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MODERN CHALLENGES TO A HYDRAULIC ENGINEER

RESERVOIR SEDIMENTATION

Reservoir sedimentation management is of critical importance for the sustainable

development of surface water resources. Dams are notorious for their severe

sedimentation problems. Because of the alarming rate of loss of reservoir storage

capacity and the unacceptable negative impact induced by the rapid upstream

extension of sediment deposited in the river's backwater region, the dams have to be

reconstructed to provide high sediment releasing capacity, and the dam operation is

required to be changed in order to achieve a balance between sediment inflow and

outflow so that the dam must provide the basin with flood control, irrigation, and

hydropower generation.

The sediment size also effects the reservoir capacity and it determine the place where is

will stay in the dam body. It requires the modeling of the reservoir or the dam. From

that study we can have idea about the life of the structure and the storage capacity with

the passage of time. The computation for the sediments is very difficult because we

cannot achieve all the condition present at any site.

SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF DAMS

Due to large area of the dams or reservoir, peoples are required to be displaced which

have the social impacts on the lives of people. Peoples are not ready to leave their

native place and profession. Further the hydrology of that area changes. Ground water

raise in that areas and it also affects the surrounding areas. Animal life and water bodies

like fishes also affected from these types of activities. In case of any dam or reservoir

failure, there will be a lot of human and property damage which cannot be estimated.

FLOOD CONTROL

Using different empirical relations and modeling, we can have an idea about the floods

but infect we cannot forecast the actual flood duration, quantity of flood, and the area

that will be submerged by the water. Further it is difficult to regulate the rivers at a

specific path because of high water forces it erodes the land and changes its path so we

do not know about the planes forming the river.

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DESIGNING HYDRAULIC STRUCTURES

The design should be done keeping in mind the risk that is being associated with it. Use

the latest techniques to select an optimum design regarding risk. These techniques

include Genetic Algorithm and Aunt Colony method.

MODEL EXPERIMENTS

Phenomena in a river are very complex because they are the results of interactions

among several factors, such as water flow, sediment flow, vegetation, and river

structures. Theoretical and empirical calculations are not enough to find appropriate

solutions for river management, especially for flood conditions.

On-site surveys serve as a direct measure to understand phenomena in a river.

Such surveys, however, require a great deal of cost and labor. Also, it is virtually

impossible to collect information regarding conditions of small probability, such asdesign flood, by this kind of survey.

River hydraulic model experiments, used together with calculations and on-sight

surveys, can be very helpful to find solutions. Such experiments are almost always

conducted in various project planning and designs concerning river management.

URBAN WATER SUPPLY

Studies should be done to reduce the loses of urban water supply which can include

i. Use of pressure valves at different locationsii. Increasing the charges to create awareness among people regarding water loseiii. Check and balance on water connections

GROUND WATER RECHARGING

Due to excessive pumping, rise in temperature and other environmental factors the

ground water is lowered. It is a great challenge to store the ground water to its original

level. It requires the modeling of the ground water and thus such conditions (like groundwater) are very difficult to achieve.

GROUND WATER CONTAMINATION

Almost every person on the earth is disposing the waste materials (industrial waste,

domestic waste, nuclear waste) without any treatment. The common practice is to

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