Sustainable Sediment Management in Regulated Rivers

A unique feature of this book is that it deals with sustainable management of river sediments by explicitly incorporating sediment management in the planning, design and operation of dams, both to extend reservoir life and to minimize downstream impacts of sediment starvation. This book takes a river system perspective first, explaining how dams (and other anthropic actions such as aggregate mining) disrupt continuity of sediment transport, the consequences of that disruption, and opportunities to sustainably manage sediments, especially by passing sediments through or around dams. The book also addresses the likely consequences of climate change on reservoir operation and sediment supply and transport. It is not the first book about reservoir sediment management, nor the most comprehensive. Rather, it has more emphasis on geomorphic and ecological processes in the larger fluvial system, emphasizes the fact that sustainable sediment management techniques could be applied much more widely than they are now, and it offers guidance as to when different techniques are applicable. It also explicitly critiques the conventional economics used in dam planning, and proposes alternative formulations that explicitly account for intergenerational equity as it relates to natural river systems and infrastructure (Annandale 2013). What the Book Covers The book begins with an overview of river basin processes, including sediment transport, and effects of changed sediment supply (chapters 1-3). Chapter 4 covers upstream sediment management approaches such as check dams and soil conservation. Chapters 5-7 summarize sustainable sediment management in (and around/through) reservoirs. Chapter 8 explores sediment management in dam removals, usually the biggest issue in such projects. Chapter 9 provides a long-term perspective and explores the economics of managing reservoir capacity. Chapter 10 presents a set of case studies that compellingly illustrate the issues involved and opportunities to enhance sustainability, and Chapter 11 presents policy recommendations. The book will include simple, effective diagrams explaining fluvial geomorphic processes, human alterations, and sustainable sediment management techniques. Two examples are presented here. Figure 1, first published in Kondolf (1994), shows the zones of erosion, transport, and deposition of the ideal fluvial system as described by Schumm (1977), but with the addition of the analogy of a conveyor belt to emphasize that, viewed in geologic time, sediment is inevitably moving downstream through the zone of transport, and disruptions to...