Cost effectiveness of sediment management strategies for mitigation of sedimentation at Jebba Hydropower reservoir, Nigeria
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Date
2016-01-22
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier, JournalofKingSaudUniversity–EngineeringSciences
Abstract
Inthisstudy,acalibratedhydrologicmodel,SoilandWaterAssessmentTool (SWAT)
interfacedwithGeographicalInformationSystem(GIS)toolwasusedtostudytheeffectofdiffer
entsedimentmanagementmethodsinawatershed(12,992km2)upstreamofJebbaLake,Nigeria.
Sedimentmanagementstrategiesconsideredare(i)reforestationofthewatershed,(ii)applicationof
vegetativefilterstrip(VFS)and(iii)constructionofstonebunds.Costanalysisofimplementingthe
selectederosioncontrolmeasureswithinthewatershedwasalsocarriedout tocomparethecost
effectivenessof eachof themanagement strategies.Theresults showedthatapplicationofVFS,
reforestation, andstonebunds tocritical zonesof thewatershedreducedthe sediment yieldup
to65.6%,63.4%and12%respectivelywhilethefinancialanalysisof implementingreforestation,
VFSandstonebundsrevealed84.9%,73.3%and70.5%reductionrespectivelyinthecoststobe
incurredifsedimentsareallowedtoaccumulateinthedam.Fromthisanalysis, itcanbeconcluded
thatthesedimentmanagementscenariosconsideredinthisstudyarecosteffectiveandsustainable
whencomparedwiththecostsincurredintacklingtheeffectduetoreservoirsedimentation.Over
all, thestudyshowedthathydrologicalmodelssuchasSWATcanbeusedtostudystrategiesfor
waterresourcemanagement. Inaddition, itcanprovidepolicymakersthedecisionsupport tools
toevaluatethecostandbenefitsofadoptingBestManagementPractices(BMPs)particularlyfor
sedimentcontrol inerosionpronewatersheds.