IDENTIFICATION OF SUITABLE SITES FOR SUBSURFACE DAMS IN SWARNAMUKHI RIVER

Abstract

India is a basically agricultural country with an increasing interest for hydropower. Water management problems such as sedimentation and evaporation have been of high concern for subsurface water reservoirs for many years. Hence, subsurface dam is the best solution due to many advantages such as low cost of construction, the least evaporation, no contamination, utilization of land over the dam and better storage. The objective this study is to evaluate the suitability of the selected site location for construction of subsurface dams and a case study on Swarnamukhi River by using a simple, safe and affordable technology to solute the aridity and water shortage in this area of arid to semi-arid climate in Swarnamukhi watershed within the stream deposits. Google earth Maps through satellite images and digital elevation model (DEM) interpretation and analysis have facilitated the investigation with more accuracy. Google earth Maps helped in construction of thematic maps of the studied area. The geologic, structural, geomorphologic, hydrological survey shows the suitability of the selected site location for construction of subsurface dam. The methodology presented here shows promising results and could be used in early planning to locate suitable sites at Tandlam, Jeepalem, Munagalapalem and Bandarupalle on Swarnamukhi River for construction of subsurface dams.