Reservoir Sedimentation Information (RSI) Updates (Nationwide)

Global climate changes result in altered hydrology manifested as changes in the form (snow vs. rain) and intensity (peak, seasonal, average) of precipitation, differences in ground state (frozen, saturated, unsaturated), and changes in evapotranspiration and other factors affecting runoff and sedimentation. These changes may exacerbate the changes in land use and land cover – including development and changing agricultural practices – that are major contributors to sedimentation. Under recent budget conditions, USACE has been unable to fund sediment surveys and studies to evaluate the effects of these changes to reservoir project performance and storage capacity. As many of USACE reservoirs are nearing the end of their design life, sediment has become a natural resource issue at a national level.  Therefore, USACE is seeking to establish baseline information on reservoir sediment levels and remaining storage capacity, to then determine how global and climate changes will impact sedimentation.

The objective of this task order was to assist the USACE team in assessing the state of existing USACE RSI (including the existence of sedimentation surveys, sediment load measurements, SSWP, and other investigations related to sedimentation), review and update existing methods and policies to support updated RSI, develop a strategy to update RSI, make broad estimations of the associated costs to update RSI, and prioritize needs for RSI updates. Anticipated support activities to be carried out within the scope of work include administrative tasks, review of USACE existing RSI, analysis and interpretation of technical reports and studies, hydrological and climatological information associated with RSI, and reporting results in a variety of formats.

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