Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Estimating Sediment Loadings in the South Saskatchewan River Catchment

  • Published:
Water Resources Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In river catchments, sediment fluxes facilitate the transport of nutrients and pollutants and reduce water quality, potentially impacting water body health and altering ecosystem functioning. Sediment transport processes also modify the morphology of catchments, and sediment deposition can reduce flow capacity in rivers and water storage capacity in reservoirs and lakes. In this paper, estimates of suspended sediment yields and concentrations in the South Saskatchewan River catchment located in western Canada are presented. The results stem from a SPARROW model, which indicates that the dominant sources of sediment are represented by agricultural fields and urbanized lands. Analyses of sediment retention in the major catchment reservoirs indicate that, as expected, reservoir storage capacity is negatively correlated with reservoir storage reduction and positively correlated with retention rate. Additionally, reservoir lifespans range from less than 100 years to over 9000 years. The results presented here will be useful to complement local environmental guidelines to allow better management of sediment erosion and deposition in the South Saskatchewan River catchment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alberta Environment & Sustainable Resource Development (ESRD). 2014. Environmental quality guidelines for Alberta surface waters. Water policy branch, Policy Division, Edmonton. p 48

  • Alexander RB, Elliott AH, Shankar U, McBride GB (2002) Estimating the sources and transport of nutrients in the Waikato River Basin, New Zealand. Water Resour Res 38(12):4-1–4-23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashmore PE, Day TJ (1988a) Spatial and temporal patterns of suspended-sediment yield in the Saskatchewan River basin. Can J Earth Sci 25(9):1450–1463

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashmore PE, Day TJ (1988b) Effective discharge for suspended sediment transport in streams of the Saskatchewan River basin. Water Resour Res 24(6):864–870

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borrelli P, Märker M, Schütt B (2015) Modelling post-tree-harvesting soil erosion and sediment deposition potential in the Turano River basin (Italian central Apennine). Land Degrad Dev 26(4):356–366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brakebill JW, Ator SW, Schwarz GE (2010) Sources of suspended sediment flux in streams of the Chesapeake Bay watershed: a regional application of the SPARROW Model1. J Am Water Resour Assoc 46(4):757–776

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Correll DL (1998) The role of phosphorus in the eutrophication of receiving waters: a review. J Environ Qual 27(2):261–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daly C, Neilson RP, Phillips DL (1994) A statistical-topographic model for mapping climatological precipitation over mountainous terrain. J Appl Meteorol 33(2):140–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis JR, Koop K (2006) Eutrophication in Australian rivers, reservoirs and estuaries–a southern hemisphere perspective on the science and its implications. Hydrobiologia 559(1):23–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duan WL, He B, Takara K, Luo PP, Nover D, Hu MC (2015) Modeling suspended sediment sources and transport in the Ishikari River basin, Japan, using SPARROW. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 19(3):1293–1306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher TR, Harding LW, Stanley DW, Ward LG (1988) Phytoplankton, nutrients, and turbidity in the Chesapeake, Delaware, and Hudson estuaries. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 27(1):61–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forman RT, Alexander LE (1998) Roads and their major ecological effects. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 29:207–231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franz C, Makeschin F, Weiß H, Lorz C (2014) Sediments in urban river basins: identification of sediment sources within the Lago Paranoa catchment, Brasilia DF, Brazil–using the fingerprint approach. Sci Total Environ 466:513–523

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frenette M, Julien PY (1996) Physical processes governing reservoir sedimentation. In: Proceedings of the international conference on reservoir sedimentation, vol 2, sec

  • Gill MA (1979) Sedimentation and useful life of reservoirs. J Hydrol 44:89–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gurnell AM, Bertoldi W, Corenblit D (2012) Changing river channels: the roles of hydrological processes, plants and pioneer fluvial landforms in humid temperate, mixed load, gravel bed rivers. Earth Sci Rev 111(1):129–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hairsine PB, Rose CW (1991) Rainfall detachment and deposition: sediment transport in the absence of flow-driven processes. Soil Sci Soc Am J 55(2):320–324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heathwaite AL, Johnes PJ (1996) Contribution of nitrogen species and phosphorus fractions to stream water quality in agricultural catchments. Hydrol Process 10(7):971–983

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helsel DR, Hirsch RM (1992) Statistical methods in water resources, vol 49. Elsevier, Amsterdam

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Henley WF, Patterson MA, Neves RJ, Lemly AD (2000) Effects of sedimentation and turbidity on lotic food webs: a concise review for natural resource managers. Rev Fish Sci 8(2):125–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hudson HR, Askin RW (1987) An interpretive study of the upper Oldman River sediment regime. Sediment Survey Section, Water Survey of Canada, Water Resources Branch, Inland Waters Directorate, Environment Canada, Report IWD-WNR(A)-WRBSS-87-3

  • Jeje Y (2006) Export coefficients for total phosphorus, total nitrogen and total suspended solids in the Southern Alberta region – a review of literature. Available from http://environment.gov.ab.ca/info/library/7797.pdf, 2006. Accessed 20 Sept 2017

  • McIntyre SC (1993) Reservoir sedimentation rates linked to long-term changes in agricultural land-use. J Am Water Resour Assoc 29(3):487–495

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McPherson HJ (1975) Sediment yields from intermediate-sized drainage basins in southern Alberta. J Hydrol 25:243–257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mihaljević M, Špoljarić D, Stević F, Cvijanović V, Kutuzović BH (2010) The influence of extreme floods from the river Danube in 2006 on phytoplankton communities in a floodplain lake: shift to a clear state. Limnol-Ecol Manag Inland Waters 40(3):260–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morales-Marín L, Wheater H, Lindenschmidt KE (2015) Assessing the transport of total phosphorus from a prairie river basin using SPARROW. Hydrol Process 29(18):4144–4160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morales-Marín LA, Wheater HS, Lindenschmidt KE (2017) Assessment of nutrient loadings of a large multipurpose prairie reservoir. J Hydrol 550:166–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morris GL, Fan J (1998) Reservoir sedimentation handbook: design and management of dams, reservoirs, and watersheds for sustainable use. McGraw Hill Professional, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Mossa J (1996) Sediment dynamics in the lowermost Mississippi River. Eng Geol 45(1):457–479

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quinn JM, Stroud MJ (2002) Water quality and sediment and nutrient export from New Zealand hill-land catchments of contrasting land use. N Z J Mar Freshw Res 36(2):409–429

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rose CW (1993) Erosion and sedimentation. In: Bonell M, Hufschmidt MM, Gladwell JS (eds) Hydrology and Water Management in the Humid Tropics: Hydrological Research Issues and Strategies for Water Management. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 301–343

  • Sadeghian A, de Boer D, Lindenschmidt KE (2017) Sedimentation and erosion in Lake Diefenbaker, Canada: solutions for shoreline retreat monitoring. Environ Monit Assess 189(10):507

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwarz GE (2008) A Preliminary SPARROW model of suspended sediment for the conterminous United States: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2008–1205, 8 p., available only online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1205

  • Shaw J, Kellerhals R (1982) The composition of recent alluvial gravels in Alberta river beds, Bull. 41. Alberta Geol. Surv., Edmonton, AB, Canada, pp 151

  • Slaymaker HO (1972) Sediment yield and sediment control in the Canadian Cordillera. In Slaymaker HO, McPherson HJ (eds) Mountain geomorphology, B.C. Geographical Series, No. 14. Tantalus Research, Vancouver, pp 235–245

  • Smith CD, Wigham JM (1989) Erosion and sedimentation in the South Saskatchewan River Basin. Report to Saskatchewan Water Corporation, p 100. plus Appendix

  • Smith RA, Schwarz GE, Alexander RB (1997) Regional interpretation of water-quality monitoring data. Water Resour Res 33(12):2781–2798

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stichling W (1973) Sediment loads in Canadian rivers. In: Fluvial processes and sedimentation, Proceedings, Hydrology Symposium, The University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alta, May 1973, pp 39–72

  • Van Rijn LC (1993) Principles of sediment transport in rivers, estuaries and coastal seas, vol 1006. Aqua publications, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the University of Saskatchewan’s Global Institute for Water Security through the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Water Security (CERC).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Global Institute for Water Security and School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, 11 Innovation Boulevard, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 3H5, Canada

    L. A. Morales-Marín, H. S. Wheater & K. E. Lindenschmidt

Authors
  1. L. A. Morales-Marín
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. H. S. Wheater
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. K. E. Lindenschmidt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to L. A. Morales-Marín.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Morales-Marín, L.A., Wheater, H.S. & Lindenschmidt, K.E. Estimating Sediment Loadings in the South Saskatchewan River Catchment. Water Resour Manage 32, 769–783 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-017-1838-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-017-1838-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation