TEA TALK 31: Modelling reservoir sedimentation - Insights from Agri-engineers

Описание: Dr. Sonam Sandeep Dash is an alumnus of the College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology (CAET), Bhubaneswar, from the 2014 batch. He obtained his M.Tech in Soil and Water Conservation Engineering from G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar (2016) and his Ph.D. in Water Resources Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (2021).
Dr. Dash currently serves as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia, where his research focuses on flash flood modeling and reservoir sedimentation mapping using advanced remote sensing and geospatial modeling tools. Prior to this, he was a Postdoctoral Researcher at University College Dublin, Ireland, contributing to national-scale water quality monitoring under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fellowship.
In addition to his academic experience, Dr. Dash has been involved in international consultancy and collaborative research. Notably, he co-led a project in South Africa under the UNIVERSITAS 21 and African Research Universities Alliance, aimed at improving hydrological model process representation for enhancing water users’ benefits in the Koue Bokkeveld farming region. Over his career, Dr. Dash has published around 30 peer-reviewed research papers in reputed journals such as Journal of Hydrology, Advances in Water Resources, Hydrological Sciences Journal, Scientific Reports, and Journal of Environmental Management. He also serves as Associate Editor for Earth Systems and Environment and Discover Sustainability (Springer Nature).
His multidisciplinary research integrates machine learning, remote sensing, and hydrological process modeling to advance water security, drought assessment, and climate resilience in arid and semi-arid regions.

Relevance for young CAETians

In India, nearly 55 % of the total cultivated land depends on irrigation, and reservoirs are the main source of irrigation for this purpose. However, the current condition of many reservoirs is a growing concern. Their water storage levels are declining in several regions due to increasing water demand, erratic rainfall, and most critically, reservoir sedimentation, the gradual accumulation of soil and debris that reduces storage capacity over time. This loss of capacity directly affects irrigation efficiency and, in turn, India’s largely irrigation-dependent agriculture. For young CAETians (Agricultural Engineers), understanding this issue offers an exciting research domain, thereby encourages them to explore innovative solutions for reservoir maintenance, sediment management, and integrated water–agriculture planning, linking traditional engineering with sustainable farming and water resource management.