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Man Made Ponds Have Dramatically Changed Landscape
Lawrence KS (SPX) Mar 14, 2006 Man-made ponds in the U.S. have dramatically changed drainage patterns, collecting up to quarter of all run-off sedimentation that would have otherwise been deposited in river valleys and deltas, according to a newly published study by Kansas Geological Survey researchers at the University of Kansas. The researchers are the first to develop estimates of the number of ponds in the nation and their impact on siltation. Their report, published in the scientific journal Geomorphology, recently received a major award from the Association of American Geographers. "These ponds capture the runoff from about 20 percent of the area of the U.S.," said Jeremy Bartley, a geographic information systems specialist at the Survey and one of the paper's authors. "Most large-scale studies of sedimentation haven't taken these small water bodies into account. Taken together, they have a dramatic impact." Based on their analysis of satellite imagery, the researchers estimate that there are 2.6 million ponds in the continental U.S. Most of these ponds are fairly small, covering less than 1.5 acres. Many were constructed during the 1900s, mainly to provide water for livestock and for recreation. Thousands more are built each year. Many of these are in the Great Plains or in the southeastern U.S., where natural lakes are relatively rare. The researchers estimate that ponds capture 430 million cubic meters of sediment per year, a quarter of the amount that large reservoirs collect but still enough to fill more than 3 million railroad boxcars with dirt each year. "Before these ponds were built, much of that sediment was deposited in river valleys," said Bartley. "Now it goes into these small impoundments, changing the nature of sedimentation and drainage in this country." Bartley and Robert Buddemeier, senior scientist at the Survey, authored the report along with William Renwick of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and Stephen Smith of the Center for Scientific Investigation in Mexico. Their report was given the 2006 G.K. Gilbert Award for Excellence in Geomorphic Research from the Association of American Geographers at their annual meeting in Chicago this month. The award is named for Grove Karl Gilbert, a geologist who in the late 1800s and early 1900s worked extensively in the field of geomorphology, the study of the landscape and its change over time. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links University of Kansas Water News - Science, Technology and Politics
Three Gorges Dam Linked To Huge Water Diversion Project
Beijing (AFP) Mar 13, 2006China may decide to divert water from the Three Gorges dam to another huge engineering scheme, a giant canal system aimed at relieving the parched north, state media said Sunday. The South-North Water Diversion Project is well underway, but experts have now spotted a weak link, the Danjiangkou reservoir in the central province of Hubei, originally designated as a key source of water, Xinhua news agency said. |
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