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Advances in River Restoration and Sediment Transport Management

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water Erosion and Sediment Transport".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2025) | Viewed by 622

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and River Research, BOKU University, Am Brigittenauer Sporn 3, 1200 Vienna, Austria
Interests: fluvial hydraulics; numerical modelling; hydrodynamics; sediment transport; hydraulic engineering; ecohydraulics; river restoration
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Many of our rivers worldwide were impaired in the past through human interference including, but not limited to, monocausal engineering projects, and are in need of restoration. The aim of river restoration projects is to reverse river degradation and target an intact river ecosystem by removing artifical structures and reinstating natural abiotic and biotic processes. A highly important component of river restoration are the sediments present in the river. Natural river morphodynamics requires sufficient sediment availability. Often sediments are trapped in upstream reservoirs, causing a sediment deficit downstream which leads to a degraded riverbed through erosion. Restoring rivers which suffer from erosive processes is a particular challenge which requires well-conceived management concepts. On the other hand, due to climate change some rivers in the world also face challenges from increased flow and sediment discharges, thereby causing an excess of sedimentation processes, which in turn may endanger flood protection, navigation or hydropower generation.

This Special Issue aims to present solutions for river restoration, such as dam and weir decommissioning, removal of regulation structures (e.g., riprap, groynes, guiding walls), reconnection of side channels, and implementation of nature-based solutions in river engineering. The analysis of the effects of the presented solutions may consider benefits for abiotic processes (e.g., flow dynamics, morphodynamics) as well as biotic indicators of restoration success, such as fish or macroinvertebrates. Moreover, the understanding of sediment transport and morphodynamics in rivers, from fundamental transport processes to sediment budgets to management aspects in rivers and reservoirs will be targeted in this Special Issue. Studies investigating the role of sediment transport processes and morphodynamics in the context of river restoration projects are therefore particularly welcome.

Prof. Dr. Michael Tritthart
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • river restoration
  • sediment transport
  • hydrodynamics
  • morphodynamics
  • ecohydraulics
  • field measurements
  • numerical modelling
  • hydraulic engineering
  • rivers
  • reservoirs

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 6813 KiB  
Article
Bedload Dynamics in a Partially Glaciated Catchment: Insights from over One Decade of Measuring Bedload Transport Processes and Future Perspectives Under Climate Change
by Sabrina Schwarz, Michael Paster, Andrea Lammer, Dorian Shire-Peterlechner, Michael Tritthart, Helmut Habersack and Rolf Rindler
Water 2025, 17(9), 1394; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17091394 - 6 May 2025
Viewed by 175
Abstract
Glacial retreat is a widely recognised phenomenon, and yet the processes of glaciofluvial bedload in high-alpine river systems remain largely unobserved. This study investigates the impact of hydrological and climatic changes on bedload and water discharge dynamics in the Rofenache catchment in the [...] Read more.
Glacial retreat is a widely recognised phenomenon, and yet the processes of glaciofluvial bedload in high-alpine river systems remain largely unobserved. This study investigates the impact of hydrological and climatic changes on bedload and water discharge dynamics in the Rofenache catchment in the Ötztal Alps over a 14-year period. Utilising high-resolution bedload data from plate geophones and direct calibration measurements, we analyse water discharge and bedload transport, focusing on hysteresis events influenced by temperature and precipitation. Our findings reveal that water discharge and bedload transport processes are non-linear, with counterclockwise hysteresis dominating; this is consistent with previous studies in glaciated catchment areas. The inclusion of temperature and precipitation data further highlights the significant influence of temperature on hysteresis events in the catchment area. This research provides insights into the bedload dynamics of a high-alpine river under the effects of climate change, emphasising the need for continued monitoring and analysis to understand the evolving interactions between hydrological and sedimentological processes and climatic factors in partially glaciated catchments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in River Restoration and Sediment Transport Management)
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