| Title: | Fingerprinting suspended sediment sources in an urbanized watershed |
| Authors: | Malhotra, K., J. Lamba, P. Srivastava and S. Shepherd |
| Year: | 2018 |
| Journal: | Water |
| Volume (Issue): | 10(11) |
| Pages: | |
| Article ID: | 1573 |
| DOI: | 10.3390/w10111573 |
| URL (non-DOI journals): | |
| Model: | SWAT |
| Broad Application Category: | hydrologic only |
| Primary Application Category: | hydrologic assessment |
| Secondary Application Category: | land use change |
| Watershed Description: | Chewacla Creek, located in south central Alabama, U.S. |
| Calibration Summary: | |
| Validation Summary: | |
| General Comments: | |
| Abstract: | The elevated supply of fine-grained sediment to a river system negatively impacts the water
quality and ecosystem health. Therefore, quantification of the relative contribution from different
sources to in-stream sediment is of major interest to target sediment mitigation best management
practices (BMPs). The objective of this study was to determine the relative contribution from different
sources of suspended sediment in an urbanized watershed (31 km2) located in the eastern part of
Alabama, USA. Estimates of relative contributions from individual source types were assessed for
two different particle size fractions, 63-212 um (fine sand) and <63 um (silt and clay). Results of
this study indicate that the construction sites were the dominant source of suspended sediment in
this watershed. The average annual subwatershed-level surface runoff determined using the Soil
and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model varied from 2.3 to 11,980 mm ha..1 year..1. Areas that
generate high surface runoff have the potential to contribute disproportionately high amounts of
sediment to streams and therefore should be targeted for BMPs. The results of this study show that it
is important to consider spatial and temporal variability in suspended sediment sources in order to
develop and target sediment control management strategies. The sources of suspended sediment
and sediment deposited on the stream bed might not necessarily be the same. Therefore, sampling
both suspended sediment and stream bed sediment will improve our knowledge of watershed-level
sediment transport processes. |
| Language: | English |
| Keywords: | sediment fingerprinting; suspended sediment; land use change; stream banks |