WLR Special/IAHR Special: GlobSed

GlobSed – Sediment Management in Reservoirs and Run-Of-The-River Projects

Convenors: Helmut Habersack (BOKU), Pravin Karki (World Bank), Nikolaos Efthymiou (World Bank), Michael Tritthart (BOKU)

This session presents the results of the World Bank Project Sediment Management in Reservoirs and Run-Of-The-River Hydropower Plants. . The newly established ESMAP Hydropower Development Facility of World Bank has received funding from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance to support a global study on sediment management with the aim to improve the planning, implementation and operation of sustainable sediment management, and to provide recommendations for extending the operating life of existing facilities through implementation of successful reservoir sediment management policy and procedures. The aim of this study was to improve the practitioners’ understanding of problems related to sedimentation and to support effective and sustainable sediment management in storage reservoirs and Run-of-River hydropower plants, in cooperation with the existing activities of international organizations.
The project viewed dam development, sedimentation and sediment management in the broader context of integrated watershed management, including engineering, economics, environmental and social impacts, and considered development in the broader context of fluvial geomorphology; holistically emphasizing the benefits and impacts of dams both up- and downstream of these facilities.
This was done by developing a technical toolkit and design guidelines and conducting a sediment management study for an existing reservoir in the Philippines.

Particularly, case studies from different countries were documented – highlighting both successful and unsuccessful practices. Technical Toolkits and design guidelines were developed to support identification and analysis of sediment management strategies. Practical policy guidelines aimed at identifying specific policy, economic, legal and regulatory initiatives at project and basin scale that can help support the sustainable management of storage reservoirs. In a cooperation with the UNESCO World´s Large Rivers Initiative a status report was written for the Danube, Niger and Mekong. Capacity building and dissemination events included workshops, seminars, conferences and webinars. Finally, reservoir sedimentation management designs were tested for the Pulangi IV Dam, Philippines as an example demonstrating a sustainable management approach.