Analysis of sediment retention in western riverine wetlands: The Yampa River watershed, Colorado, USA

We quantified annual sediment deposition, bank erosion, and sediment budgets in nine riverine wetlands that represented a watershed continuum for 1 year in the unregulated Yampa River drainage basin in Colorado. One site was studied for 2 years to compare responses to peak flow variability. Annual mean sediment deposition ranged from 0.01 kg/m along a first-order subalpine stream to 21.8 kg/m at a sixth-order alluvial forest. Annual mean riverbank erosion ranged from 3 kg/m-of-bank at the first-order site to 1000 kg/m at the 6th-order site. Total sediment budgets were nearly balanced at six sites, while net export from bank erosion occurred at three sites. Both total sediment deposition (R-2 = 0.86, p < 0.01) and bank erosion (R-2 = 0.77, p < 0.01) were strongly related to bankfull height, and channel sinuosity and valley confinement helped to explain additional variability among sites. The texture and organic fraction of eroded and deposited sediment were relatively similar in most sites and varied among sites by watershed position. Our results indicate that bank erosion generally balances sediment deposition in riverine wetlands, and we found no distinct zones of sediment retention versus export on a watershed continuum. Zones of apparent disequilibrium can occur in unregulated rivers due to factors such as incised channels, beaver activity, and cattle grazing. A primary function of many western riverine wetlands is sediment exchange, not retention, which may operate by transforming materials and compounds in temporary sediment pools on floodplains. These results are considered in the context of the Hydrogeomorphic approach being implemented by the U.S. government for wetland resource management.