Unpaved forest roads as a source of suspended sediment in the Honna River watershed

The Honna River is the drinking water source for the Village of Queen Charlotte (pop. 950), and is also important salmon habitat. Sediment from unpaved forest roads near the river may be entering the channel in significant quantities, reducing water quality. In two previous internships, intern David Reid implemented a channel reach-scale study of all sediment sources in the Honna River in an effort to collect data regarding the quantity of sediment contributed from the road, and also regarding how this quantity compares to natural sediment sources. The goal of the proposed internship is to undertake analysis of collected field data in order to calculate a sediment budget for the river basin, with a greater goal of determining: 1. The volume of sediment contributed by the road surface, 2. the effect of traffic on increasing sediment input to the river, 3. Whether a road surface sediment production model can be a useful tool for predicting in-channel sediment yields. Results will be used to manage wet weather road use in the Honna River watershed, and will also fill research gaps related to basin-scale sediment input from roads to rivers.

Faculty Supervisor:

Marwan Hassan

Student:

Partner:

Forestry BC (Prince George);Island Timberlands

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Water; Forestry; Sustainability & the Environment

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program: