Sediment mining in alluvial channels: Physical effects and management perspectives

Based on a review of a number of documented case studies from various countries and a detailed analysis of sediment exploitation from five rivers in Italy and Poland, we discuss alluvial river response to extensive sediment mining. A sediment deficit caused by in-stream mining typically induces upstream- and downstream-progressing river incision, lateral channel instability and bed armouring. The resultant incision alters the frequency of floodplain inundation along the river courses, lowers valleyfloor water tables and frequently leads to destruction of bridges and channelization structures. Mining also results in the loss or impoverishment of aquatic and riparian habitats. In the rivers of Italy and southern Poland studied, where mining coincided with other human activities that reduce sediment delivery to the channels, deep river downcutting, changes in channel pattern and, in one case, transformation from alluvial to bedrock boundary conditions were recorded over recent decades. The type and magnitude of channel response to sediment mining depend mainly on the ratio between extraction and sediment replenishment rates. The effects of mining will be especially severe and difficult to reverse: (i) where material is extracted at a rate greatly exceeding the replenishment rate; (ii) in single-thread rivers, that are generally associated with relatively low rates of catchment sediment supply; (iii) in channelized reaches; (iv) where rivers are underlain by a thin cover of alluvium over bedrock; and (v) where mining coincides with other human activities that reduce upstream sediment delivery. With a large number of detrimental effects of instream mining, the practice should be prohibited in most rivers except aggrading ones.