Reservoirs In A Changing World

This volume is the Proceedings from the 12th International Conference organised by the British Dam Society in September 2002.Reservoir safety is the key theme with many papers on the performance and rehabilitation of dams. The evolution of reservoirs in Ireland and the development of safety legislation in the UK are described. Risk assessment features in a number of papers as a method of assessing the safety of reservoirs. Several papers address the seismic assessment of dams and structures.

In the past, boundary conditions in the building of dams have changed, as technological developments have been influential on dam planning, construction, operation and maintenance processes. It is ICOLD‘s mission to not only consider these developments but also adequately deal with environmental aspects and related infrastructure issues. Altered wa

Despite the mechanisms of reservoir sedimentation being well known for a long time, sustainable and preventive measures are rarely taken into consideration in the design of new reservoirs. To avoid operational problems of powerhouses, sedimentation is often treated for existing reservoirs with measures which are efficient only for a limited time.Th

Lakes and reservoirs hold about 90% of the world's surface fresh water, but overuse, water withdrawal and pollution of these bodies puts some one billion people at risk. The Encyclopedia of Lakes and Reservoirs reviews the physical, chemical and ecological characteristics of lakes and reservoirs, and describes their uses and environmental state trends in different parts of the world. Superbly illustrated throughout, it includes some 200 entries in a range of topics, including acidification, artificialisation, canals, climate change effects, dams, dew ponds, drainage, eutrofication, evaporation, fisheries, hydro-electric power, nutrients, organic pollution, paleolimnology, reservoir capacities and depths, sedimentation, water resources and more.

If present trends continue, most climatologists agree that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will have doubled by the year 2050. This increase in CO 2 will have a major effect on the global climate and substantially alter the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of lakes throughout the world. In recent years, it has become clear that year-to-year changes in the weather have a major effect on the seasonal dynamics of lakes. Many water quality problems that were once regarded as "local" phenomena are now known to be influenced by changes in the weather that operate on a regional or even global scale. For example, blooms of toxic blue-green algae can be induced by prolonged reductions in the intensity of wind-mixing as well as increased supplies of nutrients. Long-term studies in the English Lake District have shown that many of these variations are quasi-cyclical in nature and can be related to long-term changes in the distribution of atmospheric pressure over the Atlantic Ocean. It is not yet clear what effect these changes have on the dynamics of European lakes but much of the historical data required to extend these analyses to continental Europe is already available. In the early 1970s the International Biological Programme served as a particularly effective focus for comparative limnological research in eastern as well as western Europe.

Written by two of the world’s leading experts on sediment management, 'Extending the Life of Reservoirs' provides guidance on adopting sediment management practices for hydropower and water supply dam projects. It explains how ensuring long-term resilience of critical infrastructure requires early and constant attention to reservoir sedimentation processes, which can reduce the storage capacity of reservoirs and damage hydro mechanical equipment. The report provides concrete guidance on safeguarding against these effects and preserving the many important services of hydropower and dam projects, including water supply, irrigation, and renewable electricity. In particular, it stresses the importance of integrating sediment management into the early planning phases of projects. 'Extending the Life of Reservoirs' is designed to assist those evaluating dam and hydropower proposals. While for the primary audience includes policy makers, lending agencies, and general practitioners, the level of detail provided in the report should appeal to a wide array of stakeholder groups. The content is neither overly technical nor overly simplistic, and aims to provide practical and useful information. Importantly, this report provides a new perspective on the importance of sediment management that is not found in prior work. It stresses the value of sediment management measures as a robust adaptation measure to support sustainable hydropower. The techniques described in the report make sense regardless of future climate changes, but in many cases have even more value when uncertainty over future hydrological patterns is taken into account.