A regional procedure to assess the risk to fish from sediment pollution in rivers

摘要

A regional model has been applied to derive sediment concentrations for river reaches in the Lower Swale, Yorkshire, UK. Peaks-over-threshold mean concentrations over periods of 1 to 6-day durations have been extracted to derive frequency curves, which show the relationships between simulated sediment concentration and exceedance probability. The severity of such events on different fish types is illustrated using results from published literature. Maps of the risk of habitat degradation to fish are presented. Such maps can provide a useful tool for water managers in assessing the impact of sediment on fish, for setting achievable river water quality objectives, and for identifying problem reaches.