MSc Thesis Oral Defence, Marianni Nogare: Measuring and Modeling Sediment Dispersion in Small Streams

Master of Science Oral Defence – Master of Science in Earth and Environmental Sciences

Marianni Nogare will defend the thesis titled:

Measuring and Modeling Sediment Dispersion in Small Streams

Elevated sediment content in small streams located on Crown Land is of particular concern in the Province of British Columbia. Such streams serve as drinking water sources for urban centers downstream.

The purpose of this study was to determine to what degree a common model utilized in water quality studies can be applied to the transport of sediment plumes in small streams as well as to assess the accuracy of predictive formulas that determine the rate of dilution of such plumes in the downstream direction.

The results indicate that the model can be applied with errors within ±50% if the values for the primary coefficients in the model are quantified accurately. Unfortunately, most of the formulas available for predicting the key coefficient describing downstream mixing are not applicable to small streams because they have errors that are greater than ±50%.

More research is needed to quantify this mixing coefficient, especially in the case of small streams that serve as drinking water sources for communities downstream.