Sediment Deposition and Entrapment in Vegetated Streambeds
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 120, Issue 6
Abstract
One aspect of the riparian‐stream ecosystem, which is imperative for the restoration or reestablishment of a streambank and streambed that has been disrupted, is the ability of the stream system to entrap and retain sediment. Sediment deposition in a degraded stream system is essential to the natural rebuilding of channel morphology. Although it is recognized that herbaceous vegetation enhances sediment deposition, a quantitative measure of entrapment has not been developed. Furthermore, once sediment has been deposited or entrapped, a measure of sediment retention during flushing has not been identified. A meandering stream was physically simulated in the laboratory. A series of 29 tests was conducted to evaluate the sediment deposition and entrapment potential of Kentucky bluegrass when placed in the streambed. Sediment was injected into the stream for 6 h and then subjected to sediment‐free flushing flows. The maximum amount of sediment deposition and the amount of sediment retained after flushing was documented. The results indicate that the presence of vegetation significantly enhances not only the deposition, but also the entrainment/entrapment of sediment on the vegetative bases. The amount of sediment entrapped is a function of the flow and vegetation blade length. It was determined that the vegetation could retain from 30–70% of the deposited sediments.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Abt, S. R., Clary, W. P., and Thornton, C. I. (1992). “Ability of streambed vegetation to entrap fine sediments.” Proc., Am. Inst. of Hydro., Interdisciplinary Approaches to Hydro. and Hydrogeology, American Institute of Hydrology, Minneapolis, MN.
2.
Clary, W. P., and Webster, B. F. (1990). “Riparian grazing guidelines for the intermountain region.” Rangelands, 12(4), 209–212.
3.
“Handbook of channel design for soil and water conservation.” (1966). Rep., SCSTP‐61, Soil Conservation Service (SCS), Washington, D.C.
4.
Kouwen, N. (1988). “Field estimation of the biomechanical properties of grass.” J. Hydr. Res., 26(5), 559–568.
5.
Masterman, R., and Thorne, C. R. (1992). “Predicting influence of bank vegetation on channel capacity.” J. Hydr. Engrg., ASCE, 118(7), 1052–1058.
6.
Platts, W. S. (1986). “Riparian‐stream management.” National Range Conf. Proc., United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Washington, D.C., 70–74.
7.
Temple, D. M. (1982). “Flow retardance of submerged grass channel linings.” Trans., ASAE, 1300–1303.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1994 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 9, 1993
Published online: Nov 1, 1994
Published in print: Nov 1994
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.