The purpose of the research was to determine quantitatively the extent soil characteristics of the contributing watershed influenced the rate and type of sedimentation in a reservoir. The study was made on fourteen reservoir - watershed combinations in Indiana and Illinois. Particle size characteristics of soils and sediments were shown to be most significant in relating watershed characteristics to reservoir sediment properties and sediment rates. Under the conditions of the study, the finer the texture of the soils of the watershed and the more uniform their particle size, the greater were the sedimentation rates. Particle size analysis of the sediments was also helpful in distinguishing recent sediments from original bottom materials in the reservoir. The amounts of mica, vermiculite, kaolinite and amorphous alumina found in the clay fraction of sediments related well to that found in the contributing soils. Very little quartz was found in the sediment, it apparently being lost in transporting. (WRSIC Abstract)