scholarly journals Watershed Suspended Sediment Supply and Potential Impacts of Dam Removals for an Estuary

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David K. Ralston ◽  
Brian Yellen ◽  
Jonathan D. Woodruff
Keyword(s):  
Suspended Sediment ◽  
River Estuary ◽  
Dam Removal ◽  
Hudson River ◽  
Sediment Traps ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Watershed Area ◽  
Natural Lakes ◽  
Sediment Deposits ◽  
Dam Removals

AbstractObservations and modeling are used to assess potential impacts of sediment releases due to dam removals on the Hudson River estuary. Watershed sediment loads are calculated based on sediment-discharge rating curves for gauges covering 80% of the watershed area. The annual average sediment load to the estuary is 1.2 Mt, of which about 0.6 Mt comes from side tributaries. Sediment yield varies inversely with watershed area, with regional trends that are consistent with substrate erodibility. Geophysical and sedimentological surveys in seven subwatersheds of the Lower Hudson were conducted to estimate the mass and composition of sediment trapped behind dams. Impoundments were classified as (1) active sediment traps, (2) run-of-river sites not actively trapping sediment, and (3) dammed natural lakes and spring-fed ponds. Based on this categorization and impoundment attributes from a dam inventory database, the total mass of impounded sediment in the Lower Hudson watershed is estimated as 4.9 ± 1.9 Mt. This represents about 4 years of annual watershed supply, which is small compared with some individual dam removals and is not practically available given current dam removal rates. More than half of dams impound drainage areas less than 1 km2, and play little role in downstream sediment supply. In modeling of a simulated dam removal, suspended sediment in the estuary increases modestly near the source during discharge events, but otherwise effects on suspended sediment are minimal. Fine-grained sediment deposits broadly along the estuary and coarser sediment deposits near the source, with transport distance inversely related to settling velocity.

scholarly journals Effects of Sediment Released from a Check Dam on Sediment Deposits and Fish and Macroinvertebrate Communities in a Small Stream

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rei Itsukushima ◽  
Kazuaki Ohtsuki ◽  
Tatsuro Sato ◽  
Yuichi Kano ◽  
Hiroshi Takata ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Dam Removal ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Basic Knowledge ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Macroinvertebrate Communities ◽  
Check Dam ◽  
Small Stream ◽  
Sediment Release ◽  
Sediment Deposits

Dam removal is typically intended for river restoration or as a countermeasure for aging dams. The influence of dam removal has mainly been studied in large rivers. This study is intended to investigate the influence of the sediment supplied after opening a check dam drain in a small steep stream to contribute to the establishment of sediment release technology form check dam by accumulating the basic knowledge about the influence of sediment release. Deposited sediment in the impoundment was rapidly discharged immediately after opening the drain outlet, and a moderate sediment discharge followed. The water course of the sediments deposited by repeated channel widening and riverbed degradation tended to stop longitudinal topographic changes from downstream. In addition, the turbidity during a flood was high in the first year and tended to decrease in the second year. As for the ecosystem response, changes in the benthic macroinvertebrate community were confirmed in downstream sites, and net-spinning species especially deceased immediately after the sediment supply began. Our monitoring results suggest that the increasing turbidity was suppressed during the flood because sediment release was conducted from the small-scale facility. As a result, a negative impact on the aquatic ecosystem seemed to be reduced.

scholarly journals EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF TRIBUTARY DAM REMOVALS ON TIDAL WETLANDS WITHIN THE HUDSON RIVER ESTUARY

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian C. Yellen ◽  
◽  
David K. Ralston ◽  
Jonathan D. Woodruff ◽  
Sarah Fernald
Keyword(s):  
River Estuary ◽  
Hudson River ◽  
Hudson River Estuary ◽  
Tidal Wetlands ◽  
Dam Removals ◽  
The Impact

Accumulation of muds and metals in the Hudson River estuary turbidity maximum

1998 ◽  
Vol 34 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 214-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. Menon ◽  
R. J. Gibbs ◽  
A. Phillips
Keyword(s):  
River Estuary ◽  
Hudson River ◽  
Turbidity Maximum ◽  
Hudson River Estuary

scholarly journals The Response of Turbidity Maximum to Peak River Discharge in a Macrotidal Estuary

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 106
Author(s):  
Yuhan Yan ◽  
Dehai Song ◽  
Xianwen Bao ◽  
Nan Wang
Keyword(s):  
River Discharge ◽  
Recovery Time ◽  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
Spring Tide ◽  
River Estuary ◽  
Sediment Concentration ◽  
Ocean Model ◽  
Turbidity Maximum ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Three Dimensional Model

The Ou River, a medium-sized river in the southeastern China, is examined to study the estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM) response to rapidly varied river discharge, i.e., peak river discharge (PRD). This study analyzes the difference in ETM and sediment transport mechanisms between low-discharge and PRD during neap and spring tides by using the Finite-Volume Community Ocean Model. The three-dimensional model is validated by in-situ measurements from 23 April to 22 May 2007. In the Ou River Estuary (ORE), ETM is generally induced by the convergence between river runoff and density-driven flow. The position of ETM for neap and spring tides is similar, but the suspended sediment concentration during spring tide is stronger than that during neap tide. The sediment source of ETM is mainly derived from the resuspension of the seabed. PRD, compared with low-discharge, can dilute the ETM, but cause more sediment to be resuspended from the seabed. The ETM is more seaward during PRD. After PRD, the larger the peak discharge, the longer the recovery time will be. Moreover, the river sediment supply helps shorten ETM recovery time. Mechanisms for this ETM during a PRD can contribute to studies of morphological evolution and pollutant flushing.

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