Sediment balance for the supply-limited Meuse River

A sediment budget or balance for rivers is crucial for assessing the morphological impact of past and future interventions and changes. The objective of this study is to assess the sediment balance for gravel and sand in the Dutch part of the Meuse River, over the last 25 years. The river is highly engineered and only short stretches are free flowing. In the last 25 years room for the river measures, maintenance dredging and removal of bank protection were the main factors controlling the morphological changes in this supply-limited river with various types of sediment. A hypothesis for negligible sediment load from upstream, assessment of input from tributaries, erosion of new natural banks, aggradation on floodplains, changes of the riverbed, an inventory of human sediment extraction and feeding and numerical modelling are the main components for the first sediment balance of annual fluxes for the Dutch Meuse River.