International Workshop on RESCON 2 and Numerical Modeling for Assessment of Sediment Management Alternatives organized in Chengdu, China

The International Workshop on RESCON 2 and Numerical Modeling for Assessment of Sediment Management Alternatives, co-organized by World Bank, World Association for Sedimentation and Erosion Research (WASER), Sichuan University and UNESCO Office Beijing, was held on September 17, during the 14th International Symposium on River Sedimentation (14th ISRS) held in Chengdu, China. Over 40 participants from USA, UK, Japan, Portugal and China attended the workshop.

The workshop were organized in blocks. In the opening of the workshop, justification for developing practical design and management strategies that will facilitate sustainable development of hydropower and dams through reservoir sedimentation management was provided. The second block of the workshop, provided an introduction to sediment monitoring, sediment yield assessment, reservoir sedimentation and the state-of-the-art sediment management techniques. Subsequently, a training on software RESCON 2 was provided. The capability of sediment management to provide a successful adaptation strategy to climate change, increasing thus the resilience of water infrastructure was demonstrated. In the last block of the workshop, the capabilities of numerical and physical model in sediment management were presented, and the model applicability was demonstrated through practical examples.

The workshop had the following agenda:

Block 1: Workshop Opening

· Welcome speech, importance of sedimentation and sediment management for water resources management in China and worldwide (Cheng Liu, IRTCES)

· World Bank’s initiatives to increase awareness of the challenge and determination to address the issue of sedimentation (Pravin Karki, Global Lead hydropower & Dams, World Bank)

Block 2: Sedimentation and Sedimentation Management (Gregory L. Morris, Independent Consultant, World Bank)

· Sediment yield & monitoring

· Predicting sedimentation rates and patterns

· Sediment management countermeasures

· Example reservoirs and interventions

Block 3: RESCON 2 overview and training (Nikolaos Efthymiou, Independent Consultant, World Bank)

· Methodological approach

· Data collection and pre-processing

· Model set-up and calibration

· Identification of optimum sediment management approach

· Climate change analysis

Block 4: Introduction to numerical and physical modeling (Helmut Habersack, UNESCO Chair in Integrated River Research and Engineering, BOKU)