Sediment Problems and Sediment Management in Asian River Basins

IAHS Publ. 349 (2011) ISBN 978-1-907161-24-7, 224 + viii pp. Price £52.00

Sediment problems are assuming increasing importance in many Asian river basins and can represent a key impediment to sustainable development. Such problems include accelerated soil erosion, reservoir sedimentation and the wider impact of sediment on aquatic ecology, river morphology and water resource exploitation. They are further complicated by the impact of climate change and other components of global change in causing both increases and decreases in the sediment load of many rivers in recent years. In order to address these problems, sediment management must be seen as a central component of integrated river basin management. This volume, arising from a workshop organised jointly by the International Commission on Continental Erosion (ICCE) of IAHS, the UNESCO International Sediment Initiative (ISI) and the World Association for Sedimentation and Erosion Research (WASER), focuses on sediment problems in Asian river basins and the many difficulties involved in their effective management. The first section comprises overviews of the sediment problems experienced by individual countries or particular issues relating to the wider region; and the second documents case studies that deal with specific problems and their management. The overviews highlight the sediment problems faced by India and Iran, including soil erosion and reservoir sedimentation; recent changes in the sediment loads of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan rivers and their wider implications; the impact of human activity on the sediment loads of Asian rivers; and new challenges for erosion and sedimentation research in China linked to contemporary issues.