Reservoir Sedimentation: the Economics of Sustainability
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Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2016-06-01 Reservoir Sedimentation: The Economics of Sustainability Matthew William George Brigham Young University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation George, Matthew William, "Reservoir Sedimentation: The Economics of Sustainability" (2016). Theses and Dissertations. 5955. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/5955 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Reservoir Sedimentation: The Economics of Sustainability Matthew William George A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Rollin H. Hotchkiss, Chair E. James Nelson Gus Williams Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Brigham Young University June 2016 Copyright © 2016 Matthew William George All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Reservoir Sedimentation: The Economics of Sustainability Matthew William George Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, BYU Master of Science Despite mounting demand for a more sustainable worldwide water supply system, available reservoir capacity is relentlessly diminishing due to sedimentation. This fact, coupled with a decrease in the rate of dam construction, indicate an impending water supply dilemma. In the future, dams should be designed following a life cycle management approach rather than the typical short-sighted design life technique. Neither sustainable reservoir lifespans nor intergenerational equity is achieved through conventional cost-benefit analyses (CBA), which render all benefits and costs projected to occur more than several decades into a project as negligible. Consequently, future expenditures, including dam decommissioning or retrofitting with sediment management facilities, are regarded as non-factors in an analysis. CBAs have also historically failed to account for the impacts of sedimentation on infrastructure and the environment over time. Alternatives to the traditional application of the CBA do exist, however. These include dam owners establishing retirement funds or insurance policies, beneficiaries paying for rehabilitation or maintenance, and economists incorporating infrastructure damages and potentially declining discount rates into their analyses. To analyze the disadvantages of not managing sediment, a case study of costs caused from sedimentation impacts at Gavins Point Dam was performed. Impacts from sedimentation at Gavins Point Dam include, among many others, upstream municipal flooding and downstream bank stabilization and sandbar construction. The financial analysis considered the time value of money and showed that the value of expenditures to resolve sedimentation impacts is equivalent to 70% of the original construction cost. Including the costs of additional impacts would amplify this result. Design and operations decisions at Gavins Point Dam could have been drastically different, leading to a more sustainable project, if these expenditures from sedimentation impacts had been included in the initial economic analyses. It is recommended that multidisciplinary discussions occur at multiagency levels to consider changes to traditional CBAs for long-term water supply projects. These discussions should investigate the creation of funding to address sediment management at existing dams. The frequency of bathymetric surveys should also be increased, which would lead to a better understanding of the condition of our infrastructure. By pursuing these recommendations and integrating the aforementioned alternatives to the CBA, economic studies for reservoirs will be more accurate, reservoir lifespans will be more sustainable, profits will be extended indefinitely, and the economic burdens passed to future generations will be lessened. Keywords: reservoir sedimentation, sustainability, economics, infrastructure ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank all those who supported and encouraged me during my time at Brigham Young University. This thesis exists in large part because of the help, support, and inspiration of others. It has been an honor to work with my advisor, Dr. Rollin Hotchkiss. He has mentored me, as well as been an example for me, in technical, personal development, and leadership fields. I am sincerely grateful for his passion for research and his keen intellect. Dr. James Nelson and Dr. Gus Williams also deserve special thanks as my thesis committee members. Particular thanks go to the dedicated public servants at the United States Bureau of Reclamation and Army Corps of Engineers for accommodating my visits to their offices and for providing assistance in responding to my research inquiries. Among these, I would like to name Tim Randle, John Remus, Paul Boyd, Linda Burke, and Robert Padilla. Lastly, I express profound gratitude to my wife, Emma, for her unfailing support and continuous encouragement while I was researching and writing this thesis. Thank you! TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. vi List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... vii 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 2 What Does Sustainability Mean For Reservoirs? .................................................................... 2 3 Is There a Sedimentation Problem? ......................................................................................... 5 Bathymetric Surveys ........................................................................................................ 5 Worldwide Storage ........................................................................................................... 6 Storage in U.S. Reservoirs ............................................................................................... 7 Physical and Environmental Impacts ............................................................................... 8 4 The Cost-Benefit Analysis..................................................................................................... 10 A History of the Cost-Benefit Analysis ......................................................................... 10 Common Criticisms........................................................................................................ 11 Sustainable Development ............................................................................................... 12 What Contributes to Short-Sighted Design? .................................................................. 13 5 Alternatives to the Traditional Cost-Benefit Analysis .......................................................... 15 Retirement Fund and Insurance Policy .......................................................................... 15 User Fees ........................................................................................................................ 16 Declining Discount Rates ............................................................................................... 17 5.3.1 Hyperbolic Discounting .......................................................................................... 17 5.3.2 Time Inconsistency ................................................................................................. 18 5.3.3 Logistic Discounting ............................................................................................... 20 Complete Cost-Benefit Analyses ................................................................................... 21 5.4.1 Case Study: Gavins Point Dam ............................................................................... 21 5.4.1.1 Background ...................................................................................................... 21 5.4.1.2 Economic Analysis .......................................................................................... 25 5.4.1.3 Discussion ........................................................................................................ 26 6 Recommendations ................................................................................................................. 29 References ..................................................................................................................................... 31 Appendix A. Overlooked Costs of Dams: Barrier to Sustainability ......................................... 37 Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... 37 A.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 37 iv A.2 Sustainability .................................................................................................................. 38 A.3 Short-Sighted Design ..................................................................................................... 40 A.4 Sedimentation Impacts ..................................................................................................