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Reservoir sedimentation: The case of the Opa Reservoir catchment,

southwestern Nigeria

Article  in  The South African geographical journal, being a record of the proceedings of the South African Geographical Society · September 2005
DOI: 10.1080/03736245.2005.9713835

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RESERVOIR SEDIMENTATION: THE CASE OF THE OPA

RESERVOIR CATCHMENT, SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA
a
A. ADEDIJI
a
Department of Geography, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
Version of record first published: 01 Feb 2012.

To cite this article: A. ADEDIJI (2005): RESERVOIR SEDIMENTATION: THE CASE OF THE OPA RESERVOIR CATCHMENT,
SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA, South African Geographical Journal, 87:2, 123-128

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 ABSTRACT
This study aimed at determining the rate of sedimentationin Opa Reservoir since impoundment in 1978 with a view of ascertaininghow much
of its volume has been silted up. The volume of sediment trapped in the reservoir since impoundment was estimated using the bathymetric
survey method. Based on reservoir profiling, the volume and mass of deposited sediments since impoundment in 1978 were estimated at
1 313 397m3and 893 096 tomes, respectively.The rate of sedimentation and specific sedimentyield from the reservoir catchment wqe estimated
at around 38 OOOt'yr and 575tAun2/yr,respectively. The annual rate of sedimentationobtained in this study highlights the need for more frequent
bathymetric surveys especially after large floods to provide more information on the magnitude of annual sedimentation, and to help planners
determine how to prolong the economic life of reservoirs.

Introduction
Accelerated erosion with attendant sediment transportation
has been identified as an endemic problem in the tropics
particularly in the humid and subhumid tropics (Rapp et al.,
1972; Rapp, 1975; Jeje, 1987). Apart from causing the loss of
valuable soil resources from farmlands in the affected drainage
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N.W. 263). The dam and the associatedreservoir were built
on the Opa River within the confines of the University estate
in 1978. The reservoir on the Opa River was approximately
2.5km long and 0.5km at its widest point. It had a total
impounded volume of 2.81 million m3 of water on completion

basins, it has resulted in accelerated reservoir sedimentation,
with implications for severe reduction in the designed water
storage capacity of reservoirs. This has been observed in
reservoirs all over the tropics, particularly in southwestern
Nigeria (e.g. Ado-Ekiti, Ede, Owo, Asejire). In fact, Jica (1994)
observed that about 650 existing dams in Nigeria were rapidly
being silted up. Among the consequences of severe reservoir
sedimentation is shortage of potable water supply to the
communities that these reservoirs were designed to serve.
Several studies have been carried out on reservoir
sedimentation(e.g. Rapp et al., 1972; Rapp, 1975 in Tanzania;
Adam, 1996 in Poland; William, 1996 in Miami, USA and
White et al., 1996 in the southern Pennines, UK). Also, reservoir
re-survey data provided by a large number of authors for over
300 impoundments worldwide are summarized in White's
( 1993) work. However, except for the pioneering work of Rapp
et al. (1972) and Rapp (1975) in Tanzania, studies of water
bodies and reservoir sedimentation in the tropics are rare. The
volume and rates of reservoir sedimentation are still to be
scientifically documented in most parts of the humid tropics,
including southwestern Nigeria. Thus, this study sets out to
provide some information on reservoir sedimentation in this
part of Nigeria. This study is especially important since the
Opa Dam Reservoir (the study reservoir) was impounded in
1978 and nothing to date has been establishedregarding its rate
of sedimentation. The findings of this study will not only
provide information on the volume of sediment deposited in
the study reservoir to date, it will also provide an indication of
the rate of reservoir sedimentation in the general study area. In
addition, this study will shed light on the use of reservoir
surveys as a means of deriving catchment sediment yields (e.g.
Rausch and Heinemann, 1984) with the aim of overcoming the
limitations inherent in short term suspended sediment sampling
(see Walling and Webb, 1981).
Study area
The Opa Reservoir catchment extends from the Obafemi
Awolowo University campus to Osu in Atakumosa and
constitutes the study area (Figure 1). The study area is
approximately 68km2in area. The area lies between latitudes
7"27N and 7'35" and longitudes 4"30'E and 4"40'E (Federal
Survey Topographical sheets, Ilesha S.W. 243 and Ondo
(Capital Project and Development Unit, OAU, Ile-Ife). It
provides treated water to the UniversityCommunity and supports
recreational fishing. The reservoir has successfully reduced
flooding incidences downstream of the dam. The dam spillway
is 25m wide and 55m long.
The natural vegetation of the area is tropical rainforest
characterized by emergents with multiple canopies and lianas.
However, widespread and persistent practice of rotational bush
farming, coupled with widespread cultivation of cash crops
such as cocoa, kolanuts and plantains has led to the destruction
of the original vegetation. In fact, as shown in Figure 2, the
area around the reservoir is intensively cultivated with arable
crops. The reservoir basin is underlain by granites,
undifferentiatedschist-gneisses,pegmatilised schists,pegmatites
and epidiorite. The Opa river channel at the university campus
is on quartz-biotite schist (Konsadem Associates, 1987). The
study area falls under Koppen's Af humid tropical rainforest
climates. The mean daily minimum temperature is 25°C while
the mean maximum is 33°C (Adejuwon and Jeje, 1975). Mean
annualrainfdl is about 1 40Omm, with the miny season extending
from April to October. The rainy season is marked by two
maxima, in June/July and September/October.These two periods
are separated by a short dry spell in August. The beginning and
end of the rainy season are usually marked by high intensity
thunderstorms.
Methods
A land use/vegetationmap of the study area (Opa Reservoir
Catchment) was compiled from SPOT images (SPOTXS IFE
IMG, 1989) obtained from the Regional Centre for Training in
Aerospace Surveys (RECTAS), OAU, Ile-Ife. Land uses were
identified and classified from the SPOT images (1 420 by 1 420
pixels) based on colour, texture, shape and size using ILWIS 3.0
software (International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth
Sciences, the Netherlands, 1997).
Recent interest in sedimentary processes has focused attention
on the application of radionuclides as geochemical tracers to
determine sedimentation rates in aquatic environments (see
Duck and McManus, 1994). The *l0Pbchronology in association
with 137Cshas been used to determine the sedimentation rate.
However, due to the absence of this dating facilityand technology

123
 Figure 1: The study area and Opa Reservoir Catchment.
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in Nigeria, the rate of sedimentation of Opa Reservoir was
determined using the bathymetric survey method as outlined
by Heinemann and Dvorak (1965). In this regard, the profiling
of the reservoir was carried out between February and
March, 2002.
A longitudinaltraverse was cut along the side of the reservoir
and profiling was carried out at intervals of 50m. The profile
lines were made parallel to the dam axis with the aid of a
prismatic compass; full details of the procedures involved are
documentedelsewhere (see Adediji, 2002). Depth measurement
was conducted at 10m intervals along each of the profiles, with
the exception of a few which were less than 20m in length. The
values were then used to produce a bathymetric survey and
cross-sectional diagram of the reservoir bed by plotting depth
against distance from the edge of the reservoir.
The volume of water (m3)between the profiles was calculated
as the average of the cross sectionalarea of the profiles multiplied
by length of interval (5Om) between all the profiles (50 profiles)
across the reservoir and summed to obtain the current total
volume of water in the reservoir. The current volume of water
in the reservoir obtained was then substracted from the total
impounded volume (2.81 million m3) when the dam was
constructed. This was done to determine volume of sediment
deposited (volume of reduction) in the reservoir since
impounded.
124
Reservoir Basin Divide
A corer manufactured locally from a transparent plastic
pipe with a diameter of 2.50cm was used to take core samples
of deposited sediments in the reservoir. The diameter and height
of sedimentslmud trapped in the plastic pipe was used to
determine the volume of the cores. Samples of the deposited
sediments were taken from ten different locations between the
dam long axis and the end of the reservoir. The samples were
taken to the laboratory for the determination of bulk density.
Following oven drying, bulk density of the deposited sediments
was calculated as:
Bulk density of deposited sediments
- Wt. of oven-dried sediment (glcm’)
-
Vol. of the core sampler
The average bulk density (g/cm3)of samples of deposited
sediments was used to determine the mass of sediment trapped
in the reservoir since impoundment. This was done by simply
converting the bulk density value in glcm’ to kg/m3 and
subsequently the deposited volume in m3 was multiplied by
weight of sediment in kglm’. The result obtained was divided
by the total number of years since impoundment (i.e. 23 years)
in order to determine the rate of sedimentation per annum
(tonneslyear). The specific sediment yield of the reservoir
catchment was obtained by dividing the annual sedimentation
by the reservoir catchment area (68km2).
 Figure 2: Classification of SPOT-XS sub-scene of the study area.
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The Opa river was gauged at the main point of inlet into
the reservoir to monitor sediment inflow. In addition, the gauge
at the dam spillway was used in order to determine sediment
outflow from the reservoir outlet during the study period (i.e.
between June, 1999 and June, 2000). Reservoir-sediment trap
efficiency was also determined. This requires accurate
measurements of all sediment transported into the reservoir as
well as the sediment discharged through the spillway. Reservoir-
sediment trap efficiency (E), usually expressed as a percent, is
the ratio of the weight of sediment entering a reservoir as to
the weight that is trapped therein:
Results and discussion
Land usehegetation types
The land usehegetation classification of Opa Reservoir
Catchment from the SPOT images of the study area using
ILWIS 3.0 software revealed the following merged classes of
land usehegetation types (Table 1).
Reservoir sedimentation
Figures 3a-g and Figure 4 show the current cross-sectional
shape of the reservoir bed and bathymetric map of the reservoir

Sediment inflow - Sediment outflow

E = Sediment inflow
x 100

Suspended iediment yield at the point of inlet and outlet of Classes Percentage (%) of Area Extent
the reservoir was obtained using the sediment rating curve the Study Area (km2)
technique (see Walling, 1977). Streamflow discharge was Built-up 8.46 5.75
monitored using a staff gauge at the point of inlet on Opa river
and at the Opa dam spillway (outlet).The staff gauge reading I G o a , kola,oil palm, etc. 1 38.81 I 26.39
was observed twice a day, in the morning and evening.
Streamflow discharge was determined using the velocity-area
technique. Streamflow velocity was measured with a Valeport
I Cultivated tieldlfallow
vegetation
I 23.73 ' I 16.14

BFM current meter but during flood condition when it proved Hydrophytes 3.73 2.54
difficult to use the meter, a surface float was used to determine
the velocity (see Gregory and Walling, 1973). Rock outcroplbare surface 2.84 1.93

The water samples taken during the streamflow discharge

I Sec. regrowthlrelictof forest I 20.29 I 13.80
measurement were analysed for suspended sediment Water-bodylreservoir 0.19 0.13
concentration using standard laboratory methods (see Davis
and De Wiest, 1966). Determination of suspended sediments Non-classified point (reject) 1.95 1.33
involved the filtration of each 200ml of stream water using Total 100 68.00
Whatman filter paper and a vacuum pump assembly, oven
drying, cooling in desiccator and weighing the sediment residue.

125
 Figure 3: Cross-sectional diagrams of the reservoir bed obtained along the profiles.
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respectively, based on the data obtained through the profiling
of the reservoir. Water depth at the sides of the reservoir is
naturally shallower than at the middle of the reservoir. This is
also an indication of current scouring of the reservoir bed in
the rainy season in association with storm discharge. In addition,
the shallow depth of water at the sides of the reservoir indicates
that the edges of the reservoir are silted up. This confirms the
observations of Bourman and Bamett (1995) in South Australia
where it was found that the margins of the terminal lake on
River Murray have silted up by lOdyr. The sediment trapped
at the reservoir margin encourages the growth of hydrophytes
such as ferns and water weeds among which are Pistia stratiotes,
Scirpus cubensis and Rhnchospora corymbosa. Other common
plants include Lemna spp., Wo@a arrhiza, Nymphaea spp;
Ipomoea aquatica and Ceratophyllum demersum. In fact, these
water weeds have virtually completely colonized the periphery
of the reservoir. The effect of these aquatics is to increase the
effective surface area of the reservoir and, through transpiration
especially in the dry season, lower the water surface.
The volume of water in the reservoir at the time of
measurement was calculated at 1 496 623.0m3,while the total
impounding volume of water in the reservoir was 2.8 million m3,
which implies that water had been reduced by 46.7% of its
impounded volume. The estimated volume of deposited sediment
since impoundment was 1 313 377.0m3. This volume of
deposited sediments per km2 (839m3/km2/yr)obtained in this
study compares to the sediment yield of 729m3/km2/yrobtained
by Rapp (1975) from the Matumbulu reservoir basin in Tanzania.
At a mean bulk density of 0.68g/cm3, the mass of deposited
sediments (sediment trapped) since impoundment in 1978 is
calculated to be 893 096 tonnes. Thus, the rate of sedimentation
and reservoir catchment specific sediment yield for the past
126
twenty or so years is 38 830.26tlyr and 575.26t/km2/yr,
respectively. The specific sediment yield obtained for this
reservoir catchment, while lower than the values obtained
(1 1 0 4 W y r ) from the reservoirs studied in the USA by White
et al. (1996), the value is greater than those obtained from other
parts of Africa (259t/km2/yr)and Asia (293t/km2/yr)by White
(1993).
Sediment outflow through the Opa Dam Spillway during
the study period was determined as 35 1.73t/yr and sediment
inflow into the reservoir through the main point of inlet on the
Opa River was estimated at 1 727.41tlyr. Therefore, using the
sediment budget method, the total sediment retained in the
reservoir was calculated at 1 375.68 tonnes. The reservoir-
sediment trap efficiency (E) is thus calculated at 79.6%. The
sediment deposited in the reservoir through the main point of
inlet was lower than the mean annual sedimentation of the
reservoir estimated through bathymetric survey. This may be
accounted for by soil eroded and transported fiom slopes around
the reservoir as well as under-estimation resulting from the
sediment rating curve used for estimating sediment yield at its
main point of inlet on Opa river (see Walling and Webb, 1981).
This further confirms the reservoir survey method as an accurate
means of deriving catchment sediment yield and one that
overcomes the limitations inherent in short term suspended
sediment sampling (Rausch and Heinemann, 1984). As shown
in Figure 2, bare surfaces are indicated by yellow colours on
both sides of the reservoir reveal the sites where laterite was
minedremoved for construction purposes. This could have led
to high volume sediment loss from slopes into the reservoir. It
is also evident from Figure 2 that, apart from bare surfaces,
most of the area around the reservoir was intensively cultivated
with arablelannual crops (cultivated field crops). This would
 Figure 4: Bathymetric survey map of Opa Reservoir.
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REFERENCES
Adam, L., 1996: Reservoir sedimentation problems in the Vistula River Hienemarm, H.G. and Dvorak, V.I., 1965: Improved volumetric survey
Basin; Poland. International Association of Hydrological Sciences
(IAHS), Special Publication 236, 501-571.
Adediji, A., 2002: Sediment delivery ratios in Opa reservoir catchment,
southwestern Nigeria.Unpublished PhD thesis, Department of
Geography, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
Adejuwon, J.O. and Jeje, L.K., 1975: Land element of the environmental
system of Ife area. In: Ojo, A. (ed.), Environmental Resources Base
Project. No. 2, Department of Geography, University of Ife, Ile-Ife.
Bowman, R.B. and Barnett, E.J., 1995: Impact of river regulation on the
terminal lakes and mouth of the River Murray, South Australia.
Australian Geographical Studies, 33 (l), 101-115.
Duck, R.W. and McManus, J., 1994: A long term estimate of bedload and
suspended sediment yield derived from reservoir deposits. Journal of
Hydrology, 159,365-373.
Gregory, K.J. and Walling, D.E., 1973: Drainage Basin, Form andprocess:
a Geomorphological Approach. Edward Arnold, London, 158 pp.
likely increase sediment yield from slopes draining directly
into the reservoir. As observed during the field survey, bush
paths created by (illegal) fishermen would further contribute
to the volume of sediment into the reservoir. In addition, the
common farming practice in the area of using maximum tillage
in the form of heap and ridge making enhances the generation
of large volumes of runoff loaded with sediments.
Conclusion
This study presents a bathymetric survey of Opa reservoir
with the aim of determining the volume and mass of sediment
trapped in the reservoir since impoundment as well as the
specific sedment yield of the reservoir catchment. The sedment
inflow into the reservoir through the main point of inlet on the
Opa River was determined at 1 727.41t/yr while sediment
outflow over the Opa Dam Spillwaywas calculatedat 351.73Vyr.
Thus, the total sediment mass trapped in the reservoir through
its point of inlet during the study period was calculated at
1 375.68 tonnes. However, the result of the reservoir profiling
shows that the volume and mass of deposited sediment since
impoundment in 1978 were 1 313 377.0m3and 893 096 tonnes,
respectively. Thus, the rate of sedimentation per annum was
estimated at 38 830.26tlyr. The rate of annual sedimentation
obtained in this study has further shed light on the need for
more frequent bathymetric surveys especially after large floods
to provide more information on the magnitude of annual
sedimentation.Also, with the findings of this study on annual
sedimentation, there is need to integrate anti-erosion measures
before dam constructionif the life span of any proposed reservoir/
dam is to be prolonged. In this regard, the participation of the
local population in anti-erosion management is an important
requirement. Thus, the local population should be enlightened
as to the consequences of accelerated erosion. In the case of
the Opa reservoir, the university authority should urgently take
measures to clear hydrophytes and other water weeds which
have colonized the area around the periphery of the reservoir
if its life span is to be prolonged.
and computational procedures for all small reservoirs. Proceedings
of Federal Inter-Agency Sedimentation Conference, 970,845-856.
Jeje, L.K., 1987: Soil erosion: characteristics, process and extent in the
lowland rain forest areas of southwestern Nigeria. In: Sagua, V.O.
(ed.), Ecology of Disasters in Nigeria. Ministry of Science and
Technology, Lagos, Nigeria.
Konsadem Associates, 1987: Feasibility report of the study and design of
Opa River Flood Control Works. Onireke Printing Press, Ibadan,
Nigeria, 106 pp.
Lahlou, A., 1996: Environmental and socio-economic impacts of erosion
and sedimentation in North Africa. International Association of
Hydrological Sciences (IAHS), Special Publication, 236,49 1-500.
Rapp, A., Murray-Rust, D.H., Christinsson, C. and Berry, L., 1972: Soil
erosion in four catchments near Dodoma, Tanzania. Geografiska
Annaller, 54A (3-4), 255-318.
Rapp, A,, 1975: Soil erosion and sedimentation in Tanzania and Lesotho.
Ambio, 47 (4), 154-163.
127
 Renwick, W.H. 1996: Continental scale reservoir sedimentationpatterns White, P., Habadz, J.C. and Butcher, D.P., 1996: Sediment yield estimates
in the United States. InternationalAssociation of Hydrological Sciences from reservoir studies: an appraisal of variability in the southern
(IAHS), Special Publication 236,5 13-522. Pennines of the United Kingdom. International Association of
Hydrological Sciences (IAHS), Special Publication 276, 164-173.
Walling, D.E. and Webb, B.W., 1981: The reliability of suspended load
data. International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS),
Special Publication 133, 177-194.
White, P., 1993: The reliability of suspended sediment yield estimates
from reservoir studies, an appraisal of variability in the southern
Pennines of the United Kingdom. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University
of Hundersfield,U.K A. Adediji
Department of Geography
Obafemi Awolowo University
Ile-ge
Nigeria
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