Erosion, Suspended Sediment Transport and Sedimentation on the Wadi Mina at the Sidi M’Hamed Ben Aouda Dam, Algeria

Abstract

Abstract:The objective of this study was to follow-up on the evolution of the hydro-pluviometric schemes and particular elements of Wadi Mina (6048 km 2 ) to the Sidi M'Hamed Ben Aouda Dam to evaluate the silting origin and status of this dam situated in the northwest of Algeria. The pluviometric study targeted a series of rains during 77 years , the liquid discharge data cover a period of 41 years and the solids and suspended sediment concentrations data cover very variable periods, starting from 22 to 40 years for the entire catchment area. The statistical tests for ruptures detection on the chronological series of rains and discharges indicate a net reduction of rains of more than 20% on the entire basin since 1970. The evolution of solids inputs was quantified: the maximum values are registered on autumn start and at the end of spring. The Wadi Mina basin brings annually 38 × 10 6 m 3 of water with a specific degradation of 860 t·km −2 ·year −1 . By comparing the results found, we thus observe that the basin upstream of SMBA (1B) Dam is the greatest sediment producer towards the dam because it shows a specific degradation equal to 13.36 t·ha −1 ·year −1 .

Modelling of Soil Erosion and Accumulation in an Agricultural Landscape—A Comparison of Selected Approaches Applied at the Small Stream Basin Level in the Czech Republic

“…These findings illustrate the soil erosion risk maps created, for example, in Italy [18], Greece [19] or Spain [20]. Similar conditions, when the erosion-accumulation phenomena in the landscape were additionally amplified by the impacts of climate change starting in the late 1980s, were analyzed and subsequently described also in North Africa, as exemplified by Hallouz et al [21] in a case study from Algeria. In Central European conditions, the increased susceptibility of soil to erosion is still mainly due to the use of inappropriate farming methods on sloping land, but the influence of climatic conditions and extreme hydrometeorological situations is increasing, which greatly increases the area of cultivated land with potential for higher soil erosion risk (e.g., [22][23][24]).…”

Modeling and Practice of Erosion and Sediment Transport under Change

“…The scale of aggradations and the raising of the bottom of these dam impoundments by successive deposits of sediments-brought by the watercourses and the wind-are serious problems whose negative consequences are considerably felt in the agriculture, farming, fishing, electricity, and navigation fields. The sedimentation in North African dams is very high in relation to what is noted in the watershed of Wadi Mina in semiarid northwest Algeria, and it has been the subject of the study of Hallouz et al [47]. Also, with a trend starting in the late 1980s, the annual production of sediment became seven times larger than the previous period, with a four times greater increase in the rates of contribution in the dry season.…”

“…Algeria, in northern Africa, has always been confronted with severe periodic droughts as well as catastrophic floods, both being major constraints against the economic and social development of the country [47]. In order to combat both natural hazards, the total number of dams increased quite quickly, from 14 in 1962 to 65 in 2014.…”

Evolution of the hydrological regime in relation to climate change: Case of the Bouregreg River basin, Morocco

“…This has an impact on the evolution of hot episodes in Morocco's internal areas (Khomsi et al, 2013). Moreover, in a semi-arid Mediterranean context, the decrease of rainfall since 1979 and the increase in extreme events, have modified the conditions for erosion and solid transport in this basin (Driouech et al, 2010a;Singla et al, 2010;Khomsi et al, 2012Khomsi et al, , 2016, as it has been reported by Hallouz et al (2018) in Algeria. It is therefore important to study the evolution of water resources available in a changing climate environment.…”