Soil Erosion and Reservoir Sedimentation in a Grazing Area West of Arusha, Northern Tanzania

1972 ◽  
Vol 54 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 325 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Hammond Murray-Rust
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 26
Author(s):  
Manti Patil ◽  
Radheshyam Patel ◽  
Arnab Saha

Soil erosion is one of the most critical environmental hazards of recent times. It broadly affects to agricultural land and reservoir sedimentation and its consequences are very harmful. In agricultural land, soil erosion affects the fertility of soil and its composition, crop production, soil quality and land quality, yield and crop quality, infiltration rate and water holding capacity, organic matter and plant nutrient and groundwater regimes. In reservoir sedimentation process the consequences of soil erosion process are reduction of the reservoir capacity, life of reservoir, water supply, power generation etc. Based on these two aspects, an attempt has been made to the present study utilizing Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) has been used in integration with remote sensing and GIS techniques to assess the spatial pattern of annual rate of soil erosion, average annual soil erosion rate and erosion prone areas in the MAN catchment. The RUSLE considers several factors such as rainfall, soil erodibility, slope length and steepness, land use and land cover and erosion control practice for soil erosion prediction. In the present study, it is found that average annual soil erosion rate for the MAN catchment is 13.01-tons/ha/year, which is higher than that of adopted and recommended values for the project. It has been found that 53% area of the MAN catchment has negligible soil erosion rate (less than 2-tons/ha/year). Its spatial distribution found on flat land of upper MAN catchment. It has been detected that 26% area of MAN catchment has moderate to extremely severe soil erosion rate (greater than 10-tons/ha/year). Its spatial distribution has been found on undulated topography of the middle MAN catchment. It is proposed to treat this area by catchment area treatment activity.


AGROFOR ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
El Mouatassime SABRI ◽  
Ahmed BOUKDIR ◽  
Rachid El MASLOUHI ◽  
Mustapha MABROUKI ◽  
Abdellah EL MAHBOUL ◽  
...  

This study was conducted in the Oued El Abid watershed upstream of the Bin ElOuidane dam, in Tadla-Azilal province (Morocco) to quantify the dam siltationrates. To assess the annual soil erosion and the sediment yield the universal soilloss equation (USLE) was used. A geographic information system (GIS) was usedto generate and integrate maps of the USLE factors. A spatial distribution of soilerosion in the Oued El Abid watershed was obtained. The soil erosion wasdetermined for each rural commune in order to identify the soil erosion hotspot andestimate the amount of soil that has been transported downstream (Bin El OuidaneDam). Soil erosion ranged from very limited values for flat and well covered areasto over 2100 t /ha/y in mountainous areas with sparse vegetation. The total annualsoil loss within the watershed is estimated at 19. 6 million tons per year. Anequation of sediment delivery ratio (SDR) based on river gradient was calculated.It was found that the value of SDR at the outlet of the watershed Oued El Abid was0. 65 with a sediment yield of 12. 74 million tons per year which affect thedurability of the dam.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Epari Ritesh Patro ◽  
Carlo De Michele

<p>Reservoir sedimentation has a prominent impact on the hydropower performance in the future and is a growing concern for hydropower stakeholders. Sedimentation caused by soil erosion is influenced by various parameters. Reservoir sedimentation is one of the most challenging problems that affect hydroelectric production since it overall causes a reduction of the reservoir capacity that overcomes the annual increase in storage volume and implies a dangerous net loss of energy. The first part of this study examined various Italian reservoirs (50 dams) to determine sedimentation rates and storage capacity loss based on available bathymetric surveys. All the reservoirs studied here have reached an average age of 74 years as of 2019, with the highest loss of capacity observed at 90% and the highest annual sediment yield of 2471 m<sup>3</sup>/km<sup>2</sup>/year. Out of all the reservoirs studied, 25% of them already have reached their half-life as of 2019. The second part of this study extended the work to the specific case study of the Ceppo Morelli hydropower plant. The study was carried out to analyse the water-sediment interaction, future sediment load and prioritizing of critical soil erosion areas using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The distinguishing feature of this work lies in the possibility to exploit remote sensing data (i.e. actual/potential evapotranspiration) to successfully calibrate hydrological models in scarce data regions. Simulation results indicated that the discharge and sediment load entering Ceppo Morelli reservoir will decline and the rate of reduction of latter is higher than that of former for all the future climate scenarios implemented. This analysis will provide a starting point for management and prioritization of adaptation and remediation policies for addressing the issue of reservoir sedimentation. These results are part of the RELAID project funded through PRIN-Italy. The aim of this project is to integrate updated knowledge on hydrologic, hydraulics, and sedimentation processes to address the water and flood risk management of impounded Italian rivers through a holistic paradigm.</p><p>Keywords: reservoir sedimentation; hydropower; hydrological modeling; RELAID; Italy</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline W. Maina ◽  
Joseph K. Sang ◽  
Benedict M. Mutua ◽  
James M. Raude

Abstract Soil erosion is one of the main soil degradation phenomena that threaten sustainable use of soil productivity thus affecting food security. In addition, it leads to reservoir storage capacity loss because of sedimentation. This not only affects water quantity but also water quality. Worldwide, annual loss in reservoir storage capacity due to sedimentation is 0.5 to 1%. Similarly, about 27% of land in Africa is largely degraded by erosion. As a result, there is need to minimize soil erosion and deposition through site specific estimation of soil erosion and deposition rates in the reservoirs. To achieve this, Fallout RadioNuclides (FRNs) are some of the methods in use. The most common radionuclides include; 137Cs, 210Pb and 7Be. Only few countries in Africa have exploited these FRNs. In these countries, 137Cs has been largely exploited but in some regions, it has been reported to be below minimum detection limit. Using 137Cs and 210Pb, maximum reference inventory in Africa is found to be 1450 and 2602 Bq/m2, respectively. However, there is minimal application of 7Be within the continent. Also, very little has been done in Africa to assess chronology and sedimentation rates of reservoirs using FRNs measured from sediment cores. In conclusion, a gap still exists on FRNs application in Africa in assessing soil erosion, deposition and reservoir sedimentation.


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