A Tool for Assessing Future Capacity Loss Due to Sedimentation in the United States' Reservoirs
Abstract
Federal reservoirs are critical components of the United States' water supply, flood risk management, hydropower and navigation infrastructure. These reservoirs included capacity for storage loss due to the deposition of sediment by inflowing streams in their original design. However, the actual rate of capacity loss experienced is controlled in part by climate, topography, soils, and land use/land cover, and may vary from the design. To assess the current and future vulnerability of its reservoirs to sedimentation. USACE has developed an online planning tool to identify USACE reservoirs where sedimentation is currently a problem (e.g., sedimentation rate exceeds design sedimentation rate, or zone losses disproportionately affect authorized purposes), and reservoirs where rates are expected to increase significantly in the future. The goal is to be able to prioritize operation and maintenance actions to minimize the effects of reservoir capacity loss on authorized purposes and help maximize reservoir use life.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2017
- Bibcode:
- 2017AGUFMNH33B0268P
- Keywords:
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- 1808 Dams;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 4306 Multihazards;
- NATURAL HAZARDS;
- 6349 General or miscellaneous;
- POLICY SCIENCES;
- 6699 General or miscellaneous;
- PUBLIC ISSUES