Supporting commission(s) / organisations: ICSW, ICCE, ICWQ, Panta Rhei

Sediment transport and water quality are modified by human activities all along the river courses. If a lot of research is done on pristine basins and large dams trapping, little is known on what is the quality of the waters flowing to the sea. Most of the rivers around the world have been more or less equipped with hydraulic infrastructures, even in developing countries. How river managements impact on water quality and sediment transport from the upper basins to the coastal areas is not well known in many countries, especially in the developing world, while this may have strong and long-lasting effects on coastal geomorphology and ecosystems. In a time where many people try to justify the coastal recession that is observed in many shores of the world, from the sea level increase and thus from “global change”, the knowledge of the real sediment transports to the sea could bring new perspectives, as the reduction of the sediment transfer to the shores certainly participates in this recession. One of the associated questions is what is the part of the human impact on these processes? At what speed these changes take place?

For this workshop we invite communications about water quality and sediment transport monitoring and modelling, especially for large river basins, with a focus on the relationships between estuarine river systems and coastal areas in terms of water quality and sediment load. We also wait for papers dealing with comparisons of diverse methods for estimating the amount of sediment released to the sea and its variability in time. We also expect papers relating collaborations between research and development agencies, especially those dealing with coastal management.