This lesson provides an overview of the primary influences of watershed and channel sedimentation. In a short narrated portion of the lesson, we explore a section of the Rio Grande watershed and channel in New Mexico using Google Earth imagery, river profiles, and graphic animations. We highlight features of the upland catchments, the river channel, and the Elephant Butte Reservoir. We then demonstrate how environmental factors (climate, geography, land use changes, reservoirs) impact the supply and movement of sediments for the Rio Grande and other rivers. The focus is on the three primary processes in sedimentation: generation, transport, and deposition. The lesson then addresses natural climate and weather influences along with some observed and projected trends associated with climate change.
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- Summarize the primary sedimentation processes described in published studies.
- Identify and describe river and watershed features that indicate sediment processes such as erosion and deposition.
- Explain the relationship between sediment supply/movement and precipitation, including precipitation rate, timing, and form.
- Describe the impact of human activity and infrastructure on the sedimentation process.
- Describe the role of climate and weather in the watershed sedimentation process.
- Outline the possible changes to sediment supply, transport, and deposition in a changing climate, including uncertainties and the currently observed trends.
Sediment, sedimentation, hydraulic, dams, reservoirs, river, upland, watershed, sediment supply, sediment production, floodplain, sediment transport, routing, sediment deposition, IPCC, CMIP5, climate change, global warming, climate projection, snowpack, runoff, flow, river discharge, wildfire, wildfire cycle, storage capacity, transport capacity, Rio Grande River, Elephant Butte Reservoir, Lake Cochiti, Cibola National Forest, urban, agriculture, rangeland, irrigation, North American monsoon, velocity, momentum, stream bed slope, sediment load, bed load, suspended load, saltation, alluvium, meander, point bar, cut bank, raindrop splash, erosion, rill, incised channel, ephemeral channel, headward erosion, tributary, forest litter, plant canopy, corrasion, dissolution, clay, silt, sand, gravel, cobbles, alluvial fan, Lane's Balance, aggradation, degradation, flash flood, time series, El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), La Niña, North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), tropical cyclone, infiltration, silt fence, sediment barrier, longitudinal profile, hydrograph, storm water, channelization, levee, drought, evaporation
