Fine‐grained sediment in river systems: environmental significance and management issues

Owens, Philip N.; Batalla, Ramón J.; Collins, A. J.; Gómez, Basil; Hicks, D. Murray; Horowitz, Arthur J.; Kondolf, G. Mathias; Marden, Michael; Page, Mike; Peacock, D. H.; Petticrew, Ellen L.; Salomons, Wim; Trustrum, Noel A.

doi:10.1002/rra.878

Cited by 558 publications

(317 citation statements)

References 93 publications

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“…The sediment load of a river also has an influence on river morphology, which on its turn can have affect its flooding regime (Baker et al 1988;Owens et al 2005). Furthemore, the high sediment loads of floods is one of the main reasons that make flood regulation schemes often difficult to perform.…”

Section: Iii2 Problems Related To Flooding and Catchment Hydrologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The transport and deposition of sediments may have important ecological impacts related to pollution, ecological habitat destruction, the loss of nutrients or eutrophication (Owens et al 2005). Many of these issues are also important in the context of desertification, as environments with low precipitation generally have very fragile ecosystems that are sensitive to change (Walling & Kleo 1979).…”

Section: Iii3 Problems Related To Nutrients and Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sediment has also an impact on many (aquatic) ecological habitats on floodplains and within rivers and streams (Owens et al 2005). Floodplains, for instance, are ecological habitats that are strongly influenced by sediment supply (Schertz 1983;Tockner et al 2010).…”

Section: Iii3 Problems Related To Nutrients and Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whereas a lot of research has been conducted on tolerable soil loss rates (e.g. Montgommery 2007;Verheijen et al 2009), generally less attention has been given to target and tolerance levels of catchment SY (Owens et al 2005). This partly illustrates the fact that the off site consequences of soil erosion have received relatively limited attention and are often underestimated (e.g.…”

Section: Cost Effectivementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Schumm et al 1976;Walling & Kleo 1979;Church & Slaymaker 1989;Walling 2006;Owens et al 2010;Trimble 2010). SY at the catchment scale and its response to changes are, however, of great importance as it relates to many environmental and management issues (see Owens et al 2005 for an overview) and are also of great relevance in the framework of desertification assessment. This paper argues that (variation in) SY at the catchment scale provides important and highly relevant information on ongoing desertification processes and impacts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sediment yield as a desertification risk indicator

Vanmaercke

Poesen

Maetens

et al. 2011

Science of The Total Environment

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Soil erosion is often regarded as one of the main processes of desertification. This has lead to the use of various desertification indicators that are related to soil erosion. Most of these indicators focus, however, on small spatial units, while little attention has been given to the amount of sediment exported at the catchment scale. Such a small spatial unit approach neglects the transfer of sediment through catchments as well as the scale-dependency of erosion processes. Furthermore, this approach does not consider important off-site impacts of soil erosion, such as sediment deposition in reservoirs, flooding as well as ecological impacts.This study aims to illustrate the importance of also considering catchment sediment yield (SY, t km -2 y -1 ) in desertification assessment studies. Based on recently established databases of SY and soil loss rates in Europe and examples from previous studies, we illustrate that soil erosion rates at the plot scale are not representative for catchment SY, as they are often several orders of magnitude smaller. Also, the erosion response of catchments to changes in land use or climate often differs strongly from responses to those changes at the plot scale.We further discuss several of the impacts of SY and their link with desertification: i.e. the sedimentation of reservoirs, problems related to flooding, catchment hydrology, export of nutrients and ecological implications.Using earlier established criteria we evaluate the potential for using catchment SY as a desertification indicator and conclude that this could give an important added value to desertification studies. SY, used in combination with other indicators, allows the identification of other sediment sources than those considered at the plot scale and can reflect the results of desertification processes over longer time periods than periods over which assessments at the plot scale have been made. We argue therefore, that SY is a strong complementary indicator of desertification providing valuable information on the catchment response to changes in drivers of desertification.

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Section: Iii2 Problems Related To Flooding and Catchment Hydrologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Iii3 Problems Related To Nutrients and Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Iii3 Problems Related To Nutrients and Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Cost Effectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Sediment yield as a desertification risk indicator

Vanmaercke

Poesen

Maetens

et al. 2011

Science of The Total Environment

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Sustainable sediment management in reservoirs and regulated rivers: Experiences from five continents

Gao²,

et al. 2014

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By trapping sediment in reservoirs, dams interrupt the continuity of sediment transport through rivers, resulting in loss of reservoir storage and reduced usable life, and depriving downstream reaches of sediments essential for channel form and aquatic habitats. With the acceleration of new dam construction globally, these impacts are increasingly widespread. There are proven techniques to pass sediment through or around reservoirs, to preserve reservoir capacity and to minimize downstream impacts, but they are not applied in many situations where they would be effective. This paper summarizes collective experience from five continents in managing reservoir sediments and mitigating downstream sediment starvation. Where geometry is favorable it is often possible to bypass sediment around the reservoir, which avoids reservoir sedimentation and supplies sediment to downstream reaches with rates and timing similar to pre-dam conditions. Sluicing (or drawdown routing) permits sediment to be transported through the reservoir rapidly to avoid sedimentation during high flows; it requires relatively large capacity outlets. Drawdown flushing involves scouring and re-suspending sediment deposited in the reservoir and transporting it downstream through low-level gates in the dam; it works best in narrow reservoirs with steep longitudinal gradients and with flow velocities maintained above the threshold to transport sediment. Turbidity currents can often be vented through the dam, with the advantage that the reservoir need not be drawn down to pass sediment. In planning dams, we recommend that these sediment management approaches be utilized where possible to sustain reservoir capacity and minimize environmental impacts of dams.

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Near‐Channel Versus Watershed Controls on Sediment Rating Curves

et al. 2017

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Predicting riverine suspended sediment flux is a fundamental problem in geomorphology, with important implications for water quality, land and water resource management, and aquatic ecosystem health. To advance understanding, we evaluated environmental and landscape factors that influence sediment rating curves (SRCs). We generated SRCs with recent total suspended solids (TSSs) and discharge data from 45 gages on 36 rivers throughout the state of Minnesota, USA. Watersheds range from 32 to 14,600 km2 and represent distinct settings regarding topography, land cover, and geologic history. Rivers exhibited three distinct SRC shapes: simple power functions, threshold power functions, and peaked or negative‐slope functions. We computed SRC exponents and coefficients (describing the steepness of the relation and the TSS concentration at median flows, respectively). In addition to quantifying watershed topography, climate/hydrology, geology, soil type, and land cover, we used lidar topography to characterize the near‐channel environment upstream of gages. We used random forest models to analyze relations between SRC parameters and attributes of the watershed and the near‐channel environment. The models correctly classify 78% of SRC shapes and explain 37%–60% of variance in SRC parameters. We find that SRC steepness (exponent) is strongly related to near‐channel morphological characteristics including near‐channel relief, channel gradient, and presence of lakes along the local channel network, but not to land use. In contrast, land use influences TSS concentrations at moderate and low flow. These findings suggest that the near‐channel environment controls changes in TSS as flows increase, whereas land use drives median and low flow TSS conditions.

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Fine‐grained sediment in river systems: environmental significance and management issues

Cited by 558 publications

References 93 publications

Sediment yield as a desertification risk indicator

Sediment yield as a desertification risk indicator

Sustainable sediment management in reservoirs and regulated rivers: Experiences from five continents

Near‐Channel Versus Watershed Controls on Sediment Rating Curves

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