Numerical modeling of hydrodynamics and sediment transport in lower Mississippi at a proposed delta building diversion

Meselhe, E. A.; Georgiou, Ioannis Y.; Allison, Mead A.; McCorquodale, John A.

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.09.043

Cited by 61 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Day et al, 2016), and we are unaware of any with a subsurface data set as rich as the one available for the ACS. While many workers have published on the "river side" issues concerning diversions, including the sediment available (Kesel, 1988;Blum and Roberts, 2009;Allison et al, 2012) and the physics of extracting sediment from the trunk channel (Allison and Meselhe, 2010;Meselhe et al, 2012;Nittrouer et al, 2012a;Allison et al, 2013), only recently have researchers begun to investigate "basin side" issues that impact SRE (Xu et al, 2016). The availability of detailed sediment-transport data from the modern Lower Mississippi River (LMR) provides a unique opportunity to connect fluvial sediment budgets to the sediments preserved in the delta.…”

Section: Measuring Sediment Retention Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficient retention of mud drives land building on the Mississippi Delta plain

Esposito

Shen

Törnqvist³

et al. 2017

Earth Surf. Dynam.

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Abstract. Many of the world's deltas -home to major population centers -are rapidly degrading due to reduced sediment supply, making these systems less resilient to increasing rates of relative sea-level rise. The Mississippi Delta faces some of the highest rates of wetland loss in the world. As a result, multibillion dollar plans for coastal restoration by means of river diversions are currently nearing implementation. River diversions aim to bring sediment back to the presently sediment-starved delta plain. Within this context, sediment retention efficiency (SRE) is a critical parameter because it dictates the effectiveness of river diversions. Several recent studies have focused on land building along the open coast, showing SREs ranging from 5 to 30 %. Here we measure the SRE of a large relict crevasse splay in an inland, vegetated setting that serves as an appropriate model for river diversions. By comparing the mass fraction of sand in the splay deposit to the estimated sand fraction that entered it during its life cycle, we find that this mud-dominated sediment body has an SRE of ≥ 75 %, i.e., dramatically higher than its counterparts on the open coast. Our results show that transport pathways for mud are critical for delta evolution and that SRE is highly variable across a delta. We conclude that sediment diversions located in settings that are currently still vegetated are likely to be the most effective in mitigating land loss and providing long-term sustainability.

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Section: Measuring Sediment Retention Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficient retention of mud drives land building on the Mississippi Delta plain

Esposito

Shen

Törnqvist³

et al. 2017

Earth Surf. Dynam.

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“…That is why efforts to save the Mississippi River delta are focused on reconnecting the MAR with wetland basins by constructing artificial, controllable river diversions that will mimic the natural channels that have been lost [20,46,74].…”

Section: Conclusion and Management Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Continental Shelf River Plumes in the Northern and Southern Gulf of Mexico Promote Ecological Resilience in a Time of Climate Change?

Kemp

Day

Yáñez‐Arancibia

et al. 2016

Water

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“…The Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion is proposed on the west bank of the Mississippi River just north of Myrtle Grove, at river mile 60.7 ( Figure 1). The diversion is proposed to have a peak flow of approximately 2100 m 3 /s, which is equivalent to the average annual flow of the Missouri River when flowing at full capacity [31]. The Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion has a long history in restoration planning [3,23,27,32] and is slated to begin construction in 2021.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing Sediment Diversion Operations: Working Group Recommendations for Integrating Complex Ecological and Social Landscape Interactions

Peyronnin

Caffey

Cowan

et al. 2017

Water

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Future conditions of coastal Louisiana are highly uncertain due to the dynamic nature of deltas, climate change, tropical storms, and human reliance on natural resources and ecosystem services. Managing a system in which natural and socio-economic components are highly integrated is inherently difficult. Sediment diversions are a unique restoration tool that would reconnect the Mississippi River to its deltaic plain to build and sustain land. Diversions are innately adaptable as operations can be modified over time. An expert working group was formed to explore how various operational strategies may affect the complex interactions of coastal Louisiana's ecological and social landscape and provide preliminary recommendations for further consideration and research. For example, initial operations should be gradually increased over 5 to 10 years to facilitate the development of a distributary channel network, reduce flood risk potential to communities, limit erosion of adjacent marshes and reduce stress to vegetation and fish and wildlife species. Diversions should operate over winter peaks to capture the highest sediment concentration, reduce vegetation loss while dormant, and reduce detrimental effects to fish and wildlife. Operations during the spring/summer should occur over shorter periods to capture the highest sediment load during the rising limb of the flood peak and minimize impacts to the ecosystem. Operational strategies should strive to build and sustain as much of the coastal landscape as possible while also balancing the ecosystem and community needs.

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Numerical modeling of hydrodynamics and sediment transport in lower Mississippi at a proposed delta building diversion

Cited by 61 publications

References 14 publications

Efficient retention of mud drives land building on the Mississippi Delta plain

Efficient retention of mud drives land building on the Mississippi Delta plain

Can Continental Shelf River Plumes in the Northern and Southern Gulf of Mexico Promote Ecological Resilience in a Time of Climate Change?

Optimizing Sediment Diversion Operations: Working Group Recommendations for Integrating Complex Ecological and Social Landscape Interactions

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