Sediment quantity management in polish catchment-river-sea systems – should we care?

Abstract

The continuity of sediment transport in many catchment-river-sea systems worldwide has been disturbed by anthropogenic interferences. These interferences alter the sediment balance and result either in a surplus or lack of sediment, and with mostly negative, impacts to the economy, development and infrastructure, and environment. The main issues discussed related to surplus or lack of sediment belongs to: i) siltation of reservoirs with negative effects on hydropower production or water storage, and ii) erosion at downstream reaches where sediments are essential for channel formation and aquatic habitats. Both problems are recognized in Poland, however, only dealt with when they cause local economic problems. The paper focuses on examples of sustainable sediment managements in catchment-river-sea systems, and presents the idea of combining the Macromodel DNS with
the SWAT module. The resulting modelling and analytical tool can be considered very valuable in sediment quantity management.