How much water might the SSD provide? (UC)

Determining the volume of extractable water is not very straight forward in the case of a sand storage dam. The total amount of water is not simply the water which can be stored in the riverbed sand. Hoogmoed (2007) and Borst & de Haas (2006) have indicated that the riverbanks play a crucial role in the functioning of a sand storage dam because of the continuous groundwater flow from the riverbanks to the riverbed, which slowly and partly compensates the loss of water through leakage, evaporation and abstraction (See How does a sand storage dam work?).

Therefore, the riverbanks must be included in the calculation of the water yield.
Calculating the volume of water which can be abstracted from the riverbed can be done using the calculation tool.

This is only an indicative estimation of the storage capacity. Sand dams depend largely on local factors, which are difficult to include in a model. Also factors like, irregularities or fractures in the basement, geomorphology of the catchment, rainfall events etc. can have a big influence on the success and yield of a sand storage dam.