Avalanche Harvesting, a strategy to control avalanche and create solid water reservoir
Abstract
In Baltistan, the practice of snow debris avalanche trapping and harvesting has been successfully piloted and harvested. This practice and technology can be used for trapping and controlling debris avalanche if the avalanche/ flood course track is narrow and with hard rock beds. For trapping avalanche a series of three layers of mesh of high tensile steel rope is used. The first (uppermost) mesh is thinner and it reduces the pressure and impact. Stone boulders of larger size moving slowing due to gravity can also be stopped by the first layer. The meshes allow allowing fluid mud and turbid water to flow down by solid snow debris is gradually trapped within the three layers that become condensed and a serve as a large solid water reservoir. In one of the Avalanche Harvesting structure about 22 million cubic feet ice debris was trapped that lasted till August as source of water and served irrigation of second crop in a village where there is no glacier water sources upstream (case documentary available). In case of rock/mud flow, if the flood is slowed down and trapped in such a structure the snow balling and intensity due to rolling effects of rock balls is reduced and the disaster is reduced or minimized in terms of impact and scale. We are receiving requests for similar structures to control mud/rock flood. Flood trapping can be installed with revised design.