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SOMETHING ABOUT RIVERS

What does a river specialist need to know?
What can we learn from case studies?
that can help understanding the Var case?
(I would be happy if the local authorities could once also understand it!)
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PART 1:
RIVER MORPHOLOGY
About the genesis and behaviour of rivers as
determined by natural and anthropogenic factors
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Content
Introduction: why a potamological approach in
river engineering
Importance of the geomorphologic context
About morphology of alluvial rivers
Reminders of fluvial hydraulics and some
basics in river engineering, a methodology for
river projects
Some more information on the Var issues
(last presentation today, as an introduction to the field
visit and work in the second week)
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Content
Case studies:
! Floods and river management in Pirai catchment
(Bolivian Amazon region)
! Impact of Dams on river morphology and
flooding in the Grijalva river (Mexico)
! Managing the Scheldt estuary harmonizing
economy, safety against floods and ecology
(Belgium-The Netherlands)
Video After the Floods (BBC Horizon, 17
April 1994, about the floods in the USA (Mississippi) and
Bangladesh (Ganges-Brahmapoutra-Meghna delta)
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Introduction: a potamological approach?
Potamology (Potamos = River, Logy = science in Greek)
emerged in the USA in the 50s and 60s following
a series of failures in river engineering
It recognizes the need for a multi-disciplinary
approach, not only limited to hydraulics and
sediment transport but also considering:
Geology
Soil mechanics
Ecology - biology - chemistry
Climate
History,
Its use almost abandonned since the ninenteen
eighties, now
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and a change in society
The engineer is not anymore the only one in the
decision-making process about river projects
Hydroinformatics (hardware and software)
developed very quickly, making most engineers
rather users instead of developers of the tools
Software has become a commercial product
Education has evolved, with less practitioners
involved (hydraulics less important in curricula)
Ecological, but also social and political aspects
interfere in the decision-making (e.g., worldwide
reactions against building large dams)
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The geomorphologic context
The rivers shape is for a large part determined by
the valley topography and the mechanical
characteristics of the river basin (geology, soil
mechanical properties)
Rivers have a shape which is the result of a long
history of changes in climate, in tectonic activities,
in land use, in human interference
To illustrate this, let us compare the Novillero river
(Chiapas, Mexico) with the Var (France), the
difference for the Var being the absence of coastal
floodplain, the river discharging directly in the sea
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Hill
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The slope on this hill was
destabilised by heavy rains, and a
landslide obstructed the El
Novillero river course
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Chiapas coast - September 1998 floods
It rained for 3 days in Novillero, in total 1200 mm!
A landslide in the over-soaked hill side created
temporarily a damming of the river, just upstream
of the road bridge
When this dam breached, it formed a (dam-break)
flood wave loaded with debris (rocks, trees, all
kind of vegetation) which obstructed the channel
under the bridge, creating a new dam
The bridge exploded during the night and the
flood wave submerged the Valdivia village with
sediment; all villagers died
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View of the hill and the canalised river
just downstream of the roadbridge
Driving through Valdivia village
at the level of the roofs (1999)
= New railway bridge
A = Valdivia village
= Road bridge
Re-constructed Valdivia village
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There was a new catastrophic event in 2005
Image before the 1995 event
Image after the new event
Rectification of the river
by building levees in 1999
how useful was it ?
(working against nature!)
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In the upper part of the basins, rivers are formed by erosion of the
bedrock: their course incises progressively (zone 1). Flow carries the
products of the incision and of the soil erosion towards the lower
zones. In zone 2 some equilibrium exists between sediment transport
capacity of the flow and the sediment supply; it is the transfer zone. In
zone 3, the sediments are deposited by lack of transport capacity, in
deltas, lagunes or estuaries.
The geomorphology of river basins
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Geomorphic context of upper river basins
In the upper catchments, geology and tectonic
movements, faults and plication determine the shape of
river courses
Caving and landslides contribute significantly to the rivers
sediment load
Vegetation controls soil
erosion, while agriculture
(slope tillage, roads and
other works induce soil
erosion
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Geomorphic context river channels
Entrenched channel:
channel bordered on either side by
banks higher than the highest flood
level. This type of channel is
usually degrading when bedrock
can be eroding, i.e. incising always
deeper its course in the valley
Partly entrenched
channel: channel bordered
occasionally by discontinuous
segments of flood plain. Some
degradation and lateral shifting
may be taking place (Middle reach
of the Var river)
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Geomorphic context river channels
Confined channel:
channel is either stable (vertically)
or aggrading and frequently
impinges on the valley walls. The
channel pattern is controlled by the
narrow valley
Partly confined
channel: channel is
occasionally confined by valley
walls. There is usually sufficient
room for complete development of
channel pattern
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Geomorphic context middle reaches
In average, sediments will be in transit, limited
incision or deposition
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Geomorphic context lower reaches
Geomorphologic context may be quite diversified,
depending on topography and on the presence of
sediment sources and the sediment sorting
(Watch topography and riverbed sediments during the visit)
When slopes change rapidly, sediment deposits
on the riverbed may be coarse or fine, depending
on the local slopes (selective deposition with the
varying velocities and slopes)
(During the field trip, look and think about it in the different
reaches of the Var river)
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Geomorphic context river mouths
The type of river mouth will depend on the relative
importance of sea (lake) and river
Streams carrying large amounts of solids to the
sea form deltas
When tides and or waves at sea are strong,
sediments will be transported along the coast,
forming lagoons, separated from the sea by a
sandbar
Streams with little solid load to the sea (or lake)
with strong tidal currents create estuaries
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Geomorphic context river mouths
Most river mouths
have estuaries, which
type depends on the
relative importance of
sea (lake) and river:
open entrance: Fjord,
ria, coastal plain
constricted entrance,
bar built, blind (Var?)
Deltas develop with
high solid discharges
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Geomorphic context river mouths
Rivers with high sediment load:
in a first phase fill up the drowned valley
then deposit sediment beyond the coastline, creating
the delta (from Greek letter !)
When rivers have rather low sediment load, their
estuaries remain as such
Evolution of the EBRO river mouth (Spain), from estuary to delta
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Delta formed in the reservoir of Peitas dam
(case study Grijalva river, Chiapas, Mexico)
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Impacts of climatic changes
Climate has always changed
Over the past 3000 years, the final phase of the
Holocene, climate has been exceptionally stable
On the short term, recent climatic changes affect
mainly upper catchments, less lower parts
Changes in climate and hydro-meteorology affect
soil erosion, hydraulic regime (discharges and
sediment transport) and evolution of river courses
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Impacts of climatic changes
In the Holocene period, the variation in sea level
(125 metres) strongly affected coastal rivers (Var?)
Holocene sea level changes (Peters & al, 2001
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Geomorphic context - Conclusions
Today, most rivers and streams still experience the
influence of morphologic changes induced by
natural factors : tectonic, climatic, hydrologic,
sedimentological, and other
Some rivers have reached a kind of maturity,
other (most) rivers not yet an equilibrium
Consequently, one (and certainly the river
engineer) should acknowledge that rivers may
not be managed or trained if their natural
evolution is not properly recognised
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Geomorphic context - Conclusions
River projects should start with a diagnostic phase
in which the geomorphic situation has to be
central (Var?)
The study should evaluate the influence of human
activities on the morphological changes (Var?)
(morphological impact assessment)
River engineering must take into account the likely
river response to the project, so that it would
remain effective even when new morphological
changes would appear (Var?)
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Geomorphic context - Conclusions
River engineers should recognize all the
processes responsible for the morphological
changes, not only hydraulics and sediment
transport
The morphology of a river course must be
understood through the processes, not by making
river categories
Developing specific tools per river category is
dangerous, because reality is much more complex
than theory
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Morphology of rivers
Typology of rivers can be based on the plan view
shape of the river course, on the existence and
types of sandbars and islands
The physical processes responsible for
developing one or another type are still not
understood; however, engineering can not wait till
this knowledge would become available
(Again:) Besides (or instead of) classifying rivers
morphologically, one should start with a diagnose,
based on all available data and information
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Typology of rivers based on plan view
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Braided or meandering?
No universally accepted theories exist to explain
the reasons for braiding and meandering of rivers
Well accepted is the influence of discharge and
slope on the channel patterns, while the role of
sediment transport is not clear
Analysis of a large number of rivers in terms of
channel slope and bankfull discharge was made
by Leopold and Wolman (1957)
Straight rivers however, as given in the graph, can
only exist due to the geomorphic setting
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Braided or meandering?
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Braided or meandering?
Many experts
believe that exists a
channel-forming
discharge, usually
taken as bankfull,
somehow related to
mean annual
discharge
We however believe that in most cases, the river
morphology depends on the variation of flow
discharge with time (flood shape and history)
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Meandering channels
Channels may be classified depending on the
regularity of the meanders
Regular meanders exist,
though they are the
exception
Shape of tortuous and
irregular meanders is
mostly caused by
differences in riverbed
and banks composition
(geology and relief)
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Meandering channels
Ichilo river, Bolivian Amazon
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Meandering channels
Bolivian Amazon rivers
regular, tortuous meanders
as well as braided reaches
in the same area
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Shape of river courses (what for the VAR?)
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The islands are unstable
and change shape at each
ood
Several channels are
present in all cross-
sections
Some bars remain stable
during a sufcient time to
allow vegetation growing
The riverbanks have
irregular shapes
Braided rivers (Pirai river, Bolivia)
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Point bars are located at the inside of the bend
Side bars, adjacent to the banks, usually in straight
channel reach
Mid-channel bars,with no connection to
either bank
Diagonal bars, extending across a channel at a
denite angle to the river bank; ow spills over the bar
in the form of a rife (or rapid)
which can be seen in the Var
Channel bars
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There is a long-term
adaptation of the river
morphology to ow
and sediment transport.
Lane showed that the
product of ow
discharge times ow
slope is proportional to
the product of the
sediment load times
sediment size
Channel equilibrium
This can be used to asses the river response to changes in hydrologic and
sedimentological regime of a river (e.g. Var)
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Morphology - Conclusions
Most important is to comprehend how the
observed river morphology was created, so that
could be set up a good concept, before
constructing physical or numerical models
To comprehend fluvial processes, we do not need
to know all the mathematical formulations, nor
understand all the physical processes (expertise)
Understanding the mechanisms governing the
river behaviour must go through field surveys,
observations and measurements which became
extremely powerful with the new technologies
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Morphology - Conclusions
When modelling the Var and searching solutions
for re-establishing a healthier morphology, think
about all the aspects:
History and causes of past changes
geo-fluvio-morphological context
sediment sources and transport
changes in river morphology and possible causes
Think also about the behaviour of the riverbed
during the floods: is the geometry at low flow
representative of flood conditions?
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END OF PART RIVER MORPHOLOGY