Torrential Flood Water Management: Rainwater Harvesting through Relation Based Dam Suitability Analysis and Quantification of Erosion Potential

Abstract

In this study, a relation-based dam suitability analysis (RDSA) technique is developed to identify the most suitable sites for dams. The methodology focused on a group of the most important parameters/indicators (stream order, terrain roughness index, slope, multiresolution valley bottom flatness index, closed depression, valley depth, and downslope gradient difference) and their relation to the dam wall and reservoir suitability. Quantitative assessment results in an elevation-area-capacity (EAC) curve substantiating the capacity determination of selected sites. The methodology also incorporates the estimation of soil erosion (SE) using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model and sediment yield at the selected dam sites. The RDSA technique identifies two suitable dam sites (A and B) with a maximum collective capacity of approximately 1202 million m3. The RDSA technique was validated with the existing dam, Gomal-Zam, in the north of Sanghar catchment, where RDSA classified the Gomal-Zam Dam in a very high suitability class. The SE estimates show an average of 75 t-ha−1y−1 of soil loss occurs in the study area. The result shows approximately 298,073 and 318,000 tons of annual average sediment yield (SY) will feed the dam A and B respectively. The SE-based sediment yield substantiates the approximate life of Dam-A and Dam-B to be 87 and 90 years, respectively. The approach is dynamic and can be applied for any other location globally for dam site selection and SE estimation.