RESERVOIR SEDIMENTATION AS A FUNCTION OF PRECIPITATION VARIABILITY¹

ABSTRACT: This research examines what is hypothesized as a critical factor in reservoir sedimentation - precipitation variability. The coefficient of variation for annual precipitation, computed for the period relating to sedimentation, is regressed against sediment yields for several reservoirs over a wide range of environmental settings. A significant linear relationship results, and when precipitation variability is combined with several additional variables available from reservoir summary sheets, almost 83% of the total variation in sediment yield is accounted for. It is suggested that the coefficient of variation for annual precipitation fulfills a direct process role when modeling reservoir sedimentation much more effectively than annual precipitation or runoff.