Sediment displacement evolution after dam removal in a mountain river (Oioki dam, Leitzaran River)
<p>Bedload sediment transport was monitored from 2016 to 2020 in the Leitzaran River, in a reach affected by the removal of 7-meters high dam (Oioki dam). The removal was accomplished in two phases, the 3 first meters were removed in September 2018 and the second phase (September 2019) involved the removal of the remaining 4 meters. The study area was divided into three subreaches: control (unaffected by the dam), upstream and downstream of the dam. A sample of 300 RFID-tagged stones were seeded every year (100 at each reach).. Prior to this, the grain-size distribution of the surface sediment was characterized using the Wolman method. Then, the grain-size chosen for the tracer stones was distributed according to three Wentworth intervals: that corresponding to the surface d<sub>50</sub>, d<sub>50</sub>+1 (immediate upper interval), and d<sub>50</sub>-1 (immediate lower interval). It was not possible to follow completely, and the lower interval had to be dismissed as the sediment was very small or narrow to insert the tracer.</p><p>We conducted an extensive surveying field campaign every summer.</p><p>The number of retrieved tracers was relatively high, around 40-70% (considering all field campaigns), although with differences amongst the different sub-reaches. The obtained results were organized by displacements and volumes of sediment moved. The maximum (3,500 meters) and higher mean displacement (~1,550 meters) were registered in the hydrologic year 2019/20. These values are from the upstream reach of the dam and match simultaneously with (i) the whole removal of the dam, and (ii) the period showing a lower discharge (note the critical discharge for the movement of our particles is ~25-30 m<sup>3</sup>&#183;s<sup>-1</sup> (d<sub>50</sub> = 64.0&#8805;&#216;<90.5 mm); mean discharge and peak flow from 2013 to 2020 were ~5.3 m<sup>3</sup>&#183;s<sup>-1</sup> and ~125.0 m<sup>3</sup>&#183;s<sup>-1</sup>, respectively and at the end of the watershed).</p><p>We also estimated the bulk bedload volumes during the time spanned by this research and we report how the hydrologic year 2019/20 was the more active in terms of displaced volumes, moving up to 27,500 tons in the upstream reach. In fact, this year also presents the maximum for the downstream reach.</p><p>At this moment, besides the raw data of displacements and volumes, our observations highlight how the fact that a copious load of sediment was made available with the dam removal seemed to be more determinant than the magnitude of the flow to get larger tracer displacements.</p>