The Effect of Reservoir Sedimentation on Coastal Erosion: the Case of Nestos River, Greece

Manolia Andredaki, Anastasios Georgoulas, Vlassios Hrissanthou, Nikolaos Kotsovinos

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

Abstract

Coastal erosion that is generated by the reduction of the annual sediment yield at river outlets, due to the construction of dams, constitutes one of the main environmental problems in many parts of the world. Nestos is one of the most important transboundary rivers, flowing through Bulgaria and Greece, characterized by its great biodiversity. In the Greek part of the river, two dams, the Thisavros dam and the Platanovrysi dam, have already been constructed and started operating in 1997 and 1999, respectively. The present paper investigates the reservoir sedimentation effect on the coastal erosion for the case of the Nestos River delta and the adjacent shorelines, through a combination of mathematical modeling, modern remote sensing techniques and field surveying. It is found that the construction and operation of the considered dams have caused a dramatic decrease (about 83%) in the sediments supplied directly to the basin outlet and indirectly to the neighbouring coast and that this fact has almost inversed the erosion/accretion balance in the deltaic area as well as the adjacent shorelines. Before the construction of the dams, accretion predominated erosion by 25.36%, while just within five years after the construction of the dams erosion predominates accretion by 21.26%.
Original languageEnglish
Pages806-815
Number of pages10
Publication statusPublished - 16 Nov 2012
EventProceedings of the TU/MEDFRIEND International Conference on Sediment Transport Modeling in Hydrological Watersheds and Rivers - Istanbul, Turkey, 14-18 November, 2012
Duration: 16 Nov 2012 → …

Conference

ConferenceProceedings of the TU/MEDFRIEND International Conference on Sediment Transport Modeling in Hydrological Watersheds and Rivers
Period16/11/12 → …

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