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VEGETATION INFLUENCE ON SMALL STREAM SILTATION 1
Author(s) -
Thornton Christopher I.,
Abt Steven R.,
Clary Warren P.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
jawra journal of the american water resources association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.957
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1752-1688
pISSN - 1093-474X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-1688.1997.tb03552.x
Subject(s) - vegetation (pathology) , hydrology (agriculture) , flushing , siltation , environmental science , sediment , sedimentation , hydraulics , soil science , deposition (geology) , geology , channel (broadcasting) , geomorphology , geotechnical engineering , medicine , pathology , endocrinology , aerospace engineering , engineering , electrical engineering
A meandering stream channel was simulated in the Hydraulics Laboratory at Colorado State University and a series of tests was conducted using four types of vegetation to evaluate the potential effects of vegetation on sediment deposition and retention in a stream channel. The data collected included average flow velocity, flow depth, length of vegetation, density of vegetation, cross‐sectional area of the vegetative stem, wetted perimeter of the vegetative stem, and injection and flushing time. The findings indicated that the vegetation could retain from 30 to 70 percent of the deposited sediments. The ability of vegetation to entrap and retain sediment is related to the length and cross‐sectional area of the vegetation. The variables describing the flow and the vegetative properties were combined to form a predictive parameter, the sedimentation factor ( S d ) that can be compared with the amount of sediment entrapped by vegetation in a stream system. A relation was developed correlating vegetation length to sediment retention after flushing for flexibility and rigid vegetation.