Simulation of Sediment Flushing in Paonia Reservoir of Colorado
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 145, Issue 12
Abstract
A one-dimensional sediment transport model (SRH-1D) was updated to simulate a sediment sluicing and flushing plan for the Paonia Reservoir, located on Muddy Creek in western Colorado. The Paonia Reservoir has lost nearly 25% of its original capacity of 25.8 million cubic meters (20,950 acre-ft) to sediment deposition. In the fall of 2014, Paonia Dam became partially blocked with sediment and debris, and emergency action was necessary to maintain water deliveries. To analyze potential solutions to this problem, a proposed sediment sluicing and flushing plan was conceptualized to lower the reservoir pool in the early spring, and to sluice and flush sediment with high spring runoff flows through the outlet works before closing the gates to refill the pool for the irrigation season. SRH-1D was modified to include a user-defined set of reservoir operation rules, which was implemented to assess the effects of managing inflow and sediment deposition in the Paonia Reservoir. The numerical model was calibrated using the 2015 reservoir survey data and incoming and outgoing suspended sediment concentrations from April 2013 to June 2015. It was then used to predict the reservoir sedimentation with a one-season simulation. The numerical model shows that a spring sediment flush can be a useful method to pass sediment from a reservoir.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code generated or used during the study are available from the corresponding author by request.
Acknowledgments
The authors of this paper would like to acknowledge the Bureau of Reclamation’s Western Colorado Area Office and the Fire Mountain Canal and Reservoir Company for supporting this technical effort. In addition, thanks to the United States Geological Survey Colorado Water Science Center for the sediment data collection support to make this modeling effort possible. The Bureau of Reclamation’s Research and Development Office provided funding to write this technical note.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 145 • Issue 12 • December 2019
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 18, 2018
Accepted: Apr 24, 2019
Published online: Sep 28, 2019
Published in print: Dec 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Feb 28, 2020
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