Sediment Sources Assessments and Establishing Priorities for Abatement

Strategic efforts to abate sediment in impaired watersheds face numerous challenges in achieving tangible water quality improvements that are measurable, attributable to project actions, and focused on principle causative sources. As part of a small watershed sediment control strategy, the Soque River Watershed Partnership will examine the feasibility of conducting sediment source assessments for five small catchments (first and second order streams approximately one square mile or less) in order to prioritize remedial actions based on relative contribution of sediment, opportunities for greatest sediment reduction, cooperation of land owners, and anticipated sediment reduction achieved per dollar spent. The assessments will integrate GIS modeling, field scale channel and hillslope stability evaluations, and in-stream suspended loadings. These data will then be overlain onto a cultural and resource management framework to identify practical and cost efficient remedial actions. This project attempts to develop a strategic and data driven approach to prioritizing sediment abatement activities at the small catchment scale in impaired watersheds.