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Sediment Sampling in the Snake and Clearwater River Basins

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By Idaho Water Science Center January 1, 2017

Are there ways to manage sediment before it accumulates in Lower Granite Reservoir? If so, resource managers must know exactly how much sediment is being transported in the lower Snake and Clearwater River basins, the grain-size distribution of the sediment that is being transported, which subbasins are contributing the most sediment, and how the sediment is being deposited once it is delivered to Lower Granite Reservoir.

Our scientists, working in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, started a comprehensive monitoring program for suspended and bedload sediment transport in the lower Snake and Clearwater River basins. This was the first effort to quantify sediment transport in these basins since the 1970s, when the USGS and the Corps established a monitoring program before and after the impoundment of Lower Granite Reservoir. This most recent study also evaluated the use of surrogate technologies for estimating suspended sediment concentrations.

Below are publications associated with this project.

Sediment transport in the lower Snake and Clearwater River Basins, Idaho and Washington, 2008–11

Sedimentation is an ongoing maintenance problem for reservoirs, limiting reservoir storage capacity and navigation. Because Lower Granite Reservoir in Washington is the most upstream of the four U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoirs on the lower Snake River, it receives and retains the largest amount of sediment. In 2008, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Geological
Authors
Gregory M. Clark, Ryan L. Fosness, Molly S. Wood
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Idaho Water Science Center

Below are partners associated with this project.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Walla Walla District

Are there ways to manage sediment before it accumulates in Lower Granite Reservoir? If so, resource managers must know exactly how much sediment is being transported in the lower Snake and Clearwater River basins, the grain-size distribution of the sediment that is being transported, which subbasins are contributing the most sediment, and how the sediment is being deposited once it is delivered to Lower Granite Reservoir.

Our scientists, working in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, started a comprehensive monitoring program for suspended and bedload sediment transport in the lower Snake and Clearwater River basins. This was the first effort to quantify sediment transport in these basins since the 1970s, when the USGS and the Corps established a monitoring program before and after the impoundment of Lower Granite Reservoir. This most recent study also evaluated the use of surrogate technologies for estimating suspended sediment concentrations.

Below are publications associated with this project.

Sediment transport in the lower Snake and Clearwater River Basins, Idaho and Washington, 2008–11

Sedimentation is an ongoing maintenance problem for reservoirs, limiting reservoir storage capacity and navigation. Because Lower Granite Reservoir in Washington is the most upstream of the four U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoirs on the lower Snake River, it receives and retains the largest amount of sediment. In 2008, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Geological
Authors
Gregory M. Clark, Ryan L. Fosness, Molly S. Wood
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Idaho Water Science Center

Below are partners associated with this project.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Walla Walla District

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