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Advanced Dam Engineering for Design, Construction, and Rehabilitation pp 722–750Cite as

Reservoirs

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Abstract

Leakage, a condition that can prove both hazardous and costly, is undesirable at most reservoirs. However, some water loss often occurs, and it is tolerated when it imposes no threat to safety and preventive measures are either technically infeasible or too costly. In some cases, leakage is even desirable, for example, at flood control works designed to eliminate peak flows in downstream channels and at projects where seepage serves to recharge important groundwater resources. This section discusses the effects, prevention, and repair of reservoir leakage, and examines the problems experienced at reservoirs located in carbonate rock, evaporite deposits, unconsolidated sediments, and volcanic rock terrains. It reviews bank storage briefly. A graphical method that was developed by the California Division of Water Resources for estimating underflow at dam sites where rising water occurs is also presented. Discussions are limited largely to leakage occurring through the rims and floors of reservoirs because flow through the foundations of dams is covered in chapters devoted to specific types of embankment and concrete dams.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. California Department of Water Resources (Retired), USA

    Laurence B. James (Chief Engineering Geologist)

  2. Kiersch Associates, Inc., Tucson, Arizona, USA

    George A. Kiersch (Geological Consultant)

Authors
  1. Laurence B. James
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  2. George A. Kiersch
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Robert B. Jansen (Consulting Civil Engineer)

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© 1988 Van Nostrand Reinhold

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James, L.B., Kiersch, G.A. (1988). Reservoirs. In: Jansen, R.B. (eds) Advanced Dam Engineering for Design, Construction, and Rehabilitation. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0857-7_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0857-7_24

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8205-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-0857-7

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