Temporal variability of rainfall in a semiarid environment in Brazil and its effect on sediment transport processes

Purpose

The temporal variabilities of both soil erosion by water and sediment redistribution in watersheds are directly related to rainfall characteristics. The purpose of this work was to assess the temporal pattern of rainfall in a semiarid watershed in Brazil and explain how this feature controls soil erosion and sediment yield.

Materials and methods

Daily and 5-min rainfall records were used to assess the temporal pattern down to the sub-hourly scale. To study the effect of the rainfall on sediment processes, erosivity and sediment yield at the Aiuaba (12 km²) and Benguê (933 km²) watersheds, Brazil were determined. Erosivity was calculated based on the rainfall kinetic energy method, while sediment yield was estimated from sediment rating curves and daily water discharge measurements.

Results and discussion

A large portion of annual rainfall is restricted to a few rain events and strong concentration in the sub-daily scale occurs, producing high erosivity. The temporal concentration of erosivity is greater than that of rainfall; the 10th percentile of the highest magnitude events encompasses 51% of the precipitation, but 80% of the erosivity. The temporal concentration of sediment yield is more pronounced; 88 and 98% of the sediment yield for the Aiuaba and Benguê watersheds, respectively, are within the 10th percentile of events.

Conclusions

The strong temporal concentration of precipitation causes events with high intensity and erosivity, thus allowing for soil detachment. Nonetheless, the low runoff rates limit downstream sediment transport. Such behavior produces a much higher temporal concentration of sediment yield, which reaches its maximal after a sequence of rainy days, when hydrological connectivity is enhanced and the sediments are propagated throughout the entire transport-limited system.     

Impact of no-tillage agricultural systems on sediment yield in two large catchments in Southern Brazil

Purpose

The impact of agriculture on water resources has long been a problem associated with the formation of runoff, the siltation of lakes and reservoirs, and overall depletion of water quality. In Brazil, these problems are mainly related to soil degradation by water erosion. However, studies of catchment-scale erosion are still rare particularly in grain-producing regions which have adopted conservative tillage systems for soil protection. In order to contribute to a better understanding of the impact of conservation agriculture on water resources, this study determined the runoff coefficient and sediment yield for two agricultural catchments.

Materials and methods

Hydrological and sedimentological monitoring was conducted in two catchments: the Conceicao catchment is characterized by grain production in weathered soils and a gently sloping landscape, while the Guapore catchment is characterized by heterogeneous soils and topography. Both catchments have problems associated with water erosion.

Results and discussion

The magnitudes of annual runoff coefficients and sediment yield were high, even if compared to similar agricultural regions, including a catchment with widespread adoption of no-tillage. The sediment yield was 140 t km^?2 year^?1, and the runoff coefficient was 14 % for the Conceicao catchment, while the sediment yield was 270 t km^?2 year^?1, and the runoff coefficient was 31 % for the Guapore catchment. The results indicate that problems such as gullies, soil compaction, runoff, floods, siltation, and water quality depletion associated with the misuse of agricultural areas in terms of soil conservation and water use are still evident and important even in regions with widespread adoption of no-tillage systems.

Conclusions

The magnitudes of both runoff and sediment yield clearly indicate the need to adopt complementary practices of soil conservation measures, such as mechanical runoff control.     

Slope length effects on microbial biomass and activity of eroded sediments

Purpose  

Due to climatic and topographic conditions, soil erosion is a major problem in Turkey; approximately 86% of the land is suffering from some degree of erosion. This study investigated the relationship between bare soil slope length and the erosion-induced degradation of soil quality and the loss of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) from the microbial biomass in eroded sediment in the Western Black Sea Region of Turkey.     

A comparison of measured catchment sediment yields with measured and predicted hillslope erosion rates in Europe

Purpose  

This study aims to understand better the relationship between measured soil loss rates due to sheet and rill erosion (SL), predicted SL rates and measured catchment sediment yields (SY) in Europe.     

Description of hydrological and erosion processes determined by applying the LISEM model in a rural catchment in southern Brazil

Purpose

Hydrosedimentological modeling is a tool that can be used to understand better important processes occurring at the catchment scale, such as runoff and sediment yield. The aim of this study was to use the Limburg Soil Erosion Model (LISEM) to describe the runoff and sediment yield during rainfall–runoff events in a small rural catchment in southern Brazil.

Materials and methods

The study was conducted in the Lajeado Ferreira Creek catchment (drainage area of 1.19 km²) where intense land use has caused a negative impact on water resources. Thirteen rainfall–runoff events that occurred in 2010 and 2011, including high-magnitude events, were used to model hydrosedimentological processes.

Results and discussion

Results

from the calibration and validation stages indicate that the model had a good performance when representing the hydrograph, including events with greater complexity. The use of a second soil layer in the model increased its efficiency, which is in accordance with the importance of subsurface flow in this catchment and its sensitivity to the physical properties of the soil, which are essential for controlling hydrosedimentological processes at the catchment scale. The simulation of sediment yield was overestimated by the model, constrained by the lack of sensitivity of the model to soil cohesion and the stability of soil aggregates. During the model calibration stage, these parameters had values different from those measured in the field.

Conclusions

The LISEM model performed well in representing runoff for events of different magnitudes. The discretization of the physical–hydrologic properties in the soil profile enabled the evaluation of the effect of subsurface impediment layers on water infiltration and runoff. The simulation was less accurate for suspended sediment concentration than for runoff. This indicates the need for further studies to either identify other factors controlling erosion and sediment yield that have not been identified by the model, or identify if the representation of the physical parameters is inadequate, especially the values of soil cohesion and aggregate stability.     

Sediment dynamics and the role of flash floods in sediment export from medium-sized catchments: a case study from the semi-arid tropical highlands in northern Ethiopia

Purpose  

The Ethiopian highlands are a fragile environment characterized by steep slopes, intense rainfall, a sparse vegetation cover, and the occurrence of flash floods. Although important efforts have been made to mitigate the ongoing soil erosion and land degradation problems, the sediment dynamics at medium-sized catchment scale (100–10,000 km²) are not fully understood. Therefore, this study aims to provide a better understanding of sediment export processes and the importance of flash flood events in semi-arid tropical catchments.     

Link between black carbon and resistant desorption of PAHs on soil and sediment

Purpose  

The effects of black carbon (BC) on resistant desorption of organic pollutants in soil and sediment were evaluated to further understand the mechanisms for the resistant desorption and to find a more accurate desorption model which can improve risk assessment and management of ubiquitous soil/sediment contamination.     

Sediment tracers in water erosion studies: current approaches and challenges

Introduction

Interest in the use of sediment tracers as a tool to complement traditional water erosion or deposition measurements has increased due to the additional information they provide, such as sediment source identification, tracking of sediment movement across the landscape at various temporal and spatial scales, and estimation of soil erosion rates. For these reasons, the utility and robustness of sediment tracing approaches using a wide range of substances and soil properties have been evaluated in numerous studies.

Conclusions

A review of established tracing approaches identified five distinct groups of tracing approaches: fallout radionuclides, rare earth elements, soil magnetism and magnetic substances, other tracers, and sediment fingerprinting techniques. This paper describes the basic theory of each tracing approach in assessing soil erosion and sediment redistribution, describing their methodology and main applications, and summarizing the commonalities and differences between the approaches. It also identifies research gaps and future trends.     

降雨类型对褐土横垄坡面土壤侵蚀过程的影响

雨型是影响土壤侵蚀过程的重要因子之一,而影响效应与耕作措施密切相关。目前,雨型对横垄坡面土壤侵蚀过程的影响机制尚不清楚。该文以褐土横垄坡面为研究对象,设计了平均雨强和降雨量相同的4种雨型(增加、减弱、增加-减弱和减弱-增加型),采用可同时调节垄向和坡面坡度的土槽进行模拟降雨,研究各个雨型下不同侵蚀阶段的产流产沙特征。结果表明:雨型间的径流量和侵蚀量在细沟间和细沟侵蚀阶段均差异显著,且差异在细沟阶段体现的更为明显。雨型间径流量的大小顺序为增加-减弱型减弱型减弱-增加型增加型,侵蚀量则为增加-减弱型减弱-增加型减弱型增加型。给定雨强下(30、60或90 mm/h),径流量、径流贡献率和侵蚀量贡献率均随降雨过程中雨强发生时序的延迟而增加,而单位径流侵蚀量呈相反趋势;雨型间给定雨强同一发生时序下的径流量和侵蚀量及其它们对总径流量和总侵蚀量的贡献率均差异显著。4种雨型下,幂函数均能很好的描述细沟间和细沟侵蚀阶段内产沙率与径流率间的关系,且方程中的指数均低于2,但雨型间幂函数方程中的指数存在明显差异。以上研究结果有助于深入理解褐土垄作系统下的土壤侵蚀机理,并为横坡垄作的合理利用提供科学指导。     

短历时强降雨对典型喀斯特坡耕地侵蚀产沙的影响

探索短历时强降雨对典型喀斯特坡耕地侵蚀产沙的影响,为喀斯特区坡耕地应对极端天气的水土流失防治提供理论依据。研究采用人工室内模拟降雨试验的方法,对喀斯特坡耕地侵蚀产沙特征在短历时强降雨作用下的影响因素开展研究。结果表明:(1)短历时强降雨导致喀斯特坡耕地地表输沙模数和产沙量随降雨强度的增大而增大,而地下输沙模数和产沙量与降雨强度无明显变化规律,坡耕地土壤侵蚀以地表为主。地表产沙临界雨强为30～50 mm/h。(2)坡度增大时地表产沙比重大于地下产沙比重,地表土壤侵蚀以地表为主。产沙比重发生转折的坡度值为15°～20°。70 mm/h降雨强度和5°坡度下,降雨强度对地下土壤侵蚀可能存在"负效应"。(3)喀斯特坡耕地侵蚀产沙特征与降雨强度和坡度密切相关,但降雨强度因子起主导作用。强降雨主要影响地表土壤侵蚀,因此,对喀斯特坡耕地土壤侵蚀治理应以地表为主。研究结果有助于深入了解短历时强降雨对喀斯特坡耕地土壤侵蚀的影响,为对喀斯特坡耕地应对极端天气和水土流失防治以及维持生态环境健康持续发展提供理论依据。     

Modelling the impact of climate change on sediment yield in a highly erodible Mediterranean catchment

Purpose

The assessment of climate change impacts on the sediment cycle is currently a primary concern for environmental policy analysts in Mediterranean areas. Nevertheless, quantitative assessment of climate change impacts is still a complex task. The aim of this study was to implement a sediment model by taking advantage of sediment proxy information provided by reservoir bottom deposits and to use it for climate change assessment in a Mediterranean catchment.

Materials and methods

The sediment model was utilised in a catchment that drains into a large reservoir. The depositional history of the reservoir was reconstructed and used for sediment sub-model implementation. The model results were compared with gauged suspended sediment data in order to verify model robustness. Then, the model was coupled with future precipitation and temperature scenarios obtained from climate models. Climatological model outputs for two emission scenarios (A2 and B2) were simulated and the results compared with a reference scenario.

Results and discussion

Model results showed a general decrease in soil moisture and water discharge. Large floods, which are responsible for the majority of sediment mobilisation, also showed a general decrease. Sediment yield showed a clear reduction under the A2 scenario but increased under the B2 scenario. The computed specific sediment yield for the control period was 6.33 Mg ha^?1 year^?1, while for the A2 and B2 scenarios, it was 3.62 and 7.04 Mg ha^?1 year^?1, respectively. Furthermore, sediment transport showed an increase in its time compression, i.e. a stronger dependence of total sediment yield from the largest event contributions.

Conclusions

This study shows a methodology for implementing a distributed sediment model by exploiting reservoir sedimentation volumes. This methodology can be applied to a wide range of catchments, given the high availability of reservoir sedimentation data. Moreover, this study showed how such a model can be used in the framework of a climate change study, providing a measure of the impact of climate change on soil erosion and sediment yields.     

不同降雨强度对紫色土坡面侵蚀过程的影响

为研究不同雨强对紫色土坡面侵蚀过程的影响,通过人工模拟降雨试验和室内分析,采用降雨总量(30mm)一定、降雨历时不定的原则,在2种覆盖度(50%和75%)下,分析了3个雨强(0.5,1.0,1.5mm/min)对紫色土土壤坡面产流产沙的影响。结果表明:在50%和75%覆盖度下,(1)雨强越大紫色土坡面产流总量和径流率越大。相同时间内,不同雨强(0.5,1.0,1.5mm/min)下的2种覆盖度产流量分别占坡面产流总量的18%,30%,52%。(2)雨强越大紫色土坡面产沙量和侵蚀率越大。相同时间内,不同雨强(0.5,1.0,1.5mm/min)下,2种覆盖度产沙量分别占坡面产沙总量的13%,33%,54%。(3)紫色土坡面侵蚀泥沙中的水稳性团聚体的粒径主要集中在0.25,3mm,分别占泥沙总量的74%和67%,0.25~3mm粒径的水稳性团聚体分别占泥沙总量的30%和26%。(4)相关分析表明,雨强和紫色土坡面产流产沙量均为极显著正相关(P0.01)。雨强与产沙量之间均拟合为一次线性方程;雨强与产流量之间分别拟合为一次线性方程和二次方程。研究结果为控制紫色土坡面水土流失和揭示其相关侵蚀机理提供参考。     

Investigating the effects of afforestation on soil erosion and sediment mobilisation in two small catchments in Southern Italy

Annual soil losses in southern Italy can exceed 100–150 t ha^− 1 year^− 1. Where erosion on agricultural land is particularly severe, land use change and afforestation are frequently seen as the most appropriate means of reducing erosion risk. However, the overall effectiveness of afforestation in reducing soil erosion remains uncertain, due to the poor development of the forest cover in some areas, leading to significant areas with sparse tree cover, and the erosional impact of forest harvesting, which commonly involves clearcutting. The study reported here addresses this uncertainty and focuses on two small catchments (W2 and W3) located in Calabria, southern Italy, for which measurements of suspended sediment yield are available. Both the catchments originally supported a rangeland vegetation cover and they were planted with eucalyptus trees in 1968. Currently, only catchment W3 supports a continuous forest cover. In catchment W2 the forest cover is discontinuous and there is a significant area of the catchment (ca. 20%) where the tree cover is sparse and the vegetation cover is dominated by natural grasses. Two additional erosion plots were established within catchment W2 in 1991, in order to explore the effect of the density of the tree cover on soil erosion. Information on the sediment yields from the two catchments and the plots for 10 storm events that occurred during the period December 2005–December 2006 and associated information on the ¹³⁷Cs and excess ²¹⁰Pb of the sediment, have been used to investigate the effectiveness of afforestation in reducing sediment mobilisation and net soil loss from the catchments involved. The results demonstrate that the areas of greatest soil loss are associated with the slopes where the tree cover is discontinuous, and that forest harvesting by clearcutting causes significant short-term increases in sediment mobilisation and sediment yield. These findings, which are consistent with previous work undertaken within the same area, emphasize the importance of vegetation cover density in influencing rates of soil loss in the study catchments. The study also provided a useful demonstration of the potential for using measurements of the ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb_ex content of sediment, in combination with more traditional sediment monitoring, to investigate sediment sources and to compare the sediment dynamics of catchments subjected to different land management practices.     

Impacts of rainstorms on soil erosion and organic matter for different cover crop systems in the western coast agricultural region of Syria

More and more cultivated coastal territories of Syria are being affected by increasing land degradation processes, specifically, by soil erosion due to non‐sustainable soil management. The use of cover crops can be considered an ideal solution to reduce the negative impacts of extreme rainfall events on soil erosion. However, there is no enough information about the main cultivated areas of Syria due to the current conflicts and the very few types of research conducted there. Therefore, the main aim of this research was to assess soil erosion (soil loss and sediment concentration) and hydrological response (run‐off and infiltration) considering the impact of different types of cropping systems on soil organic matter. To achieve this goal, using erosion plots, five grouped natural rainfall events and soil samples were collected, and infiltration measurements were performed between November 2012 and April 2013 (rainy season) on three different cropping systems (wheat, vetch, bean and control) with different sloping gradients (8% and 20%) in Tartous governorate (W Syria). Our results showed a cumulative rainfall amount from 68.8 to 201 mm during the study period. The highest sediment yield was generated in the control and wheat plots, registering 0.468 and 0.368 kg m^?2, respectively, with an inclination of 8%. For an inclination of 20%, the control and wheat plots registered 1.145 and 0.967 kg m^?2, respectively. In comparison with the control plots, there was a decrease in the total eroded organic matter, which ranged from 0.0579 (control) to 0.0289 (bean) kg m^?2 year^?1 in the plots with 20% inclination, and from 0.0233 (control) to 0.0069 (bean) kg m^?2 year^?1 with 8% inclination. To sum up, bean and vetch play an effective role to mitigate soil erosion, delay run‐off and reduce sediment yield. The output of this research provides first insights into the impact of different land uses on soil loss. Also, it could help rural inhabitants and farmers to correctly manage their soils against soil erosion processes.     

Effects of Underground Pore Fissures on Soil Erosion and Sediment Yield on Karst Slopes

Underground pore fissure is one of common ways of soil leakage, and the soil loss in underground pore fissure would aggravate the development of rocky desertification in karst areas. A designed steel tank with varied underground pore fissure degrees was used to measure how underground pore fissure affected soil erosion and sediment yield on karst bare slope. We found that sediment yield rates and its distribution ratios obviously differed between the surface and underground. Surface sediment yield rate greatly responded to rainfall intensity conditions, while underground sediment yield rate rarely changed. Both bed rock bareness and underground pore fissure degree had an insignificant effect on both surface and underground sediment yield rate, but the former greatly influenced sediment distribution between the surface and underground. With increasing of bed rock bareness rate, both the average surface and underground sediment yield rates first increased and then decreased. The later posed an effect on underground sediment yield rate, which increased with increase of underground pore fissure degree. With increase of underground pore fissure degree, critical rainfall intensity for producing surface sediment would increase from 0.8–1.3 mm min⁻¹ to 1.3–2.0 mm min⁻¹. The results provide a mechanistic understanding of how underground pore fissure affects soil erosion and sediment production. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fingerprinting sediment sources in the outlet reservoir of a hilly cultivated catchment in Tunisia

Purpose

Approximately 74 % of agricultural soils in Tunisia are affected by water erosion, leading to the siltation of numerous human-made reservoirs and therefore a loss of water storage capacity. The objective of this study was to propose a methodology for estimating the relative contributions of gully/channel bank erosion and surface topsoil erosion to the sediment accumulated in small reservoirs.

Materials and methods

We tested an approach based on the sediment fingerprinting technique for sediments collected from a reservoir (which has been in operation since 1994) at the outlet of a catchment (Kamech, 2.63 km²). Sampling concentrated on the soil surface (in both cropland and grassland), gullies and channel banks. A total of 17 sediment cores were collected along a longitudinal transect of the Kamech reservoir to investigate the origin of the sediment throughout the reservoir. Radionuclides (particularly caesium-137, ¹³⁷Cs) and nutrients (total phosphorus, total nitrogen and total organic carbon (TOC)) were analysed as potential tracers.

Results and discussion

The applications of a mixing model with ¹³⁷Cs alone or ¹³⁷Cs and TOC provided very similar results: The dominant source of sediment was surface erosion, which was responsible for 80 % of the total erosion within the Kamech catchment. Additionally, we showed that the analysis of a single composite core provided information on the sediment origin that was consistent with the analysis of all sediment layers in the core. We demonstrated the importance of the core sampling location within the reservoir for obtaining reliable information regarding sediment sources and the dominant erosion processes.

Conclusions

The dominance of surface erosion processes indicates that conservation farming practices are required to mitigate erosion in the agricultural Kamech catchment. Based on the results from 17 sediment cores, guidelines regarding the number and location of sampling cores to be collected for sediment fingerprinting are proposed. We showed that the collection of two cores limited the sediment source apportionment uncertainty due to the core sampling scheme to <10 %.     

The use of Kohonen neural networks for runoff–erosion modeling

Purpose

We investigated the application of Kohonen Neural Networks (KNNs) in order to estimate sediment yield based on runoff and climatological data in a semiarid region of Brazil. Accurate estimations of sediment yield are essential to improve the management of soil erosion in semiarid areas, where large quantities of sediments tend to be produced only periodically.

Materials and methods

The case study is an erosion plot within the São João do Cariri Experimental Basin, which is located in the semiarid portion of Paraíba State, Brazil. KNNs are unsupervised neural networks capable of reducing a multidimensional data set to a bidimensional matrix of features, which can be used for analysis and prediction purposes. A total of 60 rainfall events, which occurred between 1999 and 2002, were used to calibrate and test the model. The application of a multivariate linear regression (MLR) model was also carried out.

Results and discussion

Statistical indexes were used as criteria for evaluating the performance of the KNN and MLR models for the test data set. The correlation and relative bias of the KNN model estimations with those from observed data were 0.90 and ?4.39 %, respectively. A correlation of 0.70 and a relative bias of 15.63 % were found from the comparison of sediment yields obtained by the MLR model with those of the observed data. Analysis of the outcomes indicates that the KNN model, which is capable of detecting and extracting nonlinear trends, produced more reliable results than the regression model.

Conclusions

The KNN model results appear to be superior to those generated by the MLR model and suggest that the developed methodology may be applied to similar case studies.     

暴雨下川东黄壤区不同径流路径调控措施对坡面侵蚀特征的影响

为研究川东区不同径流路径调控措施对黄壤坡面侵蚀特征的影响,设置3种坡度(25°,30°,35°)的稀疏型菱形网格(R1)、密集型菱形网格(R^2)和对照(R0)的裸坡坡面,基于人工模拟降雨试验,对比分析3种降雨强度(60,90,120 mm/h)下坡面的侵蚀过程与特征。结果表明:(1)相同坡度下,2种处理和对照组坡面在60,90 mm/h的雨强下初始产流耗时表现为R0R1>R^2,当坡度增大至35°和雨强增大至120 mm/h时,R1、R^2坡面的产流产沙速率逐渐接近甚至有稍微超过R0坡面的趋势。(4)与产流产沙过程相对应,R1、R^2坡面在不同坡度和降雨强度组合中,通常减沙效益大于减流效益,累积产沙量与累积径流量均成幂函数关系。研究结果可为揭示川东黄壤区坡面的侵蚀过程研究提供参考,为该区域的水土流失治理提供科学依据。     

A method for developing a large-scale sediment yield index for European river basins

Background, aim, and scope  

Sediment fluxes within continental areas play a major role in biogeochemical cycles and are often the cause of soil surface degradation as well as water and ecosystem pollution. In a situation where a high proportion of the land surface is experiencing significant global land use and climate changes, it appears important to establish sediment budgets considering the major processes forcing sediment redistribution within drainage areas. In this context, the aim of this study is to test a methodology to estimate a sediment yield index at a large spatial resolution for European river basins.     

Factors affecting soil loss at plot scale and sediment yield at catchment scale in a tropical volcanic agroforestry landscape

Tropical deforestation and land use change is often perceived as the major cause of soil loss by water erosion and of sediment load in rivers that has a negative impact on the functioning of hydropower storage reservoirs. The Sumberjaya area in Sumatra, Indonesia is representative for conflicts and evictions arising from this perception. The purpose of this study as part of a Negotiation Support System approach was to assess sediment yield both at plot and catchment scale and to relate it to a variety of possible clarifying factors i.e. land use, geology, soil and topography. Sediment yield at catchment scale per unit area, was found to be 3–10 times higher than soil loss measured in erosion plots. A stepwise regression showed that the dominant factors explaining sediment yield differences at catchment scale in this volcanic landscape were a particular lithology (Old Andesites) and slope angle followed by the silt fraction of the top soil. In lithologically sensitive areas soil loss at the plot scale under monoculture coffee gardens decreases over time from on average 7–11 Mg ha^? 1 yr^? 1 to 4–6 Mg ha^? 1 yr^? 1, mainly because of the development of surface litter layers as filters and top soil compaction in the areas without litter, but remains higher than under shade coffee systems or forest. The runoff coefficient under monoculture coffee remains on average significantly higher (10–15%) than under forest (4%) or under shade coffee systems (4–7%). In lithologically stable areas soil loss remained below 1.8 Mg ha^? 1 yr^? 1 and the runoff coefficient below 2.5% under all land use types, even bare soil plots or monoculture coffee gardens. Less than 20% of the catchment area produces almost 60% of the sediment yield. The reduction of negative off-site effects on e.g. the life time of a storage reservoir would benefit greatly from an improved assessment of the lithologies in volcanic landscapes and the consideration of potential sediment source and sink areas. In lithologically sensitive areas, a shift from sun to shade coffee systems may result in reducing surface runoff and soil loss, although water erosion at the plot scale is not the main contributor to sediment yield at the catchment scale. The quantification of land use effects on dominant erosive processes such as river bank and river bed erosion, landslides and the concentrated flow erosion on footpaths and roads can contribute to more targeted efforts and relevant incentives to reduce (or live with) sediment load of the rivers.