By

NDOMBA, P.M., PhD.

Lecturer
Water Resources Engineering
Department
Room C3, Block C1, or CoET Admin Block Room 31
Contact: Anytime during official hours
Venue: B2-2, B3-1
LECTURE 6 - RESERVOIRS
Introduction
Physical characteristics Part I

Yield
Capacity
Reliability
Sedimentation,
Waves
Part II
Reservoir clearance
A reservoir is, most broadly, a place or hollow vessel where fluid is kept in
reserve, for later use.
Most often, a reservoir refers to an artificial lake, used to store water for various
uses. Reservoirs are often created by building a dam, usually out of cement,
earth, rock, or a mixture.
Once the dam is completed, a stream is allowed to flow behind it and eventually fill
it to capacity.
Reservoirs
Discharge control is the redistribution of
discharge time-wise and it is effected by the
construction of reservoirs in the river valleys.
A reservoir fills up when the inflow - from
precipitation, snow melt, subsurface flows or
other upstream sources such as upstream
reservoirs exceeds the required outflow,
and it empties when the required release
exceeds the inflow.
A reservoir acts as a buffer between supply
and demand
The long-term average (inflow) is of course
determined by precipitation, and therefore
the total demand is restricted by the existing
hydrological possibilities.
The flow into a reservoir is of a stochastic
nature because precipitation is of that nature.
There is therefore always an uncertainty with
regard to the amount of future inflow and
hence the outflow cannot be regulated to the
extend of the maximum possible benefit.
The best that can be achieved is the
maximum probable benefit.
Reconciling demand with an inalterable
but uncertain supply through the optimum
design and operation of reservoirs is the
main subject on water resources allocation
There are two main types of demand
An increase in the lowest discharges:
eg.hydropower, navigation and irrigation
A decrease in the highest discharges: eg. Flood
control
Reservoirs
Reservoir
Water from a reservoir is released either over
the top of the dam (spillway) or through
outlets below the reservoir water level.
The capacity of a spillway increases rapidly
with rising reservoir water level
The spillway or the outlets may be provided
with gates to regulate the outflow within
specified limits.
Reservoirs
A water-supply, irrigation, or hydroelectric
project drawing water directly from a stream
may be unable to satisfy the demands of its
consumers during low flows.
This stream, which may carry little or no
water during portions of the year, often
becomes a raging torrent after heavy rains
and a hazard to all activities along its banks.
A storage, or conservation, reservoir can
retain such excess water from periods of high
flow for use during periods of drought.
 River

Power House

Dam

Irrigation

Rivers, Dam, Reservoirs and use

RESERVOIRS
Whatever the size of a reservoir or the
ultimate use of the water, the main function of
a reservoir is to stabilize the flow of water,
either by regulating a varying supply in a
natural stream or by satisfying a varying
demand by the ultimate consumers.
Physical characteristics of
reservoirs
Since the primary function of reservoirs is to
provide storage, their most important physical
characteristic is storage capacity.
The capacity of a reservoir of regular shape
can be computed with the formulas for the
volumes of solids. Capacity of reservoirs on
natural sites must usually be determined from
topographic surveys.
Zones of storage in a reservoir
Profiles of the water surface (sample)
Physical characteristics of
reservoirs
An area-elevation curve (Fig. X) is
constructed by planimetering the area
enclosed within each contour within the
reservoir site.
The integral of the area-elevation curve is
the elevation-storage, or capacity, curve for
the reservoir.
The increment of storage between two
elevations is usually computed by
multiplying the average of the areas at the
two elevations by the elevation difference.
Physical characteristics of
reservoirs
The summation of these increments below any
elevation is the storage volume below that
level.
In the absence of adequate topographical
maps, cross sections of the reservoir are
sometimes surveyed and the capacity
computed from these vertical cross sections
by use of the prismoidal formula (xx)

1

Volume A1 A1A2 A2 z
3
(xx)
Range method
Elevation-storage and elevation-area curves (sample)
Relationship
between
reservoir
surface
elevation,
storage, and
spillway
discharge for a
reservoir with
ungated
spillway
Physical characteristics of
reservoirs
Normal pool level is the
maximum elevation to which
the reservoir surface will rise
during ordinary operating
conditions. For most
reservoirs normal pool is
determined by the elevation
of the spillway crest or the
top of the spillway gates.
Minimum pool level is the
lowest elevation to which the
pool is to drawn under normal
conditions. This level may be
fixed by the elevation of the
lowest outlet in the dam or, in
the case of hydroelectric
reservoirs, by conditions of
operating efficiency for the
turbines.
 Physical characteristics of
reservoirs
The storage volume between
the minimum and normal pool
levels is called the useful
storage.
Water held below minimum
pool level is dead storage.
In multipurpose reservoirs the
useful storage may be subdivided
into conservation storage and
flood-mitigation storage in
accordance with the adopted
plan of operation. During floods,
discharge over the spillway may
cause the water level to rise
above normal pool level. This
surcharge storage is normally
uncontrolled, i.e., it exists only
while a flood is occurring and
cannot be retained for later use.
Physical characteristics of
reservoirs
Reservoir banks are
usually permeable, and
water enters the soil Banks
when the reservoir fills
and drains out as the
water level is lowered.
This bank storage
increases the capacity of
the reservoir above that
indicated by the
elevation-storage curve.
The amount of bank
storage depends on
geologic conditions and
may amount to several
percent of the reservoir
volume.
 Physical characteristics of
reservoirs
The storage volume between
the minimum and normal pool
levels is called the useful
storage.
Water held below minimum
pool level is dead storage.
In multipurpose reservoirs the
useful storage may be subdivided
into conservation storage and
flood-mitigation storage in
accordance with the adopted
plan of operation. During floods,
discharge over the spillway may
cause the water level to rise
above normal pool level. This
surcharge storage is normally
uncontrolled, i.e., it exists only
while a flood is occurring and
cannot be retained for later use.
Physical characteristics of
reservoirs
The water in a natural
stream channel
occupies a variable
volume of valley
storage. The net
increase in storage
capacity resulting from
the construction of a
reservoir is the total
capacity less the
natural valley storage.
For most short, deep
reservoirs the reservoir
water surface is
assumed level.
Physical characteristics of
reservoirs
However, if flow is
passing the dam, there
must be some slope to the
water surface to cause this
flow. If the cross-sectional
area of the reservoir is
large compared with the
rate of flow, the velocity will
be small and the slope of
the hydraulic grade line will
be very flat. In relatively
shallow and narrow
reservoirs, the water
surface at high flows may
depart considerably from
the horizontal (Fig). The
wedge shaped element of
storage above a horizontal
is surcharge storage (Figs)
Selection of distribution-reservoir capacity for a given yield
(Example)
The required storage is
given by
Principle of continuity as expressed in
the form of storage equation
b b
S O I dt demand pumpingratedt
a a

b
S Outflow Inflowdt
a

The average pumping rate is

determined by diving the total
pumped by 24.
The required reservoir capacity
is the sum of the hourly
requirements from storage, or
2426 m3
Graphical illustration of the computation of required reservoir capacity
 Sequent-peak algorithm

When lengthy synthetic data are to be analyzed, computer analysis is

indicated and the sequent-peak algorithm is commonly used.
Values of the cumulative sum of inflow minus withdrawals are
calculated
The required storage for the interval is the difference between the
Flow Mass Curve Analysis

Flow Mass Curve

is cumulative flow volume, V
versus time curve.
Use of a mass curve to
determine the
reservoir capacity
required to produce a
specified yield
 Flow Mass Curve Analysis

The mass curve ordinate, V at any time t is given as

T
V Qdt
to

to = the time at the beginning of the curve.

The slope of the mass curve at any point on the plot, dV/dt
equals the rate of streamflow at that time.

Mass curve is always rising curve or horizontal curve and is

useful means by which one can calculate storage capacity of a
reservoir to meet specified demand as well as safe yield of a
reservoir of given capacity.
 Example 1
Flow Mass Curve
The following table Month Mean Days in Monthly Flow Accumulated
Monthly Month Volume Volume
gives the mean Flow (cms) (cumec-day) (cumec-day)
monthly flows of a Jan 60 31 1,860 1,860
stream during a leap Feb 50 29 1,450 3,310
(i.e. long) year. Mar 40 31 1,240 4,550
Determine the Apr 28 30 840 5,390
minimum storage
May 12 31 372 5,762
required to satisfy a
Jun 20 30 600 6,362
demand rate of 50
Jul 50 31 1,550 7,912
cms.
Aug 90 31 2,790 10,702
Sep 100 30 3,000 13,702
Oct 80 31 2,480 16,182
Nov 75 30 2,250 18,432
Dec 70 31 2,170 20,602
 Example 1_Solution
Flow Mass Curve
Mass Flow Curve
and Demand Line
Mass curve of the accumulated flow versus
time is shown in the figure.

For the mass curve and demand rate, all

months are assumed to be of equal
duration, 30.5 days.

A demand line with a slope of line PR is

drawn tangential to the mass flow curve at
A.

Another line parallel to this line is drawn so

that it is tangential to the mass flow curve
at B.

The vertical difference BC = 2,850 cumec-

day is the required storage for satisfying the
demand rate of 50 cms.
Use of a mass curve to
determine the possible yield
from a reservoir of specified
capacity
NOTE
Yield is the amount of water
that can be supplied from
the reservoir during a
specified interval of time.
The safe, or firm, yield is the
maximum quantity of water
that can be guaranteed
during a critical dry period.
Firm yield can never be
determined with certainty.
The maximum possible yield
during a given time interval
equals the mean inflow less
evaporation and seepage
losses during that interval.
 Reservoir reliability
The reliability of a reservoir is defined as the probability that it will deliver the
expected demand throughout its lifetime without incurring a deficiency.
We may estimate the reliability by generating stochastically 500 t0 1000
traces, each trace equal in length to the adopted project life (50 to 100 yr)
Reservoir reliability
(contd.)
Each trace may then be said to represent one
possible example of what might occur during the
project lifetime, and all traces are equally likely
representatives of this future period.
If the storage required to deliver a specified
demand is calculated for each trace, the resulting
values of storage can be ranked in order of
magnitude and plotted as a frequency curve, or
the theoretical curve can be calculated from the
data.
The result is reliability curve (fig) that indicates
the probability that the demands during the project
life can be met as a function of reservoir capacity.
THANKS!