Reservoir Sediment Management Practices in Sudan: A Case Study of Khashm El-Girba Dam

Abstract

AbstractThe sedimentation problem is a hot issue currently affecting the operations of reservoirs and irrigation networks in Sudan. Most of the rivers that cross Sudanese borders come from the Eastern African Plateau, which acts as a sediment source for the Nile River and its tributaries. Khashm el-Girba Dam (KEGD), which crosses the Atbara River in Eastern Sudan, is a multipurpose dam that was constructed in 1964. The Atbara River is a branch of the Nile River system, and the river carries a large amount of sediment during the flood period. Seven years after construction, in 1970, the dam faced a critical problem that could have led to a disaster; it was discovered that, due to sediment deposition, the water storage was not enough to satisfy the downstream requirements. This study discusses the sediment management practices used in KEGD and their impacts on maintaining the reservoir capacity. Practices including operation policy (OP), trap efficiency (TE), sluicing, sediment sluicing, and flushing operation (FO) were discussed. The adopted management practices succeeded in removing a considerable amount of silt and maintaining the lifetime of the reservoir.