Hydrosuction Sediment-Removal Systems (HSRS): Principles and Field Test

Hydrosuction sediment-removal systems (HSRS) remove deposited or incoming sediments from reservoirs using the energy represented by the difference between water levels upstream and downstream from a dam. HSRS are briefly described and compared to other reservoir-sediment management options. Hydraulic principles and design procedures are explained and applied to a field test carried out at Lake Atkinson, on the Elkhorn River, in Nebraska. The field study demonstrated that several different inlet shapes are capable of removing deposited sediment at the rate that it enters the reservoir on an annual basis. A ten-step procedure to determine the feasibility of using an HSRS is presented.