Economic and commercial analysis of reusing dam reservoir sediments

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107668Get rights and content

Abstract

Improper use of chemical fertilizers has led to land degradation. Organic crops, which are farmed using organic fertilizers to reduce the negative environmental effects, are considered an alternative solution to develop the ecosystem health and improve the soil. There are different sources of organic fertilizers. This research aimed to study the feasibility of reusing the sediments of the Latian Dam reservoir in Iran as an organic fertilizer to revitalize agricultural soil on a commercial scale. The correlation of elements to sediments was first demonstrated using the regression method. The Mann-Kendall trend test was then used to examine the data trend. The use of a time series method to predict the five-year sediment amount and its NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) content allowed for the creation of a sample year for future research. Finally, the economic value of the elements was calculated using the replacement cost method, and cost-benefit analyses were also carried out. The results indicated that the reuse of dam reservoir sediments not only leads to considerable profits but also makes it possible to save foreign exchange by restricting imports and increasing the inflow of foreign exchange through the export of organic fertilizers.

Introduction

Consumer demand for organic crops has increased as people become more aware of the importance of natural ecosystems in agriculture. Consumers discovered that the use of conventional and cost-effective products, as a result of the excessive use of chemical fertilizers, has devastating environmental consequences and jeopardizes food security and public health. This concern sparked consumer protests about the modern agricultural system's operation, resulting in a global consensus on the use of organic fertilizers and the production of organic crops. In this regard, the increase in the cost price of organic crops compared to conventional products has prompted governments to reconsider the costs of the manufacturing process in order to respond to the development of the global market and society's sustainable food system.

Because the high cost of agricultural inputs (seeds, fertilizers, pesticides) and reduced soil yield are important and effective factors in pricing organic crops (Azadi and Ho, 2010) internal supply and health monitoring of each of these inputs at the start of the value chain can not only improve quality, but also lower prices. For example, relying on domestic sources of organic fertilizer for organic crops can help increase agricultural socioeconomic productivity and income levels, increase GDP, and preserve foreign exchange resources. Maintaining ecological balance and strengthening biological processes in organic agriculture (Torjusen et al., 2001), as well as the sustainability of natural resources through the use of organic fertilizers, increases the capacity of productive sectors and the agricultural industry's human and financial capital.

Sediments in dam reservoirs are one of the most suitable investments for organic agriculture, which are made up of the most nutrient-rich soil layers, which speed up the erosion process, reduce organic matter and soil loss, and separate particles from the soil mass (Agim et al., 2020; Woldemariam et al., 2018). As a result, it is expected that reusing sediments will aid in soil improvement. Soil erosion or “Quiet Crisis in the World Economy” has destroyed over 4.9 billion hectares of land and reduced its productivity. The possibility of revitalizing these lands must also be investigated (Aguirre-Salado et al., 2017; Smetanová et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2019). Erosion reduces soil fertility by destroying the soil and harms human health and well-being as a serious environmental threat(Fonseca et al., 2016; Hewett et al., 2018).

Sedimentation is an integral part of projects and aquatic ecosystems, as well as a global challenge (Schleiss et al., 2016; Wang et al., 2010), reducing reservoir capacity and water quality (Fourvel et al., 2019; Rahmani et al., 2018), and thus reducing hydropower production (Tamene et al., 2017), while also increasing flood damage and reservoir maintenance costs (Falinski and Penn, 2018; Mattei et al., 2017b; Shi et al., 2019).

The projected 45–50% reduction in dam reservoir capacity by 2050 (Palmieri et al., 2003), and a two billion increase in the world's population by then (Lahlou et al., 2021), will create a new nutritional need for the world's 9.5 billion population (Emadodin et al., 2020). This, in turn, puts pressure on the global food system for maintaining demand and improving quality of lifej (Prosekov and Ivanova, 2018), while also threatening the agricultural sector's sustainability and resilience (Ghiat et al., 2021; Gitas et al., 2009), and reducing global fertilizer production capacity (Chojnacka et al., 2020).Balancing demographic threats, preventing soil erosion, and overcoming hydraulic structure challenges while considering development needs necessitates new strategies such as organic farming.

Managing of dams as a renewable resource (De Vincenzo et al., 2017), entails concentrating on the sediment collection process, reducing the erosion load from reservoir basins, and increasing dam life (Walter et al., 2012). However, once sediments have been collected as a global problem, there are no specific rules for deciding whether or not to use them(Mattei et al. (2017c); Todaro et al., 2018; Urbaniak et al., 2020). As a result, it is critical to improve effective and sustainable management strategies for sediments behind dams from various aspects of water resources, agriculture, and the environment (De Vincenzo et al., 2018). Sediments contain varying amounts of organic matter or different types of pollutant levels; thus, evaluating their properties is required in addition to recognizing water quality to determine the potential applications of sediment (Baran et al., 2019). The use of sediments for purposes such as erosion control, irrigation problem solving, aquaculture, forestry, beach stabilization, and construction uses has been suggested in various studies (Kiełbasa and Buszewski, 2017; Mattei et al. (2017a); Renella, 2021). Other studies have explored sediment management opportunities for agricultural, environmental development purposes (Fonseca et al., 2016; Mamindy-Pajany et al., 2011; Perrodin et al., 2006; Sheehan et al., 2010), and also for economic, technical, and ecological benefits (Bartoszek et al., 2015; Macía et al., 2014). sediments contain a high concentration of clay, organic matter, and nutrients (Baran et al., 2019; Catianis et al., 2018; Siebielec et al., 2019), so reusing them improves their physicochemical properties and thus repairs and increases soil productivity (Jasiewicz et al., 2010). Some examples of the use of sediments for agricultural soil improvement have been discovered in the research literature (Baran et al., 2012; Braga et al., 2019; Ebbs et al., 2006; El-Radaideh, 2016; Fonseca et al., 2016; Tarnawski et al., 2015). It has also been demonstrated that nutrient-rich sediments (N, P, and K) can be used as crop fertilizer substitutes (Baran et al., 2016; Karanam et al., 2008; Tarnawski et al., 2017). The removal of the dam reservoir sediments not only improves public health because of reduced additives and chemical fertilizers in water, soil, and crops (Kok et al., 2018). But also extends the reservoir's life and improves water quality. Most studies have been conducted either in the upstream basin, before sediments enter the reservoir, in order to prevent sediment accumulation, or in the downstream basin, after sediments leave the bottom outlet, without taking into account the damages caused by sediments entering the reservoir. One of the topics covered in this study is the investigation and reuse of sediments within the dam reservoir.

This study investigated the potential of reusing reservoir sediments of Latian Dam in Iran, as modifiers of soil or fertilizer, to reduce demand for high-consumption chemical fertilizers through sediment replacement, while taking into account the economic benefits and the resulting economic and commercial potential, based on an innovative approach and as a convergence point between dam reservoir management and sediments.

Section snippets

Study area

Located 35 km northeast of Tehran (Capital of Iran), the Latian Dam can regulate 542 million cubic meters of water annually and can supply 45 MW of electricity and 290 million cubic meters of drinking water to the region. Since 1967, it has also supplied agricultural water to 30,000 ha of agricultural land (Rastegaripour, 2020). According to a report of the Latian Power Plant and Operation Company, the Latian dam has two bottom outlet and a series of turbine intake valves with a discharge power

Research data

The value of arable land is determined by its fertility rate and ability to provide nutrients for crop growth (Capra et al., 2015). According to the public opinion and numerous studies, the fertility factor is found in the three elements nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (Gulati and Rai, 2014; Hein, 2007). These elements enable soil chemical reactions, allowing for food exchange and the absorption of other elements in plants. Farmers commonly use chemical fertilizers to provide the materials

Results and discussion

The goal of organic crops is to reduce the use of unnatural inputs in order to protect the environment (Saffeullah et al., 2021), and natural inputs, such as organic fertilizer, are obtained from a variety of sources, including dam reservoir sediment. Plant debris, off-lake soil, and decomposed debris of aquatic organisms are the primary sources of organic matter in dam reservoir sediments (Röske et al., 2008). As a result, the sediments of the dam reservoir are likely to contain large amounts

Conclusions

In general, soil enrichment with sediments is possible, and the nutrients N, P, and K in sediment are visible as the primary components of soil fertility. However, due to the effect of the catchment's (basin's) spatial diversity on sediment characteristics, physicochemical analysis is recommended to identify all useful and non-useful elements in the sediments for recovery as fertilizers.

Sediment removal can be done in stages and with a siphon. Obviously, more research is required to select a

Declaration of Competing Interest

None.

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