Siltation of Small Water Reservoir under Climate Change: A Case Study from Forested Mountain Landscape of Western Carpathians, Slovakia

Abstract

The effectiveness of small reservoirs in a mountain landscape continuously decreases over time due to the gradual siltation. We examined two hypotheses about the enhanced siltation rate and the constant relative contribution of unpaved roads to the siltation of a small water reservoir in the period 1990–2014, with pronounced climate change, compared to the reference period 1970–1989. Analysis was based on deposit volumes extracted from the reservoir in 1989 and detected at the reservoir bottom in 2014. The geographical information systems, image analysis and universal soil loss equation were applied to model the soil erosion according to the two sources—catchment area and roads—to study siltation processes in depth. Despite expectations, rates of siltation were almost unchanged in compared periods. The positive changes in vegetation cover (the forest expansion and changes in forest management practices) offset the enlarged rain erosivity. On the other hand, road erosion increased by 41% from 1990 and became twice as much a contributor to sediments compared to 1970–1989. The intensity of erosion from roads was from 13 to 29 times greater than from other areas. Therefore, proper maintenance of road networks could rapidly decrease reservoir siltation. Moreover, we recommend continuous cover forestry as a critical measure for central Europe’s forested regions to prevent growing erosion pressures.