Project Number: 6408-13000-020-03
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Sep 29, 2003
End Date: Sep 28, 2008

Objective:
The prime objectives of the agreement are to (1) identify-cost effective solutions for protecting levees of commercial aquaculture ponds and irrigation reservoirs, streambanks and edge-of-field gullies from accelerated erosion by hydraulic and geotechnical processes in highly erodible soils of Mississippi, (2) predict sediment-transport capacity of diffused and concentrated flows, and (3) determine magnitude, frequency and duration relations for sediment transport for stable streams in the southeastern United States.

Approach:
ARS and the University of Mississippi will conduct field and laboratory studies of erosion processes, rates and controlling variables responsible for accelerated erosion of levees, streambanks and edge-of-gullies. Cooperative work will utilize the hydraulic laboratory facilities of the ARS National Sedimentation Laboratory to conduct tests on physical models of typical levees and document the effectiveness of various mechanical treatment alternatives that serve to dissipate wind-wave energy and are cost effective. Data from laboratory and field testing facilities will be analyzed to develop improved predictors of fractional sediment transport rates for diffused and concentrated flows. Historical flow and sediment-transport data from streams throughout the southeastern United States will be sorted by ecoregion and relative stability to determine "background" rates of suspended-sediment transport.