Evaluation of the Effects of Mechanical Watershed Management Measures on Reducing Sedimentation in the Zayandeh Rood Dam Reservoir

Nouri, Hamid; Vahid, Hasan

doi:10.22059/ije.2025.397787.1876

Evaluation of the Effects of Mechanical Watershed Management Measures on Reducing Sedimentation in the Zayandeh Rood Dam Reservoir

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Hamid Nouri ¹
Hasan Vahid ²

¹ Associate Professor of Climatology, Department of Natural Engineering, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Malayer University, Natural Resources and Watershed Management Organization, International Center for Integrated Watershed Management and Biological Resources in Arid and Semi-arid Regions under the auspices of UNESCO (ICIMWB), Iran, climatology

² PhD student in Rangeland Management, Gorgan University of Natural Resources and Agriculture, Natural Resources and Watershed Management Organization

10.22059/ije.2025.397787.1876

Abstract

Research Topic: Estimation of river sediment load plays a fundamental role in understanding the ecohydrological relationships of the watershed and the useful life of dams. The structural complex in watershed management, including the management of the bed slope and banks of waterways, always has a significant impact on the sediments transported to rivers and dam reservoirs.
Method: In this paper, hydraulic and sedimentological data from 11 stations in the Zayandeh-Rood Dam basin were analyzed (1960 to 2019) to select the best methods for estimating suspended load and bed load, and to determine the cumulative effect of sediments stored by watershed management check dams that prevent the transport of these sediments downstream, by province and structure.
Results: Sediment gauge curve methods without correction factors estimate values lower than the actual sediment discharge, and among these methods, the single-line, bilinear, and median curve methods have estimated the lowest sediment amount, respectively. On the other hand, the results showed that the FAO correction factor in all gauge curve methods is overestimated compared to other methods. Measurement and calculation of sediment trapping show that the sediment storage volume by the total watershed dams was approximately equivalent to 4 years of sediment transport in the 2001s or 5 years of sediment transport in the 2011s in the Zayandeh-Roud Dam basin.
Conclusions: The volume of sediment storage behind of check dams of watershed managent in the Zayandeh-Roud Dam basin indicates the importance and role of these structures in managing river sediment and reducing inflow to the dam reservoir.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Ecohydrology

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