FutureWater

Erosion and reservoir sedimentation in Tana basin, Kenya

Project: Erosion and reservoir sedimentation in Tana basin, Kenya
Client: Water Resources Management Authority, Kenya, funded by World Bank
Partners: Z & A, GK-Consultants S.A.
Period: 2010-2011
Objectives: A baseline survey of soil erosion and sediment loads and an assessment of the impact of sediment deposition in four key reservoirs in the Tana basin – Kenya.

Summary

This project will undertake an assessment of the soil erosion and sediment loads in Upper Tana Catchment areas and estimate the impact of sediment deposition on the reservoir capacities of the principal dams. A physiographical baseline will be established through an intensive monitoring campaign of flow and sediment loads throughout the basin, bathymetric surveys of the reservoirs and soil erosion modeling to assess the current situation. FutureWater will be responsible for the modeling assessment.

An extensive monitoring campaign is conducted measuring sediment loadthrough water sampling at key stations througout the basin on a biweekly basis as well as major flood events. Besides, long-term siltation data will be obtained from the bathymetric surveys of the principle reservoirs. These project datasets will be used to simulate the current level of soil erosion for each sub catchment based on slope, rainfall intensity, soil type, land use, crop patterns and land use practices. For the calibration of the sediment flows in the basin, the strategy is to calibrate first with the long-term siltation rates calculated from the bathymetric surveys and secondly with the flow and sediment data from the current measurement campaign.

Points where flow and sediment data is available

Reports

Links

Please feel free to contact the Project Leader
of this project for more information.