Using Stream Classification to Develop the Channel Erosion Component in a Watershed Sediment Budget
Publication: World Environmental and Water Resource Congress 2006: Examining the Confluence of Environmental and Water Concerns
Abstract
Sediment is the largest non-point source contaminant in our nation's streams and rivers. The primary component of any watershed management plan should be a current sediment budget. The sediment budget is a tabular listing of all the known erosion sources in a watershed. The spatial quantity (e.g., acres, miles, etc.) of each source is multiplied by an erosion rate (tons/acre/year, tons/bank mile/year, etc.) to obtain erosion quantities by source. Erosion quantities are multiplied by a sediment delivery ratio to obtain sediment yield. Typically, if potential sediment traps (functioning floodplains, lakes, reservoirs, etc.) occur within a watershed, sediment budgets are determined for each subwatershed above a sediment trap. Each subwatershed's sediment yield is then routed through the sediment trap to estimate the sediment yield delivered to the main channel. With a sediment budget, watershed managers can rank the sources of sediment yield in order of importance to help prioritize which sources should be treated first. By developing the sediment budget on a subwatershed basis, managers will also know which areas of the watershed should be prioritized for treatment. The sediment budget helps managers target limited resources to get the highest sediment reductions in a watershed with the smallest labor and capital inputs. In order to illustrate how a sediment budget is compiled, the Upper Bad River Watershed in western South Dakota will be used as an example. In particular, it will be demonstrated how the Rosgen stream classification system and the Channel Evolution Model (CEM) of Schumm, Harvey, and Watson were used to develop the channel erosion component for the Bad River Watershed sediment budget.
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Copyright
© 2006 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Apr 26, 2012
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Budgets
- Business management
- Channels (waterway)
- Environmental engineering
- Erosion
- Financial management
- Geology
- Geotechnical engineering
- Hydraulic engineering
- Hydraulic structures
- Pollution
- Practice and Profession
- River bank stabilization
- River engineering
- River systems
- Rivers and streams
- Sediment
- Stream channels
- Water and water resources
- Water pollution
- Watersheds
- Waterways
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