Sediment Budget Analysis for River Reservoirs

The sediment, budget of a reservoir on the Neckar River, Germany, was investigated by means of experimental and numerical methods. Field measurements of channel bathymetry show that. sedimentation and erosion occur primarily in the lower backwater-influenced section of the reservoir, which stores approximately 350,000 m³ of fine-grained deposits. Sediment load balances for two major storm events in Dec. 1993 and Apr. 1994 showed net erosion of 32,000 ±10,000 tonnes and 24,000 ± 5,000 tonnes of sediment, respectively. A balanced sediment budget, was found for a minor flood in Jan. 1995. In agreement with the field data, numerical simulation of sediment transport. over a period of 45 years demonstrates that the river reservoir served initially as a sediment trap from 1950 to 1978, and since then as a temporary storage basin for sediment.