Quantification of Washed Load and Bedding Material to a Reservoir Site and Comparison with Values Reported by Bathymetry

Cuantificación de la Carga Lavada y de Material de Lecho Hasta un Sitio de Embalse y Comparación con Valores Reportados por Batimetrías

Abstract

The Ing. Francisco C. Amelinck dam on the Yaracuy River in Venezuela gives rise to the Cumaripa reservoir, which receives contributions from a basin with a surface area of around 435 km2. The operation of the reservoir began in 1971, and according to a bathymetry carried out in 1989, in that period of 18 years about 41 Hm3 of sediment had accumulated in the reservoir while the project contemplated a volume of dead water of 7.05 Hm3 which should be taken over during the 100-year useful life planned for the reservoir. In this work, estimates of the washed load and the bed material load are made in order to calculate the total annual load of tributary sediments to the reservoir.