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ARS Home » Midwest Area » West Lafayette, Indiana » National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #102083
Title: MONITORING THE SEDIMENT LOADING OF ITAIPU LAKE AND MODELING OF SHEET AND RILL EROSION HAZARDS IN THE WATERSHED OF PARANA RIVER: AN OUTLINE OF THE PROJECT.

Author
item Norton, Lloyd
item DE CASTRO, CELSO - BRAZIL
item FONTES JR, HELIO - BRAZIL
item MARENDA, LUIS - BRAZIL
item JOHANSON, LUIS - BRAZIL
item CAVIGLIONE, JOAO - BRAZIL

Submitted to: International Soil Conservation Organization (ISCO)
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/23/1999
Publication Date: 1/1/2001
Citation: Norton, L.D., De Castro, C., Fontes Jr, H.M., Marenda, L.D., Johanson, L.P., Caviglione, J.C. 2001. Monitoring the sediment loading of itaipu lake and modeling of sheet and rill erosion hazards in the watershed of parana river: an outline of the project. In: 10th International Soil Conservation Organization Conference Proceedings, May 24-29, 1999, West Lafayette, Indiana. 2001 CDROM.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The Itaipu hydroelectric facility is presently the largest in the world. Sediment loading originally was a minor problem. Significant land use change from forest to intense row crop production has changed considerably the amount of sediment entering the lake, reducing the storage capacity of the lake and thus shortening the life of the project. In order to determine the extent of sediment loading and target areas within the drainage basin that produce the greatest sediment, a study was begun to monitor the sediment entry, and to model the watershed to determine where to concentrate conservation efforts. These measurements will allow for computation of water and sediment flux on an hourly rate into the lake. The modeling will be performed with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) in a Geographic Information System (GIS) framework. Rainfall erosivity (R) data will be collected from a network of climatic stations, erodibility maps (K) from the SOTERLAC database, topographic (LS) data from digital elevation models and cropping and management (C and P) data from remote sensing and field plot data. These parameters will allow predictions of soil loss potential within the framework of the GIS. The monitoring data will be compared to data from the modeling on successively smaller watersheds in order to calibrate the RUSLE/GIS model. The calibrated model will then be used to develop erosion potential maps for the entire Itaipu watershed above the lake. The impact of this project is to make predictions on the effect of land use change has had on the projected life of the project and to target those areas of the watershed for conservation efforts to protect the longevity of the facility.