Leakage, evaporation and sedimentation affecting water storage in arid areas: case studies of the Foum el Gherza and Gargar dams, Algeria

摘要

Most dams in arid areas face storage losses from leakage, sedimentation, and evaporation. We assessed theselosses at the Gargar and Foum el Gherza dams in Algeria based on a long-term dataset supplemented by physicochemicalanalyses. Leakage and evaporation were the main loss pathways at the Foum el Gherza and Gargar dams, respectively.Estimated total losses were 46 hm3 (about 98% of total capacity) and 166.8 hm3 (about 37% of total capacity) at Foum elGherza and Gargar dams, respectively. Water and capacity losses should be assessed at a case-by-case level to generateeffective solutions for implementation in Algerian dams.