Journal of Soils and Sediments

, Volume 17, Issue 8, pp 2187–2201 | Cite as

Sediment transport below a small alpine reservoir desilted by controlled flushing: field assessment and one-dimensional numerical simulation

  • Maria Laura Brignoli
  • Paolo Espa
  • Ramon J. Batalla
Sediments, Sec 5 • Sediment Management • Research Article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

Purpose

Sediment transport and riverbed sedimentation were investigated in an alpine stream below a small hydropower reservoir desilted by a controlled sediment flushing (CSF) operation. The term “controlled” refers to the operational tasks implemented to mitigate the downstream environmental impact of the operation. The experimental dataset acquired before, during, and after the CSF was also used to carry out and calibrate a one-dimensional sediment transport model of the monitored event.

Materials and methods

The investigated reservoir is located in the central Italian Alps, and its original storage was 160,000 m3, about 30% filled by a mixture of sand and silt/clay before the CSF. Downstream sediment concentration was controlled by releasing clear water from upstream reservoirs and regulating the work of earth-moving equipment in the emptied reservoir. A 3.6-km-long reach with average slope of 0.015 was monitored: concentration and grain size of suspended sediment were measured during the CSF and the riverbed alteration was evaluated by volumetric sampling and measurements of the deposits’ thickness. Sedimentation and River Hydraulics—One Dimensional (SRH-1D) was used to simulate sediment transport during the monitored CSF. Model parameters were calibrated by comparing the computed and the observed amount of sediment deposited along the study reach.

Results and discussion

Sediment flushing was carried out in October 2010 for 3 days. Ca. 16,000 m3 of sediment were evacuated, representing approximately 30% silt/clay and 70% sand. 2.4 Mm3 of clear water was released to reduce sediment concentration and increase transport capacity downstream. About 3000 m3 of sand was deposited in the study reach after the CSF, with maximum height up to 0.2 m. Although the riverbed before the CSF was simply set as mono-granular, after calibrating the parameters, good agreement was achieved between the depositional pattern computed by SRH-1D and the one observed, both in terms of deposit thickness and grain size of deposited sediment. The sensitivity analysis revealed a major role of the parameters controlling bed mixing processes in affecting the simulated deposition after the CSF.

Conclusions

Sediment below 0.1 mm in diameter was not detected in river deposits after the flushing: the effects on river biota associated with substrate clogging by very fine sediment were therefore minimized. After proper calibration, 1-D sediment transport modeling can effectively support the planning of CSF operations: to minimize the downstream environmental effects, concurrently achieving acceptable flushing efficiency, the analyzed scenarios as well as the model outputs need to be carefully evaluated from a multidisciplinary perspective.

Keywords

Alpine river Controlled sediment flushing Reservoir siltation Sediment transport SRH-1D model 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

This study was partly financed by the INTERREG Italy/Switzerland project ECOIDRO (Water Use and Safeguard of Environment and Biodiversity in the River Basins of Adda, Mera, Poschiavino and Inn—ID 7630754): the authors are indebted with Dr. Gaetano Gentili and Prof. Giuseppe Crosa who led the project. We warmly thank Andrew Wimer for revising English and Alberto Previde Prato for his valuable support in field and lab work. We are grateful to the PhD Program in Chemical and Environmental Sciences of the University of Insubria for providing financial support to the first author in her visit to the University of Lleida. The third author belongs to the Consolidated Research Group ‘Fluvial Dynamics Research Group (2014 SGR 645)’ funded by the Catalan Government. Finally, we wish to express our gratitude to the journal editor, Philip N. Owens, and to an anonymous reviewer for valuably contributing to improve the first draft of the paper and to Moira Ledger for the kind editorial assistance provided.

Supplementary material

11368_2017_1661_MOESM1_ESM.doc (10.8 mb)
ESM 1 (DOC 10.8 mb)

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  • Maria Laura Brignoli
    • 1
  • Paolo Espa
    • 1
  • Ramon J. Batalla
    • 2
    • 3
  1. 1.Department of Science and High TechnologyUniversity of InsubriaVareseItaly
  2. 2.Department of Environmental and Soil SciencesUniversity of LleidaLleidaSpain
  3. 3.Faculty of Forest Sciences and Natural ResourcesAustral University of ChileValdiviaChile

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