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Bureau of Reclamation Launches Prize Competition Seeking Ideas to Better Estimate the Water Storage Capacity of Reservoirs

Solutions from this prize competition may lead to more effective, affordable and reliable methods to monitor and assess reservoir storage loss due to sedimentation

Media Contact: Peter Soeth, 303-445-3615

For Release: February 22, 2017

Estimating Reservoir Water Storage CapacityWASHINGTON - The Bureau of Reclamation is seeking problem solvers to develop new or improved analytical methods for estimating the water storage capacity and/or sedimentation volume of reservoirs managed by Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The best solution that meets the technical requirements for this prize competition will receive $50,000. Up to an additional $25,000 may be awarded for meeting additional, but not essential, criteria.

Reclamation and its collaborators are looking for ways to stimulate innovation that can lead to more effective, affordable and reliable methods to monitor and assess reservoir storage loss due to sediment accumulation.

Sedimentation in reservoirs is a problem in many reservoirs and may limit the active life of reservoirs by reducing storage capacity and impacting structures such as outlet works and water intakes.

The limited data on sediment accumulation across most of Reclamation's inventory of reservoirs presents a gap in assessing current and future sedimentation impacts at Reclamation reservoirs which store and deliver water and power. Measurement of reservoir storage loss is paramount in supporting the means to plan and ensure that Reclamation can meet its water and power deliveries now and into the future.

Reclamation is collaborating with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Geological Survey on various aspects of this prize competition. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contributed significant efforts to the design and will help judge the competition.

To register and learn more about this prize competition, visit https://www.usbr.gov/research/challenges/waterstorage.html. To learn more about Reclamation's Water Prize Competition Center, visit https://www.usbr.gov/research/challenges/.

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The Bureau of Reclamation is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior and is the nation's largest wholesale water supplier and second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Our facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation opportunities, and environmental benefits. Visit our website at https://www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR; Facebook @bureau.of.reclamation; LinkedIn @Bureau of Reclamation; Instagram @bureau_of_reclamation; and YouTube @reclamation.