sediments may be suitably disposed of so that, these do not find the
way again in the reservoir
 Explain the process and mechanism of soil erosion
Soil Erosion:
In nature, the soil forming processes under a particular climato-floral environment is
substantially in balance with those of destruction under the normal geological erosion. Soil
formation, arising out of the decomposition of parent rock material and proceeding from the
surface downwards, is exceedingly slow under natural condition and as many as 300 to 1000
years are required to build a single inch of topsoil.

The normal erosive process is in equilibrium to this extremely slow pace of soil formation under
natural vegetative cover. Any interference in this equilibrium by any imprudent act of man leads
to an accelerated rate of erosion, endangering the agricultural prospects of the land. Such
accelerated or abnormal loss of soil is usually implied by the term ‘soil erosion.’

Process and Mechanism of Soil Erosion:

Soil erosion goes through three main processes or mechanisms. These includes Detachment,
Transport and Deposition. These mechanisms depend on the soil characteristics, Soil’s
Erodibility, Erosivity, land use, slope and land cover.

Universal soil loss equation:

The severity of an erosion is dependent on the combination of several factors. This is
summarized in a model known as the universal soil loss equation(USLE).The USLE relates the
rate of erosion from an exposed area (A) to the erosive power of the rain (R), the soil erodibility
(K), the land slope and length (LS), the degree of soil cover (C), and conservation practices (P):

A = R x K x LS x C x P
The important aspect of this equation to note is the linear relationship between the equation’s
parameters. As any parameter is changed, the resulting erosion yield is similarly changed.
Though other conventional methods and models are very relevant tools in erosion estimation but
most of the discussions in these papers will directly or indirectly be focused on the components
of the universal soil equation to address the mechanism of soil erosion. The extent of the erosion
determines the feasibility of the control technique to be used.
1.Soil Detachment:
Soil detachment, defined as the soil particles being separated from the soil matrix at a particular
location on the soil surface by erosive agents, is a key process affecting soil erosion since it
determines the amount of sediment that is potentially transferred to surface water bodies. Soil
detachment rate is expressed as the sediment amount detached per unit area per unit time. With
increase in sediment concentration in flowing water, more energy is used for sediment transport,
which causes a decrease in soil detachment rate Soil detachment capacity is a key parameter in
many process-based erosions models such as the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP)
model.
Soil detachment capacity by overland flow is influenced by various factors such as flow
hydraulics, soil properties, root systems, tillage operations, and land use. For a given soil, flow
hydraulics (e.g. discharge, slope gradient, flow depth, and velocity) control the process of
detachment. Soil detachment capacity increases with flow discharge and slope gradient and is
more sensitive to discharge than slope gradient. Shear stress and stream power are commonly
used to simulate erosion processes in process-based models. However, some studies indicate that
stream power is better than shear stress to predict soil detachment capacity.

2.Movement:

 This is when the topsoil is relocated to another area. A portion of the energy from raindrop
impact is first spent to deform peds (i.e., aggregates of soil particles) and detach soil particles
from the surface. Remaining energy activates the second step of the erosion process,
particle transport.

3.Deposition:

 Where the topsoil ends up after this process. Deposition is the third and final step in the erosion
process and occurs simultaneously with the first two steps. When the sediment load of moving
water is greater than its transport capacity, deposition occurs. Recently deposited soil is more
vulnerable for re‐detachment and transport than residual soil because the original bonding forces
have been broken. However, a layer of recently deposited loose soil can help prevent detachment
of underlying soil. Individual soil particles can be detached, transported, and deposited several
times during a single storm event.