Estimation of sediment yield with MUSLE and monitoring. A case study for Tsiknias dam at Lesvos Island in Greece

The purpose of the present study is the estimation of sediment yield of Tsiknias river basin at the location of a dam under study. The Tsiknias reservoir will supply drinking water at Mytilene town and at a large area of Lesvos island in Northern Greece. Moreover, a small amount of the reservoir water is intended to satisfy the demands of the downstream irrigation system at Kalloni plain. The methods used for estimating the volume of sediment yield in this study are empirical by means of modern technologies like GIS models. The main methodology that estimates the sediment yield used at the present study is the Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation (MUSLE). In comparison with MUSLE, other methods have also been tested like Gavrilovic [1] and Koutsoyiannis & Tarla equations [3]. The calculation of the sediment yield volume will be finalized by means of the field measurements that are in progress (10/2014 – next hydrological year). This program of measurements includes records of the flow, hydrometeorological data as well as sediment volumes (suspended and bedded sediment). Estimating the sediment transport at the location of the dam will affect not only the inactive storage of the dam, but it will also determine the design of the water abstraction works at the Tsiknias reservoir, as well as the design of structures required for a sustainable sedimentation management.