Water Resources

Engineering II
Water Storage

What is a Reservoir?
It is an area developed by water body due
to construction of dam.

Tarbela Dam

JungHua Dam
(Taiwan)

Storage reservoir serve the following

purpose :
Irrigation
Domestic Use
Industrial
Hydroelectric power generation
Flood control
Navigation
Recreation
Development of fish & wild life
Soil conservation

Classification

Storage Reservoirs: Storage reservoirs

are also called conservation reservoirs
because they are used to conserve water.
Storage reservoirs are constructed to store
the water in the rainy season and to
release it later when the river flow is low
Flood Control Reservoirs: A flood
control reservoir is constructed for the
purpose of flood control. It protects the
areas lying on its downstream side from
the damages due to flood.

 Retarding Reservoirs: A retarding reservoir is

provided with spillways and sluiceways which are
ungated. The retarding reservoir stores a portion of
the flood when the flood is rising and releases it
later when the flood is receding.
Detention Reservoirs : A detention reservoir
stores excess water during floods and releases it
after the flood. It is similar to a storage reservoir but
is provided with large gated spillways and
sluiceways to permit flexibility of operation.

 Distribution Reservoirs: A distribution reservoir is

a small storage reservoir to tide over the peak
demand of water for municipal water supply or
irrigation. The distribution reservoir is helpful in
permitting the pumps to work at a uniform rate. It
stores water during the period of lean demand and
supplies the same during the period of high
demand.
Multipurpose Reservoirs: The are constructed for
more than single purpose.
Balancing Reservoirs: A balancing reservoir is a
small reservoir constructed d/s of the main reservoir
for holding water released from the main reservoir.

Investigations
Engineering surveys
Geological investigations
Hydrological investigations

Engineering surveys
Conducted for dam, reservoir and other
associated work.
Topographic survey of the area is carried
out and the contour plan is prepared
The horizontal control is usually
provided by triangulation survey, and
the vertical control by precise levelling.

From the prepared plan, the following

physcial characteristics are prepared:
(a)Area-Elevation Curve
(b)Storage-Elevation Curve
(c)Map of the area to indicate the land
and property to be surveyed
(d)Suitable site selection for the dam

Geological investigation
Geological investigations of the dam
and reservoir site are done for the
following purposes.
(i) Suitability of foundation for the
dam.
(ii) Watertightness of the reservoir
basin
(iii) Location of the quarry sites for
the construction materials.

(iv) Geological and structural features ,

such as folds, faults. Fissures etc of
the rocks of the basin
(v) Location of permeable and soluable
rocks
(vi) Ground water condition of the
region

Hydrological investigations
The hydrological investigations are
conducted for the following
purposes :
(i) To study the runoff pattern to
determine the required storage
capacity of the reservoir.
(ii) To determine the maximum
discharge at the site to determine
the spillway capacity and design.

Site selection
Large storage capacity
River valley should be narrow,
length of dam to constructed is
less.
Watertightness of reservoir.
Good hydrological conditions
Deep reservoir

 Small submerged area

Low silt inflow
No objectionable minerals
Low cost of real estate
Site easily accessible

Zones of storage

 Normal Pool level (NPL): The normal pool

level (NPL) is the highest water level to which
the water surface will rise during normal
operating conditions.
Maximum water level (MWL): The maximum
water level is the maximum level to which the
water surface will rise when the design flood
passes over the spillway.
Minimum pool level: The minimum pool level
is the lowest level up to which the water is
withdrawn from the reservoir under ordinary
conditions.

 Dead storage: The volume of water held below

the minimum pool level is called the dead
storage. It is provided to cater for the sediment
deposition by the impounding sediment laid in
water. Normally it is equivalent to volume of
sediment expected to be deposited in the
reservoir during the design life reservoir.
Live/useful storage: The volume of water
stored between the normal pool level (NPL) and
the minimum pool level is called the useful
storage. It assures the supply of water for
specific period to meet the demand.

 Flood/Surcharge storage: is storage

contained between maximum reservoir
level and normal pool level. It varies with
spillway capacity of dam for given design
flood.

 Bank storage: is developed in the voids

of soil cover in the reservoir area and
becomes available as seepage of water
when water levels drops down. It increases
the reservoir capacity over and above that
given by elevation storage curves.
Valley storage: The volume of water held
by the natural river channel in its valley up
to the top of its banks before the
construction of a reservoir is called the
valley storage. The valley storage depends
upon the cross section of the river.

Safe yield
Yield is the volume of water which
can be withdrawn from a reservoir in
a specified period of time.
Safe yield is the maximum quantity
of water which can be supplied from
a reservoir in a specified period of
time during a critical dry year.

 Secondary yield: is the quantity of water which

is available during the period of high flow in the
rivers when the yield is more than the safe yield.
Average yield: The average yield is the
arithmetic average of the firm yield and the
secondary yield over a long period of time.
Design yield: The design yield is the yield
adopted in the design of a reservoir. The design
yield is usually fixed after considering the urgency
of the water needs and the amount of risk
involved.

Mass Inflow Curve

Where to is the time at the beginning of

the curve.
Hence, Mass curve is an integral or
summation curve of a given hydrograph.
The slope of the curve at any point is equal
to the rate of streamflow at that time.

The slope of the mass curve is always

either positive or zero

Demand Curve
Plot between accumulated demand
and time

Reservoir capacity
depends upon the inflow available and
demand
inflow in the river is always greater than
the demand, there is no storage required
if the inflow in the river is small but the
demand is high, a large reservoir
capacity is required

 The required capacity for a reservoir

can be determined by the following
methods:
1. Graphical method, using mass
curves.
2. Analytical method

Graphical method
1. Prepare a mass inflow curve from the flow

hydrograph of the site for a number of

consecutive years including the most
critical years (or the driest years) when
the discharge is low.
2. Prepare the mass demand curve
corresponding to the given rate of
demand. If the rate of demand is constant,
the mass demand curve is a straight line.
The scale of the mass demand curve
should be the same as that of the mass

3. Draw the lines AB, FG, etc. such that

(i) They are parallel to the mass demand
curve, and
(ii) They are tangential to the crests A, F,
etc. of the mass curve.
4. Determine the vertical intercepts CD. HJ,
etc. between the tangential lines and the
mass inflow curve. These intercepts
indicate the volumes by which the inflow
volumes fall short of demand.

Assuming that the reservoir is full at point

A, the inflow volume during the period AE
is equal to ordinate DE and the demand is
equal to ordinate CE. Thus the storage
required is equal to the volume indicated
by the intercept CD.
5. Determine the largest of the vertical
intercepts found in Step (4). The largest
vertical intercept represents the storage
capacity required.

 The following points should be noted.

(i) The capacity obtained in the net
storage capacity which must be available
to meet the demand. The gross capacity of
the reservoir will be more than the net
storage capacity. It is obtained by adding
the evaporation and seepage losses to the
net storage capacity.

(ii) The tangential lines AB, FG; etc. when

extended forward must intersect the
curve. This is necessary for the reservoir
to become full again, If these lines do not
intersect the mass curve, the reservoir will
not be filled again. However, very large
reservoirs sometimes do not get refilled
every year. In that case, they may become
full after 2-3 years.
(iii) The vertical distance such as FL
between the successive tangents
represents the volume of water spilled

Analytical method
capacity of the reservoir is
determined from the net inflow and
demand.
storage is required when the demand
exceeds the net inflow.
the total storage required is equal to
the sum of the storage required
during the various periods.

1. Collect the stream flow data at the

reservoir site during the critical dry period.
Generally, the monthly inflow rates are
required. However, for very large
reservoirs, the annual inflow rates may be
used.
2. Ascertain the discharge to be released
downstream to satisfy water rights or to
honour the agreement between the states
or the cities.

3. Determine the direct precipitation

volume falling on the reservoir during the
month.
4. Estimate the evaporation losses which
would occur from the reservoir The
panevaporation data are normally used for
the estimation of evaporation losses
during the month.
5. Ascertain the demand during various
months.

6. Determine the adjusted inflow during

different months as follows:
Adjusted inflow = Stream inflow +
Precipitation - Evaporation Downstream
Discharge
7. Compute the storage capacity for each
months.
Storage required = Adjusted inflow
Demand
8. Determine the total storage capacity of
the reservoir by adding the storages

Determination of Yield of a
Reservoir

The yield from a reservoir of a given

capacity can be determined by the use of
the mass inflow curve
1. Prepare the mass inflow curve from the
flow hydrograph of the river.
2. Draw tangents AB, FG, etc. at the crests
A, F, etc. of the mass inflow curve in such
a way that the maximum departure
(intercept) of these tangents from the
mass inflow curve is equal to the given
reservoir capacity.

3. Measure the slopes of all the

tangents drawn in Step 2.
4. Determine the slope of the flattest
tangent.
5. Draw the mass demand curve
from the slope of the flattest tangent
(see insect). The yield is equal to the
slope of this line

Reservoir Sedimentation
is a difficult problem for which an
economical solution has not yet been
discovered, except by providing a dead
storage to accommodate the deposits
during the life of the dam.

Disintegration, erosion, transportation, and

sedimentation, are the different stages
leading to silting of reservoir.

Causes of sedimentation

Nature of soil in catchment area

Topography of the catchment area
Cultivation in catchment area
Vegetation cover in catchment area
Intensity of rainfall in catchment area

Sediment Management
Maximum efforts should water should
be released so that less sediments
should retain in reservoir. Following
options are:
Catchment Vegetation
Construction of coffer dams/low
height barriers
Flushing and desilting of sediments
Low level outlets / sediment
sluicing

Catchment vegetation

Catchment vegetation

Wooden barriers

Wooden barriers

Stepped watershed for sediment

control

Flushing of sediments from

reservoir

Mechanical desilting from

reservoir

Sediment sluicing

Sediment sluicing