Decision Making Methods to Optimize New Dam Site Selections on the Nitra River
water Article Decision Making Methods to Optimize New Dam Site Selections on the Nitra River Igor Gacko 1,2,*, Zlatica Muchová 3 , L’ubošJurík 1 , Karol Šinka 3, Ladislav Fabian 2 and František Petroviˇc 4 1 Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Horticulture and Landscape Engineering, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, 949 76 Nitra, Slovakia; lubos.jurik@uniag.sk 2 Vodohospodárska Výstavba š.p, 831 02 Bratislava, Slovakia; ladislav.fabian@vvb.sk 3 Department of Landscape Planning and Land Consolidation, Faculty of Horticulture and Landscape Engineering, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, 949 76 Nitra, Slovakia; zlatica.muchova@uniag.sk (Z.M.); karol.sinka@uniag.sk (K.S.) 4 Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Constantine Philosopher University in Nitra, 949 74 Nitra, Slovakia; fpetrovic@ukf.sk * Correspondence: igor.gacko@vvb.sk Received: 5 June 2020; Accepted: 16 July 2020; Published: 18 July 2020 Abstract: Grouping both existing and newly planned reservoirs based on selected measurable characteristics allows to point out issues that are relevant to area management using experience obtained from the environment of other sites. Divisive hierarchical clustering has been deployed to find similarities between dam locations. The Nitra River Basin (located in Nitra District, Nitra Region in Slovakia) with its 54 reservoirs is the model area. Profiles for 11 potential new reservoirs have been developed. Partial river basins were identified for each of the existing and new reservoirs using a digital relief model. The area size, proportion of arable land, forestland and built-up area, degree of exposure to soil erosion and the volume of surface runoff have been used as parameters for comparisons.
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