Practical Method Proposed to Estimate Silting’s Rate in Small and Hillside Dams

The construction of small dams and hillside reservoirs is a common practice for dealing with erratic and unevenly distributed rainfalls in arid and semi arid areas. Moreover, these small hydraulics structures are recommended as a solution to adapt to climate change in rural areas. They are fundamental for the sustainability of the water resources. However, these dams are potential sinks for upstream sediment. Therefore, it would be useful to monitor and measure the amount of sediments in small dams because it is necessary to understand siltation and better functioning of these vital structures. This control and these measurements require the application of the bathymetry or topography surveys which is too expensive for the responsible of these small dams. In this context, this paper proposes a simple and low cost method called triangulation of the estimated silted level. This method is based on direct measurement of the accessible silted level in dam. Therefore, this method is recommended as a new direct and simple technique to evaluate the amount of silting in small dams and hillside reservoirs.