Eco-hydraulics research at UW: understanding the mechanics of natural and unnatural rivers
THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2012 - 2:30 PM IN EIT 3142 AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO
Abstract:
People have been modifying water courses to suit their needs since the beginning of civilization. Irrigation, drinking water supply, waste removal, navigation, hydropower generation and flood control are all dependant on our ability to control and predict water velocity and depth given the boundary conditions of a channel. Considerable experience means that we are quite good at reworking the size, slope and roughness of a channel if we can assume that the channel is fixed and relatively uniform. However, as development has spread and intensified, the environmental and economic consequences of creating such “unnatural” channels have become more evident. In response, many techniques have been developed to help restore or rehabilitate water courses. The scientific justification for these techniques is not always strong and it is not clear how they should be applied in situations where the watershed has been altered through urbanization, deforestation, or climate change. There is a need to improve our understanding of the mechanics of “natural” rivers in order to both evaluate current restoration techniques and inform the discussion of how rivers faced with a variety of sometimes conflicting criteria should be managed. In this informal seminar I will review some of the key problems and present some of the work from my own graduate studies and research group at the University of Waterloo on flow turbulence, sediment transport, bedform morphology, the role of large wood, and the impact of urbanization.