The Control Of Reservoir Silting

This publication has been prepared in response to numerous requests from those concerned with water-supply, irrigation, and power production for information on methods of controlling or reducing excessive silting in impounding reservoirs.

The creation of river dams and the storage of water have been a strategy for survival for many centuries. Reservoirs have diverse functions, providing irrigation, water supply, storage of water, flood control, navigation and power generation. The silting of a reservoir is an unavoidable process. Although it cannot be halted, silting can be slowed down and controlled by a variety of soil conservation practices and by modifying agricultural practices in the catchment area. Other methods of reducing silting include the placing of certain engineering structures in the river system and the introduction of adequate strategies of reservoir operation. Silting and Desilting of Reservoirs includes aspects such as hydraulics, sediment transport, silting, sediment distribution, calculation and prediction of silting and solutions to reservoir silting.

The creation of river dams and the storage of water have been a strategy for survival for many centuries. Reservoirs have diverse functions, providing irrigation, water supply, storage of water, flood control, navigation and power generation. The silting of a reservoir is an unavoidable process. Although it cannot be halted, silting can be slowed down and controlled by a variety of soil conservation practices and by modifying agricultural practices in the catchment area. Other methods of reducing silting include the placing of certain engineering structures in the river system and the introduction of adequate strategies of reservoir operation. Silting and Desilting of Reservoirs includes aspects such as hydraulics, sediment transport, silting, sediment distribution, calculation and prediction of silting and solutions to reservoir silting.

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