Sediment and erosion issues need to be considered and assessed at the catchment, reservoir and downstream areas.  Where it is an issue, reservoir sediment accumulation can be reduced through cooperation with local communities and regulatory authorities to improve catchment management practices.  Specific catchment controls on road construction, mining, agriculture or other land uses may be employed, or the upper catchment vegetative cover protected through reservation.  Specific management actions such as terracing, upstream check structure or reforestation can be employed in the catchment.  Within the reservoir, approaches such as sediment by-pass systems for floodwaters, gated structures for sediment flushing, sediment trapping and filtration systems, or direct dredging have all been utilized to deal with high reservoir sedimentation rates.

Where erosion is identified as a project risk, water management measures that can be employed to address shoreline erosion both in reservoirs and downstream river systems include changes to operational patterns, such as ramp-down rules, constraints on time spent at particular operating levels, or even operating to maintain the stabilising characteristics of existing or planted vegetation.  Re-regulation storages can be constructed to dampen rapidly fluctuating flow releases from power stations and attenuate the downstream flows.  Direct intervention techniques that can be employed to address shoreline erosion involve the use of rip-rap or bank protection works, or directly planting stabilising vegetation. 

Sediment accumulation in downstream river systems can be addressed by careful removal of sediment retaining weed species, such as willows, and replanting with more appropriate species.  Sediment flushing of the river channel itself through controlled releases can also be employed where shown to be effective.