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Texture, spatial distribution, and rate of reservoir sedimentation within a highly erosive, cultivated watershed: Grenada Lake, Mississippi
Author(s) -
Bennett Sean J.,
Rhoton Fred E.,
Dunbar John A.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/2004wr003645
Subject(s) - channelized , hydrology (agriculture) , sedimentation , channel (broadcasting) , sediment , geology , watershed , current (fluid) , flood myth , flood control , environmental science , geomorphology , oceanography , geography , archaeology , geotechnical engineering , telecommunications , engineering , machine learning , computer science , electrical engineering
While more than 75,000 dams nationwide have served a multitude of purposes over the past 50 years, current emphasis is being placed on decommissioning those aged infrastructures considered environmentally harmful. Grenada Lake, a relatively large flood control reservoir in Mississippi, is located in a highly erodible region of the United States and is fed by historically unstable stream channels. Through a variety of stratigraphic analyses, postimpoundment sediments are identified in the reservoir, showing that the lake has lost a nominal 3% of its flood storage capacity since its inception in 1954. A simple sediment budget constructed for the Yalobusha River's contribution of channel‐derived sediments shows that about 76% of this sediment remains stored upstream, about 16% is stored in the reservoir, and about 8% has exited the lake. Sediment delivery ratios, known to be low for relatively large watersheds, appear to be unaffected by upstream channel instabilities and aggressive channelization projects.