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National Workshop on Sediment Remobilization and Channel Morphodynamics in Active and Abandoned Reservoirs
photo courtesy Rollin Hotchkiss
photo courtesy Rollin Hotchkiss
The National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics hosted a workshop entitled “Sediment Remobilization and Channel Morphodynamics in Active and Abandoned Reservoirs.” The workshop was held in Torrey, Utah over the March 25-27, 2005 weekend.

The workshop’s purpose was an exchange of ideas and expertise on research needs regarding sediment remobilization and channel morphodynamics associated with dam removal. 

The workshop included a mix of overview presentations and discussions within smaller break-out groups. The first morning was devoted to prepared presentations on sediment–related dam removal issues from eight different perspectives: field monitoring and experiments, laboratory experiments, numerical modeling, geochemistry, the government sector, the private sector, policy, and biology/ecology. These presentations and the full agenda are available for downloading (as PDF files) from NCED’s website. That afternoon featured group discussions focusing on research needs in the areas of field, experimental, and numerical modeling studies.

Day two was spent on a field trip to Lake Powell, where extremely low water levels have exposed a great deal of the reservoir delta. They were guided
photo courtesy Rollin Hotchkiss
photo courtesy Rollin Hotchkiss
by John Dohrenwend (University of Arizona and Southwest Satellite Imaging), who has been using remote imagery and ground photography to document the emergence of, and subsequent changes to, the Lake Powell delta (click here for more on the field trip, including an image gallery).

On the third day, attendees began with a summary of the first day’s breakout group discussions. They then divided into two groups (an Upstream group looking at the reservoir system and a Downstream group looking at the fluvial system below the dam) to re-examine the statements on what was known and what the remaining critical research needs were.

The group will produce a white paper detailing the results of these discussions – it will be posted here.

Click on the links below for more.

State of the art: Overview

State of the art: Upstream Group

State of the art: Downstream Group

Workshop downloads

Lake Powell Field Trip

Lake Powell Delta Image Gallery