Reservoir Surveys
The Sedimentation Group has monitored reservoir sediment since the closure of the first Reclamation dam structures in the early 1900’s. Reservoir surveys are conducted for the purpose of updating the area-capacity relationship and computing annual sediment inflow to project useful operation of existing facilities. Reclamation has over 400 storage facilities, but only around thirty percent have had resurveys conducted since initial filling. Of those resurveys, about thirty percent have had multiple surveys since they are located in high sediment inflow zones. The majority of the high sediment inflow sites are located in the southwestern United States and include Theodore Roosevelt Reservoir in Arizona with eight resurveys, Elephant Butte Reservoir in New Mexico with twelve resurveys, and Lake Mead in Arizona with three resurveys. There are also reservoirs in the state of Wyoming with high sediment yields that have had several surveys, such as Yellowtail Reservoir with two resurveys, Buffalo Bill Reservoir with three resurveys, and Guernsey Reservoir with eleven resurveys.
Monitoring methods have varied over the years and range between reconnaissance level and detailed field collection and analysis. Survey equipment has transformed dramatically throughout Reclamation’s history with the greatest changes occurring over the last decade. The latest major change in horizontal positioning is the use of global positioning systems (GPS) that is more accurate and less costly to operate than past survey methods. No former positioning system has been so rapidly adapted for hydrographic data collection. The most recent significant development in depth sounding is the multibeam system which makes the efficient collection of massive amounts of topographical data possible. The multibeam system provides the option of complete coverage of the underwater areas, thus removing the unknowns of previously unmapped underwater areas. The Sedimentation Group adopts available survey collection and analysis techniques only if they help streamline the collection and analysis process while providing additional information for Reclamation studies.
The following images were created from processed multibeam data collected during the Sedimentation Group’s 2001 survey of Lake Mead. The first image was generated from multibeam data of Hoover Dam and intake towers. The second image shows multibeam data from a single pass over a B29 that crashed in the reservoir nearly 60 years ago.
Report Downloads
Following are reservoir survey reports that have been completed over the years by the Sedimentation Group. The reports contain the results and methodology used to measure the reservoir topography and sediment deposition.
- Altus Sedimentation Survey 1967 (download report, pdf 11.9MB)
- Altus Reservoir Sedimentation Survey 2007 (download report, pdf 1.88MB)
- Altus Reservoir Area and Capacity Tables 2007 (download report, pdf 0.15MB)
- Anderson Ranch Sedimentation Survey 1998 (download report, pdf 18.0MB)
- Angostura Sedimentation Survey 1979 (download report, pdf 7.2MB)
- Angostura Sedimentation Survey 2004 (download report, pdf 9.5MB)
- Arrowrock Sedimentation Survey 1948 (download report, pdf 32.4MB)
- Arrowrock Sedimentation Survey 1997 (download report, pdf 13.9MB)
- Arrowrock Sedimentation Survey 1997 (download report, pdf 13.9MB)
- Belle Fourche Reservoir Survey 2006 (download report, pdf 1.1MB)
- Beulah Reservoir Survey 2000 (download report, pdf 7.1MB)
- Bighorn Lake Sedimentation Survey 1982 (download report, pdf 14.4MB)
- Box Butte Reservoir 2003 Survey (download report, pdf 1.2MB)
- Boysen Sedimentation Survey 1994 (download report, pdf 5.1MB)
- Buffalo Bill Sedimentation Survey 1986 (download report, pdf 28.1MB)
- Bully Creek Reservoir Survey 2000 (download report, pdf 5.9MB)
- Bumping Lake Reservoir Survey 1990 (download report, pdf 5.4MB)
- Caballo Sedimentation Survey 1999 (download report, pdf 10.1MB)
- Caballo Reservoir Sedimentation Survey 2007 (download report, pdf 1.1MB)
- Caballo Reservoir Area and Capacity Tables 2007 (download report, pdf 0.2MB)
- Canyon Ferry Sedimentation Survey 1997 (download report, pdf 13.6MB)
- Cascade Sedimentation Survey 1995 (download report, pdf 20.3MB)
- Cedar Bluff Sedimentation Survey 2000 (download report, pdf 7.8MB)
- Clark Canyon Sedimentation Survey 2000 (download report, pdf 3.4MB)
- Deadwood Reservoir Survey 2002 (download report, pdf 7.8MB)
- Dickinson Sedimentation Survey 1991 (download report, pdf 4.0MB)
- Elephant Butte Sedimentation Survey 1957 (download report, pdf 134.3MB)
- Elephant Butte Sedimentation Survey 1969 (download report, pdf 4.3MB)
- Elephant Butte Sedimentation Survey 1980 (download report, pdf 16.4MB)
- Elephant Butte Sedimentation Survey 1988 (download report, pdf 10.2MB)
- Elephant Butte Reservoir Survey 1999 (download report, 15.2 MB)
- Elephant Butte Area and Capacity Tables 2007 (download report, pdf 0.2MB)
- Elephant Butte Sedimentation Survey 2007 (download report, 11.6 MB)
- El Vado Reservoir Survey 2007 (download report, pdf 2.4MB)
- El Vado Reservoir Area and Capacity Tables 2007 (download report, pdf 0.3MB)
- Enders Sedimentation Survey 1997 (download report, 5.6pdf MB)
- Folsom Lake Sedimentation Survey 2005 (download report, 2.9pdf MB)
- Fort Cobb Sedimentation Survey 1993 (download report, 3.7pdf MB)
- Fresno Sedimentation Survey 1978 (download report, 7.8pdf MB)
- Fresno Reservoir Survey 1999 (download report, 5.6pdf MB)
- Fort Cobb Reservoir Area Capacity 1993 (download report, 4.2pdf MB)
- Fort Cobb Sedimentation Survey 1993 (download report, 2.7pdf MB)
- Gibson Sedimentation Survey 1996 (download report, 3.0pdf MB)
- Glendo Reservoir Survey 1972 (download report, 36.8pdf MB)
- Glendo Sedimentation Survey 2003 (download report, 12.1pdf MB)
- Guernsey Sedimentation Survey 1957 (download report, 20.1pdf MB)
- Heart Butte Sedimentation Survey 1992 (download report, 5.2pdf MB)
- Henry Hagg Lake Survey 2001 (download report, 3.9pdf MB)
- Harry Strunk Sedimentation Survey 2006 (download report, 3.4pdf MB)
- Hugh Butler Sedimentation Survey 1997 (download report, 8.7pdf MB)
- Keene Creek Survey 1999 (download report, 4.2pdf MB)
- Keith Sebelius Lake Survey 2000 (download report, pdf 2.0MB)
- Keyhole Sedimentation Survey 2003 (download report, pdf 2.3MB)
- Kirwin Area Capacity 1996 (download report, pdf 1.8MB)
- Kirwin Sedimentation Survey 1996 (download report, pdf 6.6MB)
- Lahontan Reservoir Survey 2004 (download report, pdf 23.7MB)
- Lake Como Reservoir Survey 1991 (download report, pdf 2.7MB)
- Lake Estes Sedimentation Survey 2001 (download report, pdf 1.9MB)
- Lake Livingston Sedimentation Survey 1991 (download report, pdf 4.6MB)
- Lake Lowell Reservoir Survey 1994 (download report, pdf 2.2MB)
- Lake Mead Reservoir Survey 1963-64 (download report, pdf 81.9MB)
- Lake Mead Sedimentation Survey 2001 (download report, pdf 4.2MB)
- Lake Powell Reservoir Survey 1986 (download report, pdf 11.0MB)
- Lake Sherburne Reservoir Survey 2002 (download report, pdf 1.7MB)
- Lake Texana Sedimentation Survey 1991 (download report, pdf 6.6MB)
- Lake Waha Sedimentation Survey 2005 (download report, pdf 4.7MB)
- Lake Whatcom Sedimentation Survey 1999 (download report, pdf 35.4MB)
- Lovewell Area Capacity 1995 (download report, pdf 1.1MB)
- Lovewell Sedimentation Survey 1995 (download report, pdf 1.8MB)
- Mann Creek Sedimentation Survey 1992 (download report, pdf 4.1MB)
- McKay Sedimentation Survey 1993 (download report, pdf 6.8MB)
- Merritt Sedimentation Survey 2003 (download report, pdf 6.2MB)
- Millerton Lake Survey 2004 (download report, pdf 3.1MB)
- Millerton Reservoir Capacity Tables (download report, pdf 0.3MB)
- Nambe Falls Sedimentation Survey 2004 (download report, pdf 2.8MB)
- Nelson Reservoir Survey 1999 (download report, pdf 7.1MB)
- Ochoco Sedimentation Survey 1990 (download report, pdf 3.8MB)
- Pathfinder-Seminoe Sedimentation Survey 1953 (download report, pdf 64.8MB)
- Pathfinder Sedimentation Survey 1959 (download report, pdf 26.6MB)
- Pilot Butte Sedimentation Survey 1995 (download report, pdf 1.3MB)
- Pishkun Reservoir Survey 2002 (download report, pdf 3.6MB)
- Prineville Sedimentation Survey 1998 (download report, pdf 7.4MB)
- Pueblo Reservoir Sedimentation Survey 1993 (download report, pdf 4.9MB)
- Salton Sea GPS Survey 1995 (download report, pdf 1.8MB)
- Shadehill Sedimentation Survey 1993 (download report, pdf 3.4MB)
- Sheridan County Sedimentation Survey 1950 (download report, pdf 35.6MB)
- Theodore Roosevelt Lake Sedimentation Survey 1981 (download report, pdf 3.9MB)
- Theodore Roosevelt Lake Sedimentation Survey 1995 (download report, pdf 4.9MB)
- Thief Valley Sedimentation Survey 1992 (download report, pdf 4.9MB)
- Tiber Reservoir Survey 2002 (download report, pdf 6.2MB)
- Unity Sedimentation Survey 1991 (download report, pdf 4.9MB)
- Ute Sedimentation Survey 1992 (download report, pdf 4.2MB)
- Waconda Lake Sedimentation Survey 2001 (download report, pdf 4.3MB)
- Warm Springs Reservoir Survey 2000 (download report, pdf 6.2MB)
- Webster Area Capacity 1996 (download report, pdf 1.8MB)
- Webster Reservoir Sedimentation Survey 1996 (download report, pdf 3.0MB)
- Willow Creek Survey 2002 (download report, pdf 6.6MB)
- Yellowtail Afterbay Reservoir Survey 2000 (download report, pdf 5.9MB)
Contact
For more information on Reclamation's Reservoir Surveying Services, contact Ron Ferrari (303)445-2551.