Hydroacoustic and spatial analysis of sediment fluxes and accumulation rates in two Virginia reservoirs, USA

Watershed sediment fluxes and reservoir sediment accumulation rates were analyzed in two contrasting reservoir systems in central and western Virginia. Lake Pelham, located in the Piedmont geologic province, is a human-impacted reservoir with a watershed dominated by agricultural, residential and industrial land uses. Conversely, Lake Moomaw has a largely undeveloped watershed characterized by very steep slopes and forested land use located in the Valley and Ridge province. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) and sediment delivery ratios (SDRs) were used to estimate soil losses in the two watersheds. Bathymetric and sediment accumulation surveys of the two reservoirs were also conducted using a multi-frequency hydroacoustic surveying system. The RUSLE/SDR erosion model estimates 2150 kg ha−1 year−1 for Lake Pelham and 2720 kg ha−1 year−1 for Lake Moomaw, a 410 and 13 % increase from assumed pristine (100 % forested) land use for the respective basins. Mean sediment accumulation rates of 1.51 and 0.60 cm year−1 were estimated from the hydroacoustic survey of Lake Pelham and Lake Moomaw, respectively. Overall, Lake Moomaw has relatively low sediment accumulation rates; however, the reservoir is vulnerable to increases in sediment fluxes with further human development due to the steep slopes and highly erodible colluvial soils that characterize the basin. Higher erosion and sediment accumulation rates in Lake Pelham are most likely reflecting the impact of human development on sedimentation processes, where the loss of vegetal buffers and increase in impervious surfaces exacerbates both the surficial soil losses as well as intrinsic stream sediment production leading to the current annual reservoir capacity loss of 0.4 %.