Effective Discharge and Scaling Laws for Suspended Sediment Transport in Godavari River Basin, India

Abstract

In this study, the effective (dominant) discharge for maximum sediment transport is calculated for 14 stations in the Godavari basin (for monsoon) situated on the major tributaries using the mean and rating (power law) curve methods. The return interval of the calculated effective discharge is studied. In addition, the discharges with 1.5- and 2.08-year return intervals are compared with the effective discharge resulting the fact that 2.08-year discharges are more related to effective discharge. Scaling law for sediment yield with the drainage area curve of the entire Godavari basin is developed with the best available data and compared with the scaling laws developed by Hugo (World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, 2011) for world rivers. In this paper, the estimated values of sediment yield with the drainage area are found to be 0.3 times lesser than the values obtained from the equation given by Hugo. In order to estimate the influence of the rainfall and vegetation density on the sediment yield of the basin, a similar model is adopted which was developed by Langbein et al. (39: 1076–1084, 1958); for basins in USA. As a result, it is concluded that the precipitation is responsible to the 17.5 inches of runoff, which mostly influence the sediment yield in the Godavari basin.