Impact of Anthropogenic Modifications of a River Basin on Neighboring Coasts: Case Study
Publication: Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 134, Issue 6
Abstract
Long-term and large-scale morphological changes in the integrated watershed from the Tedori River basin to the Ishikawa Coast, Japan have been examined based on survey records over a long time scale, spanning more than . Contemporary data for coastal and riverbed evolution were compiled and compared in order to assess the implications of anthropogenic modifications of the river basin. Focus is placed on the influence of sand extraction and dam construction on sedimentary deficit resulting in accelerated coastal erosion. The correlation between existing records of the integrated watershed shows that persistent sand mining, flood control operations, and retention of sediment in terrestrial reservoirs have led to a serious imbalance of the coastal sediment budget: this has resulted in a decrease of coastal sediment volume by more than from 1960 in an area of . During periods of greatest erosion, the eroding rate exceeded . The results clearly indicate that such anthropogenic impacts should be examined at the scale of the integrated watershed in order to fully identify the cumulative influences.
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Acknowledgments
The records of field survey were provided by HRDB. The wave data were obtained from the Japanese NOWPHAS data set. Comments and suggestions from two anonymous reviewers have greatly improved the clarity of the paper. Sincere encouragements from Professor Ishida of Kanazawa University and critical comments from Professor Yamada of Kumamoto University are most appreciated. This study was partially supported by a grant-in-aid for scientific research by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.
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Published In
Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 134 • Issue 6 • November 2008
Pages: 336 - 344
Copyright
© 2008 ASCE.
History
Received: Mar 2, 2007
Accepted: Feb 27, 2008
Published online: Nov 1, 2008
Published in print: Nov 2008
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