A socio-hydrological approach to sedimentation control in irrigation valley dams:

Abstract

Sedimentation of reservoirs continues to be a significant problem for reservoir operations all over the world. The reservoirs' storage capacity and useful life are decreased by sediment accumulation. Many Ugandan reservoirs and rivers, including the Apuwai Dam, have sediment-related problems such as decreased water quality and quantity for domestic use and irrigation, flooding, and damage to structures. The rate of sedimentation in the Apuwai reservoir catchment is accelerated by deforestation, overgrazing, and poor land management, among other factors. The study's objectives included finding out the watershed's sediment yield, pinpointing the worst-affected areas with the aid of the RUSLE model and SMCE analysis in a GIS framework for better decision support, and determining the community’s WTP for sedimentation mitigation measures using the Dichotomous Choice-Contingent Valuation Method. The research established that the annual soil loss was, the SDR ranged from 0 to 0.7469, and the estimated average annual sediment yield in the dam watershed in. The trap efficiency of the reservoir was estimated to be 79.7% with an annual sedimentation rate of. The sediment yield based on catchment characterization was. The study found that WTP for sedimentation measures of Yes reduces as the price of the offer increase and that 19.3 percent of the total respondents showed WTP while 80.7 percent did not. Keywords: Reservoir sedimentation, Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation, Spatial Multi-Criteria Evaluation, Sediment Delivery Ratio, Trap efficiency, Willingness to pay, DC-CVM