# Presentation: 915210

## SUBCOMMITTEE ON SEDIMENTATION

- Proposal to become a subgroup under the ACWI
- September 9, 2003

## History of SOS

- April 1939 - Founded as the Interdepartmental Committee
- April 1946 - Became the SOS/Federal Interagency River Basin Committee
- September 1954 –SOS/ Interagency Committee on Water Resources
- July 1965 – SOS/ Water Resources Council.
- September 1978 –SOS/ Interagency Advisory Committee on Water Data.

**Notes:**
* the Interdepartmental Committee and formed as the Federal Interagency Sedimentation Project. The founding agencies were the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Agricultural Research Service, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Federal Highway Administration, and the Tennessee Valley Authority.
*April 1956 – Technical Committee (see below) was formed as a working group under the SOS to oversee the Federal Interagency Sedimentation Project (FISP) and the membership of the SOS was expanded to include all Federal agencies that had an interest in sedimentation 

*Current members are: ARS, BLM, USBR, USEPA, FWHA, FS, IBWC, NPS, OSM, USACE, NRCS, and USGS. 

## Principal Historical Activities

**Technical Committee/Federal Interagency Sedimentation Project**
**Notes on Sedimentation Activities**
**Sediment Deposition in U.S. Reservoirs – Summary Reports **

**Notes:**
Technical Committee/Federal Interagency Sedimentation Project 
– Founded in 1939 to standardize sediment sampling and analysis equipment and techniques. 
Currently still active and funded by 7 Federal agencies, who are the members of the Technical Committee. 
- The Technical Committee provides technical oversight, sets the work priorities for the project, and approves new equipment developed by the project. 
The FISP is currently staff by USGS and Army Corps of Engineers employees and is located at the COE Waterway Experimentation Station in Vicksburg, MS.  
The equipment developed, manufactured, and sold by the FISC has become not only the standard for Federal use in this country, but was adopted by the World Meteorological Organization to use as the standard against which all other samplers were to be tested.

Notes on Sedimentation Activities 
– First published in 1946 – was a digest of information furnished by Federal agencies conducting sedimentation investigations. 
Published quarterly in 1946 and 1947, bi-annually from 1948 to 1953, and annually from 1954 to 1992. 
Publication of the report stopped in 1992 due to the lack of funds needed to publish the report. 
The Subcommittee is currently working on a way to present this information via the web (see current activities.)

Sediment Deposition in U.S. Reservoirs – Summary Reports: 
-These summaries report data on reservoir locations, survey dates, drainage areas, reservoir storage capacities, ratios of reservoir capacities to average annual inflows, specific weights of sediment deposits, and average annual sediment-accumulation rates. 
- The last paper summary was published in the late 1980’s and contained data on surveys conduction up to 1985. 
-The database contains information on almost 6,000 surveys on over 1,800 reservoirs starting from the early 1900’s.
 - These data have been entered into a database called RESIS-II. However, RESIS-II is not easily updated and the SOS has not yet found an agency that has the financial resources to house and maintain the database. 
- Currently, because of these problems, the database is not available to the public. 

## Principal Historical Activities(Cont.)

**Federal Interagency Sedimentation Conferences**
**Evaluation of Computer Stream Sedimentation Models**
**Bridge Scour Symposium**
**Federal Interagency Workshop on Turbidity and Other Sediment Surrogates** _[http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ/2003/circ1250/](http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ/2003/circ1250/)__ _

## CURRENT ACTIVITIES 

**Planning for the 8****th**** Federal Interagency Sedimentation Conference **
**Reorganization of the Federal Interagency Sedimentation Project **
**The Sediment Monitoring Instrument and Analysis Research Workshop **
**Sediment activities web site **

**Notes:**
Planning for the 8th Federal Interagency Sedimentation Conference (FISC):  The SOS has formed an organizing committee to start the planning for the 8th FISC to be held in the spring of 2006. 
 At the recent meeting of the ACWI’s Subcommittee on Hydrology (SOH), the subcommittee voted to suggest to the SOS that the next Federal Interagency Hydrologic Modeling Conference (FIHMC) be jointly held with the 8th FISC. The FIHMC is the major conference put on by the SOH and the next one (the 3rd FIHMC) is also scheduled for 2006.
  A preliminary analysis of the attendees of the 7th FISC and the 2nd FIHMC indicated that 437 and 350 individuals attended the meeting respectively. Of those, approximately 235 attended both meetings. Given this overlap, it is estimated that a join meeting could save the agencies and companies sending these individuals to the meetings over $250 K in travel funds.

Reorganization of the Federal Interagency Sedimentation Project: The Technical Committee working with SOS has undertaken a reorganization of the FISP. 
 It is hoped that this reorganization will ensure that the calibrated standardized sampling equipment developed by the FISP is available to all who need it and that the research and development activities of the project will be directed to new technologies for measuring sediment in real time. 
 This reorganization is just beginning and the Technical Committee is working out the details.

The Sediment Monitoring Instrument and Analysis Research Workshop: The workshop is scheduled to be held September 9–11, 2003, and 
 will convene public- and private-sector scientists, managers, and others with interests in production of fluvial sediment data using advanced technologies and analytical techniques that are quantifiably accurate, more informative, less expensive, and (or) safer to obtain than data associated with traditional methods for collecting and analyzing those data. 
The scope of workshop will include the means for measuring, storing, analyzing, and disseminating suspended-sediment, bedload, bed-material, bedform properties, and water clarity data. 
The general goals are: 
  (1) exchange information on research into new and improved methods and technologies for monitoring fluvial sediment, including suspended sediment, bedload, bed material, or bed topography and related parameters; propose new research directions; provide an opportunity to view field and laboratory techniques for characterizing selected properties of suspended sediment that are being used or tested; 
 (2) provide a forum to consider the ways and means to achieve an agreed-upon vision for acquiring, analyzing, storing, and accessing the reliable, quantifiably accurate fluvial-sediment data needed by the Nation; 
 and (3) make clear and tractable recommendations to the SOS regarding research on sediment monitoring instruments and analytical procedures.

Sediment activities web site: The SOS has established a working group to look into the possibility of setting up a web page that the members can use to post information on their sedimentation activities and sources of information concerning sediment activities. 
The concept of the page is to electronically not only replace the information formally published in the “Notes on Sediment Activities” but also to have online links to sites where the data and information may be retrieved.

## Purpose 

- Promotes and supports development and standardization of equipment, methodologies, and calibration and performance criteria for the collection, analysis, interpretation, and interchange of fluvial-sediment data and related technical information.

**Notes:**
The Subcommittee promotes and supports development and standardization of equipment, methodologies, and calibration and performance criteria for the collection, analysis, interpretation, and interchange of fluvial-sediment data and related technical information. 
 Information and data about sediment transport or deposition rates and the physical and chemical qualities of sediment are important to understanding current resource conditions and trends.  

## Purpose (cont.)

- Evaluate sediment related information and other relevant issues and facts, and drafts proposed position papers or recommendations for improving the availability, reliability, and interpretation of information and data about sediment conditions

**Notes:**
The Subcommittee evaluates this information and other relevant issues and facts, and drafts proposed position papers or recommendations for improving the availability, reliability, and interpretation of information and data about sediment conditions.  
The Subcommittee forwards the draft papers and recommendations to the ACWI for deliberation and approval as advice to the Federal Government.
 With such information, decisions can be made by local, State, Tribal, and Federal entities on the direction of current and future programs for solutions to identified problems related to sediment. 

## Scope 

- Considers all quality and quantity aspects of sediment transport and deposition, and effects of sediment in the environment
- Considers policies, programs, and activities for the collection, analysis, assessment, archiving, distribution, reporting, and use of sediment and related information

## Functions 

**Institutional partnerships**
**Data acquisition, reduction, and analysis**
**Information management and sharing**
**Methods and data comparability**
**Reporting and public education**
**Training**

**Notes:**
A.     FUNCTIONS:  The Subcommittee fosters the collection, availability, and appropriate use of sediment data and information.  All appropriate methods are considered, and data quality assurance is of paramount importance for natural resources managers and other decision-makers.

1.      Institutional partnerships: Fosters collaborative partnerships of relevant organizations at the national, State, Tribal, river basin and watershed levels for the support of a national program of sediment and related data monitoring activities.  Collaborates with the National Water-Quality Monitoring Council on surface-water monitoring issues.

2.      Data acquisition, reduction, and analysis: Develops guidelines for planning, designing, and operating sediment data programs of institutional partners.  Develops procedures to improve the analysis, interpretation, and integration of data needed to describe sediment conditions.

3.      Information management and sharing: Recommends or provides guidelines for creating or modifying modern information systems to support easy access for interpretation of sediment and related data by any user.  

4.      Methods and data comparability: Provides the coordination necessary to develop, distribute, and implement recommended methods, guidelines and consensus standards for collecting and analyzing sediment and related data. Develops or promotes common terminology, definitions, and data quality assurance criteria for documenting sediment data.  

5.      Reporting and public education: Fosters a better understanding of sediment-related conditions, trends, and issues among sedimentation professionals, decision-makers and the general public.  Sponsors conferences and other forums to encourage the transfer of information among professionals in sediment-related disciplines.

6.      Training: Identifies training requirements and recommends collaborative training activities to make the most effective use of monitoring resources and to facilitate and enhance data quality, comparability, and sharing among institutional partners.

## Current Members

| Agricultural Research Service | Bureau of Land Management |
| --- | --- |
| Bureau of Reclamation | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Federal Highway Administration | U.S. Forest Service |
| International Boundary and Water Commission | National Park Service |
| Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers |
| Natural Resources Conservation Service | U.S. Geological Survey |

## QUESTIONS