ABSTRACT
Silting of reservoirs is a very complex process of entrainment, transport and deposition of sediment in the reservoir basin. The silting process is naturally-caused and anthropically-influenced, one which initiates when the river is dammed and ends when the reservoir basin is practically filled with sediment. The silting process is unavoidable and irreversible, and can have multiple effects in the catchment, on the river system, on the environment and on the various engineering works in the adjacent areas. The silting process is reducing the storage capacity of the world’s reservoirs by more than 1% per year. Silting of reservoirs can occur in the most diverse geographical regions of the world, having widely different climatic conditions. In India, a number of 21 reservoirs have lost from 0.5% to 1% of their gross storage capacity by silting in the year 1969.
