Human Activities Like Dam Construction

Dams built for flood control and water catchment along the rivers leading to these coasts inhibit the transport of large grained

Local governments all want a booming economy and many rely on different companies or manufacturing to stimulate these economies. Any local government who has a single source economy will fight hard not to loose that resource. Big corporations and governments working together to keep the environment safe would be in the best interest of both parties. The United Sates Army is big on protecting the environment and is an example of a government agency operating with in strict environmental regulations. The Army will stop all operations on a tank range and wait hours upon hours to let a desert tortoise cross with out harm.

One of the major problems and also a problem in my neighborhood is sediments. Sediments forms when rocks and soil erode or weather. About 5.2 million tons of sediment enter the bay every year. When it rains, those sediments are carried to the bay by runoff.

Although the amount of pollutants from a single town or construction site may seem insignificant, the combined concentrations of contaminants threaten our lakes, streams and wetlands. When things such as: human and animal waste, decaying plants and animals, discarded litter, or food waste enter surface waters, either dissolved or suspended in stormwater runoff, they can deplete the supply of dissolved oxygen in the water. When dissolved oxygen is reduced below a certain critical level, it can impair or kill aquatic plants and animals (CNYRPDB, 2011).

The objectives of this research of modeling the fate and transport of pollutants in surface waters are:

Stormwater is water produced by rain or melting snow, which can rapidly flow over impervious surfaces into streams. Upland development magnifies the occurrence of stream bank erosion and in-stream nutrient pollution, which also have indirect negative effects. When stream bank erosion occurs, eroding sediment causes an increase in turbidity. Heavy stormwater flows into streams mixes the streambed sediment, which also increases turbidity, and ultimately causes declines in aquatic biota (Waters 1995). Therefore, negative externalities of upland development include

Like the rivers, there are signs of creek bank degradation and there is also a huge accumulation of sediment within these vital waterways. Dredging is currently underway to combat this build-up of sediment (Schwecke, Simmons and Maheshwari 2007). The reintroduction of native trees and groundcover should be considered to reduce the rate of erosion along the banks. The addition of sewerage and storm water treatment facilities has been positive and should be done in association with constant water quality

After taking samples, and running tests on the water of the U-Creek, the conclusion was made that the water quality of the U-Creek is excellent. Water quality is not excellent in all cases, but keeping good water quality is very important for life of the organisms in the water. One way that humans could change the water quality, or pollute the water is through runoff. Rivers are a very convenient place for the companies or farms to get rid of waste. For example, farmers put pesticides and fertilizers on their crops to protect them from bugs, or to help them grow better. Fertilizers contain nitrates and phosphates, if large amounts of these two things end up in the water it will lead to an overgrowth of plant life, and algae growth. Over time as the algae starts to rapidly grow, the algae will start to use up all of the dissolved oxygen in the water. Dissolved oxygen is very important to organism life so if it is all gone then organisms will start to die. Another way that humans pollute water is through chemical water deposits. Chemical waste is discharged from industrial processes, that can end up in rivers or streams. An example of a

Human-environmental interaction contributes to processes that affect fluvial environments. Indeed, impervious surfaces are ubiquitous in urban areas; these anthropogenic surfaces reroute runoff (among other things), which can ultimately impact the morphology, water quality, vegetation, and floodplain soils of a local watershed if it is near an urban area. Similar to the above example, because of the complexities associated with

This spring, record breaking floodwaters along the Mississippi River caused massive damage in nine states, totaling over $25 billion dollars in damage (Watts, 2011). In most areas the floodwaters have receded, however there is concern that even a little rain could cause more flooding due to the already saturated land. As cities and towns are beginning the restoration process, one thing caused by the flooding waters cannot be restored. Pollutants’ such as nitrogen from fertilizer, due to this area being primarily composed of farming land, is making its way toward the Gulf of Mexico. Every year pollutants traveling in the Mississippi River enter the Gulf and contribute to the Coastal Dead Zone; however, this year the Dead Zone in the Gulf

The erosion of shorelines is a natural process that can have beneficial or adverse impacts on the creation and maintenance of habitats. Sands and gravels eroded from the shores of coastal bays maintain the beach as a natural barrier between the open water and coastal wetlands. Beaches move back and forth onshore, offshore and along shore with changing wave conditions. The finer-grained silts and clays derived from the erosion of shorelines are sorted and carried as far as the waters of wetlands or tidal flats, where benefits are derived from addition of the new material. However, excessively high sediment loads can smother submerged aquatic vegetation beds, cover shellfish beds and tidal flats, fill in riffle

The largest source of contamination is runoff from land. Toxic runoff can be sewage, rainwater flowing over exposed topsoil, flooding or agricultural runoff. Rain can cause runoff of chemicals or waste that can seep into creeks, rivers and other waterways that lead to the ocean. Some of the chemicals found could be antibiotics or waste from animals, pesticides from crops or from pollutants, originating in the air, which have settled on land and washed away. Unless a solution to pollution runoff is found, this type of contamination will continue indefinitely and contribute to the deterioration of the ecosystem in the

Think about all the bodies of water on our planet. Every river, lake, stream, and is essential to the way our world functions. Unfortunately, our society has done very little to preserve these water sources and as a result, our rivers, lakes, streams, and oceans are suffering from many forms of pollution. Every oil spill, discarded water bottle, and obstructive dam continually add to our already-polluted waters, and very little is being done to reverse this problem. The most prominent issue being studied today is stormwater runoff. The collection of fine sediments, chemicals, and debris, are a serious pollution concern. Many solutions and technologies have already been developed, but the number one

Gravel bed rivers are comprised of sediment particle sizes between 2-64mm, but may also include a degree of sand as high as 50% (Bunte and Abt 2001). This wide array of particle sizes can affect the rates of erosion, deposition, and overall morphology of a river. Understanding the rate and likelihood of these processes is crucial in comprehending contemporary river environments, their behaviour and surrounding ecology. Detailed characteristics and processes of gravel bed rivers is not well understood as there are considerable variabilities at the bar, reach and river scales (Rice and Church 2009). In an attempt to advance understanding of the processes and mechanisms involved, analysis of the sediment is required. To quantify the size and distribution of sediment in a river, a large sample set is needed in order to be fully representative of the area surveyed, but this is more complex in gravel bedded rivers than sand as distribution can be either heterogeneous or homogenous (Bunte and Abt 2001). Considering this, sampling methods must be chosen appropriately and in accordance of objectives of the study in order to gain data specific and useful enough to address them. This report aims to address the characterisation of grain size distribution of both the bar-scale and reach-scale of the River Ashop, in the Peak District. To do this, two methods have been utilised: Wolman sampling (1954), and advanced digital granulometry (Graham et al. 2005). Patterns and distribution

Fatma Aql1, Iman El-Azizy 2, Mahmoud A. Azeem 3, Gamal A. Nasser 4,Ali N. El-bahrawy5.