A suspended sediment budget for the Liu River basin, China

A mass budget for the suspended sediment load of the Liu River was established for a period of 36 years (1968-2003). The approach was based on analysing the amount of sediment contributed by the different tributaries and the sediment storage in different reaches, using data available for six gauging stations on the Liu River. The findings indicate that nearly 50% of the suspended sediment flux from upstream tributaries was stored on the downstream riverbed, with almost 75% of this storage occurring in the reach extending from the Nao Dehai Station to the Zhang Wu Station. About 50% of the suspended sediment coming from upstream reached the catchment outlet. The key controls on the sediment budget of the river basin have been investigated. The findings reported in this paper have important implications for understanding suspended sediment dynamics and sediment control in river basins.