Interdisciplinary scholarship on river systems and society is usually concerned with water flows, but rarely with sediment balance. Sediments, however, are essential component of river systems and their deltas, providing sediment needed to sustain river channels to balance delta subsidence and coastal erosion. Hydroelectric dams, canals, sand and gravel mining, and other human uses alter sediment fluxes, resulting in sediment starvation that causes undermining of bridges and other infrastructure, coastal erosion and retreat of many the world’s river deltas, and loss of ecological values. This project investigates the nexus of social and natural processes behind the modification of sediment balance in river systems. The project will convene fluvial geomorphologists, environmental historians, and historical geographers to look at the intersection of policy, economic development and technology with changes in the sediment balance.
* Project funded by France's Climate Plan Initiative - "Make Our Planet Great Again"
UC PI:
G. Mathias Kondolf
Department of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning, UC Berkeley
France PI:
Giacomo Parrinello
Centre d'Histoire de Sciences Po - Paris
