RSM River Mechanics Podcast

Dr. Power is a food web ecologist at UC Berkeley, where she leads the Power lab which has compiled careful, long term data sets in the Angelo Reserve in Northern CA.In addition to her early work, in Panama and the Ozarks - which we touch on briefly - Dr. Power’s  multi-decadal data sets on the Eel River, have yielded remarkable findings about how food webs function in gravel bed rivers…and spoiler alert, it sometimes involves the sorts of things we tend to talk about here…like the gravel - and how it transports.While this is a physical science podcast, I hoped to include interviews with river Ecologists from the beginning particularly ecologists who make careful observations at that interface of physical and biological processes. And I always hoped I could kick that emphasis off with Dr. Power.I teach an Ecogeomorphology module in one of our classes here at HEC and I always lead that with the Eel river story she shares About 20 minutes into this episode.That Eel river story was one of the early influences that got me interested in the ecological interactions with river mechanics processes.I also asked Mary about a couple of Ecological models and categories, that have corollaries in geomorphology.  So we talked about disturbance, alternative stable states as well as the Box model and the Ideal Free Distribution, which are just really helpful ideas for anyone who is interested in rivers.Dr. Power was induced into the National Academy of Sciences in 2012.Links: Serengeti Rules:     https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/serengeti-rules-dhbtnm/19906/Disturbance and Recover of Algal Assemblage on OK Stream         https://www.jstor.org/stable/2425975Resource Enhancement: Armored Catfish, Algae, and Sediment     https://www.jstor.org/stable/1937361Episode Photo: Eel RiverThis series was funded by the Regional Sediment Management (RSM) program.Stanford Gibson (HEC Sediment Specialist) hosts.Mike Loretto edited the episode and wrote and performed the music.Video shorts and other bonus content are available at the podcast website:https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/confluence/rasdocs/rastraining/latest/the-rsm-river-mechanics-podcast...but most of the supplementary videos are available on the HEC Sediment YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/stanfordgibsonIf you have guest recommendations or feedback you can reach out to me on LinkedIn or ResearchGate or fill out this recommendation and feedback form: https://forms.gle/wWJLVSEYe7S8Cd248

Dr Alain Recking has quantified gravel bed transport with just about all the tools available to our discipline.In addition to substantial field work- Dr. Recking has done some important and influential flume experiments.We have talked and will talk about hiding and armoring quite a bit in this podcast, because they are difficult ideas, that are hard to measure and simulate,  and critical to gravel bed processes.But Dr. Recking’s contributions to this vertical sorting conversation destabilizes armoring theory a bit…kind of literally,He found that in high gradient channels,  at equilibrium flows, vertical sorting doesn’t necessarily reach an equilibrium, but can be episodic, which is important because it leads to the pulsed transport processes.And the story he tells about how he discovered this...is just kind of narrative science at its very best.The other characteristic of Alain’s work that I think is remarkable is his a knack for pulling together immense data sets (often including substantial data from the American West) in order to pose important quantitative questions on the meta-analyses scale. And so we talked about how this lead to his gravel-bed flow-resistance  work and – what I consider – the most important sediment transport equation,  since the Parker/Wilcock-Crowe generation of innovation. We also talk about Bedload Web, where he has collected many of the measurements he used to to these analyses: https://en.bedloadweb.com/Dr. Recking works for INRAE – The French National Research Institute of Agriculture, Food, and Environment a research consortium  focused on sustainable development in those arenas. This week, on the RSM River Mechanics podcast,  we talk high gradient sorting, quantitative meta-analyses with Alain Recking.We also posted videos clips with his experiments here:  https://youtu.be/jKFlMAkD7qoThis series was funded by the Regional Sediment Management (RSM) program.Stanford Gibson (HEC Sediment Specialist) hosts.Mike Loretto edited the episode and wrote and performed the music.Video shorts and other bonus content are available at the podcast website:https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/confluence/rasdocs/rastraining/latest/the-rsm-river-mechanics-podcast...but most of the supplementary videos are available on the HEC Sediment YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/stanfordgibsonIf you have guest recommendations or feedback you can reach out to me on LinkedIn or ResearchGate or fill out this recommendation and feedback form: https://forms.gle/wWJLVSEYe7S8Cd248

A couple years ago, my agency asked me to write some guidance on sediment modeling, so, I reached out to the morphological modelers I knew, and particularly the model developers who write the morphological model code other people use.I asked them about the common failure modes they have seen and best practices they teach, and realized we had all essentially spent a decade or two, learning the same principles. So when the US federal agencies held their periodic Federal interagency sediment conference (SEDHYD) last year, I invited three of the model developers I have learned from over the years (Alex Sanchez, Gary Brown, and Blair Greimann), to participate in a panel discussion on their lessons learned.And the panel was much more popular than we expected.  It turns out, there’s appetite conversations like this.  So, I turned on the mics and we did a little editing, and we’re running it here.Here are brief bios for our guests.:Gary Brown did his graduate work at the university of Florida and works at the Coastal and Hydraulics Lab which is part of ERDC, the Corp’s major R&D center in Vicksburg Mississippi.   He’s been developing sediment models for 29 years including SEDLIB, a set of sediment algorithms that are called by ERDC’s hydraulic model, ADH or Adaptive hydraulics.  Alex Sanchez sits in the office next to me.  For the last 9 years, he has worked here at HEC and spearheaded the work to add 2D sediment to HEC-RAS which includes a novel formulation for the sub-grid approach.  But actually Alex started developing sediment models at ERDC’s Coastal and Hydraulics Lab where he worked for 8 years, while working on the Coastal Modeling System which is still used for Corps of Engineers coastal applications.  Blair Greimann got his PhD from the University of Iowa and worked at the Bureau of Reclamation’s Technical Service Center in Denver for more than 23 years, before his recent move to Stantec.  While working at the Bureau Blair led the development of SRH-1D and applied this model to a range of projects including the Matilija and and Klamath Dam removals.Finally, we were lucky enough to have Doug Shields moderating this session so you will hear from him in the breaks between the four sub-topics.  Dr. Shields, worked for more than 20 years at the Sedimentation Lab of the Agricultural Resource Center in Oxford MS and 10 years at ERDC and has taught at both Tennessee State and Old Miss and we were fortunate to draw Doug as a moderator.  (Note: I did not mic Doug, but wanted to keep his thoughtful and winsome transitions, so his sound quality is not at the same level as the rest of the recording).After Doug and I introduced the session you will hear from Blair Greimann, Alex Sanchez, me again, and Gary Brown in that order.The conference paper associated with this session is here:https://www.sedhyd.org/2023Program/1/157.pdfThank you to the SEDHYD organizers (including but not limited to ) for hosting this conversationThis series was funded by the Regional Sediment Management (RSM) program.Stanford Gibson (HEC Sediment Specialist) hosts.Mike Loretto edited the episode and wrote and performed the music.Video shorts and other bonus content are available at the podcast website:https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/confluence/rasdocs/rastraining/latest/the-rsm-river-mechanics-podcast...but most of the supplementary videos are available on the HEC Sediment YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/stanfordgibsonIf you have guest recommendations or feedback you can reach out to me on LinkedIn or ResearchGate or fill out this recommendation and feedback form: https://forms.gle/wWJLVSEYe7S8Cd248

I’ve heard people call Tony the godfather of Sediment Transport Modeling and - as you’ll hear in our conversation - he very well may be the first person to use a computer to answer an engineering scale sediment question.But most people about my age and older, know Tony for developing the first generalized sediment model.  He was part of the original team here at the Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC) where he developed HEC6, a 1D sediment transport model that was industry standard for decades.Now, if you get a couple of model developers together, we could talk all day about transport equations and algorithms.And we did.  But I am going to turn most of that technical modeling content, into videos to run on the YouTube page and in the RAS manual.This conversation focuses on Tony’s insights that I think have the broadest application.Because one of the things that make’s Tony’s career so interesting, transcends modeling.After Tony worked at HEC, he moved to the Corp’s lab in Mississippi  and then started Mobile Boundary Hydraulics,  which was the premier 1D sediment modeling shop for decades.But if you follow the timeline, that means that Tony (who only recently, actually, retired) has been predicting river processes for more than 60 years.He is one of the few people who has seen the end of his 50 year project life predictions.And all numerical modeling is – fundamentally - is exposing your mental models, to quantitative feedback and observational falsification.It’s a learning loop with Rivers… …and no one has been working that learning loop longer than Tony.I essentially sit in that seat Tony invited as the sediment modeling specialist here at HEC.  But Tony actually had a more direct influence on me than that.About 20 years ago, when we decided to put 1D sediment transport into HEC-RAS, we got a grant to bring Tony back to HEC and he spent 5 months essentially teaching me how to develop a generalized sediment model.There was a point in my life, where almost everything I knew about sediment came from Tony, and his insights and categories still frame the way I look at rivers.When I first imagined this podcast, it included a conversation with Tony, reproducing some of those formative conversations we had over the years.So in this conversation we talk about the sediment modeling origin story and some of the modeling principals he’s famous for but we also just talk about the river processes and projects that built his intuition and/or surprised him over the years.(Photo Credit: Tony on the Arroyo Pasajero – provided by Dr. Ron Copeland) This series was funded by the Regional Sediment Management (RSM) program.Stanford Gibson (HEC Sediment Specialist) hosts.Mike Loretto edited the episode and wrote and performed the music.Video shorts and other bonus content are available at the podcast website:https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/confluence/rasdocs/rastraining/latest/the-rsm-river-mechanics-podcast...but most of the supplementary videos are available on the HEC Sediment YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/stanfordgibsonIf you have guest recommendations or feedback you can reach out to me on LinkedIn or ResearchGate or fill out this recommendation and feedback form: https://forms.gle/wWJLVSEYe7S8Cd248

Dr. Jim Selegean is the Sediment Transport Specialist at the Corps Detroit District where he studies the rivers and sediment loads into the great lakes as well as inland costal processes. He is also a professor at Wayne State in Detroit. And that joint position has helped him mentor many young scientists and engineers  throughout the years, geomorphically trained Hydraulic engineers who not only currently populate the Detroit district but also includes what we call the Detroit diaspora,  Jim’s protégées who fill important sediment and river mechanics leadership positions across the Corps. We recorded this podcast in the lab and field investigation shop  Jim built on the Detroit River, which is the most complete and productive corps sediment lab I know of outside Mississippi.  Within my agency, I don’t know anyone who has quite the grasp of the river mechanics cannon, as Dr. Jim Selegean of the Corps of Engineers’ Detroit District. But he also metabolizes as much contemporary literature as anyone I know in our agency, which manifests in a weekly email he sends out, with the 8-10 best papers he read from current journals that week and a 3-4 sentence summary of his favorites. (If you’d like to get on that list, you can reach out to him at james.p.selegean@usace.army.mil) One of the things I found helpful in my Ecology education was a Foundations of Ecology text (https://a.co/d/9zjK1wg) which compiled the classic papers in ecology and commentaries by noted contemporary scientists whose work built on that particular area of reflection. Years ago I pitched this type of book to Jim, suggesting we should try to write it of our field. He just laughed at me, wisely predicting that neither of us nearly the time required.But when I stared to design this podcast, I knew I wanted to recording a kind of “pitch meeting” for the papers we would each include in that compilation. But, Jim is also one of the most fun people I work so we tried to make it a little more entertaining…and a little competitive, by giving it a draft format (like picking players for a schoolyard football game). There was some strategy…that mostly went Jim’s way. Feel free to find the posts associated with this podcast on LinkedIn or X to offer your choices…maybe we’ll do another one. But for now, welcome, to the RSM River Mechanics Podcast…Classic Paper Draft.This series was funded by the Regional Sediment Management (RSM) program.Stanford Gibson (HEC Sediment Specialist) hosts.Mike Loretto edited the episode and wrote and performed the music.Video shorts and other bonus content are available at the podcast website:https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/confluence/rasdocs/rastraining/latest/the-rsm-river-mechanics-podcast...but most of the supplementary videos are available on the HEC Sediment YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/stanfordgibsonIf you have guest recommendations or feedback you can reach out to me on LinkedIn or ResearchGate or fill out this recommendation and feedback form: https://forms.gle/wWJLVSEYe7S8Cd248

Dr. Astrid Blom is a professor Civil Engineering & Geosciences at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands is perhaps best known for her recent reach and rive scale work, modeling hundreds of kilometers, sometimes for hundreds or thousands of years.  These models explore the long-term equilibrium state of river responses to human modifications and the alternate potential futures associated with different climate change scenarios and management practices. Most of her recent work and, as you’ll here in our conversation - the work she is most passionate about – is that actionable – morphological modeling of the Dutch reach of the Rhine that can influence wise and sustainable management. And I’ve been interested in Dr. Blom’s work on the Rhine for a while, partially because of its similarity to the Missouri in the US – which is a river of comparable size with comparable human modifications, which is also incising.  But I first started following Dr. Blom’s research over 15 years ago – with work she did at the particle scale – with detailed laboratory work on the vertical mixing processes in bedforms composed of a wide range of grain sizes.So we talked about both of these scales.   We mostly talked about the Rhine, because the river’s natural template, the long history of human modification, the reach scale incision, and contemporary management efforts on that system are so interesting.   And we covered some fundamental processes at that scale, including how gravel-sand transitions evolve on engineering and geologic time horizons on a river that size, the impacts of incision on a large, multi-use, waterway, and some of the management practices targeted to mitigate these impacts. But we also downscaled a little to talk about her early lab work…because it really has affected the way I look at bimodal rivers and gravel-sand transitions.Links to Dr. Blom's papers are on the podcast website (link below).This series was funded by the Regional Sediment Management (RSM) program.Stanford Gibson (HEC Sediment Specialist) hosts.Mike Loretto edited the episode and wrote and performed the music.Video shorts and other bonus content are available at the podcast website:https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/confluence/rasdocs/rastraining/latest/the-rsm-river-mechanics-podcast...but most of the supplementary videos are available on the HEC Sediment YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/stanfordgibsonIf you have guest recommendations or feedback you can reach out to me on LinkedIn or ResearchGate or fill out this recommendation and feedback form: https://forms.gle/wWJLVSEYe7S8Cd248

In the previous episode, we talked to Dr. Marcelo Garcia about the astonishing compilation of sediment science he edited, the ASCE Sedimentation Manual.   In this episode, we turn to some of his work, covering a wide range of topics, but landing for a while on sedimentation hazards including mud and debris flows, the Bulle Effect, and two transport paradigms (the Bagnold vs the Einstein approaches).  Dr. Garcia is professor at the University of Illinois-Urbana and the director of the Ven Te Chow hydraulic lab.  This series was funded by the Regional Sediment Management (RSM) program.Stanford Gibson (HEC Sediment Specialist) hosts.Mike Loretto edited the episode and wrote and performed the music.Video shorts and other bonus content are available at the podcast website:https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/confluence/rasdocs/rastraining/latest/the-rsm-river-mechanics-podcast...but most of the supplementary videos are available on the HEC Sediment YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/stanfordgibsonIf you have guest recommendations or feedback you can reach out to me on LinkedIn or ResearchGate or fill out this recommendation and feedback form: https://forms.gle/wWJLVSEYe7S8Cd248

Dr. Marcelo Garcia holds an endowed chair in Hydraulics at the University of Illinois-Urbana – where he has taught for more than thirty years, and runs the remarkable Ven Te Chow hydraulic and sediment laboratory. His award page reads like a who’s-who of the Legends in our field.  These include but are not limited to:The Einstein Award, the Rouse Award, and the Yalin lifetime achievement award.And he is a Distinguished member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the an elected fellow of the American Geophysical Union.And that’s all very impressive.  Dr. Garcia is - without question – one of the leading quantitative sediment scientists of his generation.But the quality that made this conversation remarkable, is Marcello’s grasp and deep connection with the history of the sediment transport and river mechanics disciplines.It became clear that he sees his work in continuity with the foundational work and scientists that preceded him.  He has effortlessly describes how modern sediment transport principles or puzzles are rooted in the work and lives of our discipline’s historic figures.And, well, these are some of the big themes I hoped for with this podcast.This is also why he was uniquely qualified to the 10-year project of compiling the American Society of Civil Engineers Manual of Practice on Sedimentation (110) – arguably the most comprehensive work on sediment science and engineering available. We talked about that project, how he collaborated with dozens of authors to knit together this massive compendium of sediment and river insight.  But in the process, I learned a lot, not only about some of the big ideas in our disciplines, but also the stories of the people behind them and how they became some of our big ideas.The ASCE Manual of Practice is here: https://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/40856%28200%2994This series was funded by the Regional Sediment Management (RSM) program.Stanford Gibson (HEC Sediment Specialist) hosts.Mike Loretto edited the episode and wrote and performed the music.Video shorts and other bonus content are available at the podcast website:https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/confluence/rasdocs/rastraining/latest/the-rsm-river-mechanics-podcast...but most of the supplementary videos are available on the HEC Sediment YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/stanfordgibsonIf you have guest recommendations or feedback you can reach out to me on LinkedIn or ResearchGate or fill out this recommendation and feedback form: https://forms.gle/wWJLVSEYe7S8Cd248

Dr. David Montgomery has been so prolific, that for several years I actually thought he was two people:First, Dr. D. Montgomery is a well known geomorphologist from the University of Washington (and a 2008 MacArthur Fellow) whose name is on much of the seminal, high-gradient channel transport and classification literature. And then there David Montgomery,  the narrative non-fiction author from Seattle who wrote books like Dirt, The Rocks Don’t Lie, and The Hidden Half of Nature.It actually took me an embarrassing amount of time to realize that this was the same person.So the first time I sat down to scribble a list of guests I’d like to invite on a yet to be named river process podcast, Dr. David Montgomery was on that first list…because who wouldn’t want to talk to both those people...especially at the same time.In this conversation David and I moved between the spatial and temporal scales his work spans,  discussing the deep sediment history from his books and his classical technical work. We cover the role of sediment in the rise and fall of ancient near-eastern civilizations, high-gradient river classification, a surprising story about the long temporal tail of wood impacts in natural river systems, incipient motion at the grain scale, and, somehow, a range of other topics. And, I found out that there is, actually, a third David Montgomery…guitar and vocals for the Seattle band Big Dirt, so most of the music you’ll hear (after the opening theme) is from their new album.  You can find David's books that we talked about here:Dirt - https://a.co/d/eaE9P3YThe King of Fish - https://a.co/d/2wArLH1The Hidden Half of Nature - https://a.co/d/1ZIU9TbWhat Your Food Ate - https://a.co/d/9Qtt0dXAnd you can access music from Big Dirt here:https://open.spotify.com/artist/6CAz9l0qkiWwLlaVHC1XrmThis series was funded by the Regional Sediment Management (RSM) program.Stanford Gibson (HEC Sediment Specialist) hosts.Mike Loretto edited the episode and wrote and performed the music.Video shorts and other bonus content are available at the podcast website:https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/confluence/rasdocs/rastraining/latest/the-rsm-river-mechanics-podcast...but most of the supplementary videos are available on the HEC Sediment YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/stanfordgibsonIf you have guest recommendations or feedback you can reach out to me on LinkedIn or ResearchGate or fill out this recommendation and feedback form: https://forms.gle/wWJLVSEYe7S8Cd248

We plan to start releasing season three on the first week of the new year.  It was a fun and helpful season, which I'm looking forward to releasing.This preview overviews the guests and topics of the season with fun pull quotes from most of the guests.Look for the next episode the first week of January.This series was funded by the Regional Sediment Management (RSM) program.Stanford Gibson (HEC Sediment Specialist) hosts.Mike Loretto edited the episode and wrote and performed the music.Video shorts and other bonus content are available at the podcast website:https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/confluence/rasdocs/rastraining/latest/the-rsm-river-mechanics-podcast...but most of the supplementary videos are available on the HEC Sediment YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/stanfordgibsonIf you have guest recommendations or feedback you can reach out to me on LinkedIn or ResearchGate or fill out this recommendation and feedback form: https://forms.gle/wWJLVSEYe7S8Cd248

Jennifer Bountry leads the Sedimentation and River Hydraulics Branch of the US Bureau of Reclamation's Technical Service Center in Denver, CO where she helped to coordinate and draft an interagency guidance document on scaling sediment transport analyses to the project risk.  It is a helpful and important document that I recommend to any group moving towards a dam removal, to help them triage the analyses required for their decommissioning.  Jennifer was also involved in the analyses for the largest anthropogenic dam removal to date, and talked to us about her team's experiences with the Elwha dams.  We wanted to wrap up our reservoir sediment mini-season talking about the final stage in the reservoir sediment life-cycle, and her experiences on the project and national scale made Jennifer an excellent guide into this world.The Dam Removal Analysis Guidelines for Sediment are here:https://www.usbr.gov/tsc/techreferences/mands/mands-pdfs/DamRemovalAnalysisGuidelinesForSediment_09-2016_508.pdfDam Removal Cost Triage "Shiny App": https://wrises.shinyapps.io/DamRemovalCostPredictiveModel/This series was funded by the Regional Sediment Management (RSM) program.Stanford Gibson (HEC Sediment Specialist) hosts.Mike Loretto edited the episode and wrote and performed the music.Video shorts and other bonus content are available at the podcast website:https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/confluence/rasdocs/rastraining/latest/the-rsm-river-mechanics-podcast...but most of the supplementary videos are available on the HEC Sediment YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/stanfordgibsonIf you have guest recommendations or feedback you can reach out to me on LinkedIn or ResearchGate or fill out this recommendation and feedback form: https://forms.gle/wWJLVSEYe7S8Cd248

In the first two episodes of this season Dr. Annandale and Dr. Morris talked about reservoir sediment management practices all over the world.  But examples in the continental US were noticeably absent.   Reservoir sediment management in the US has encountered some challenges that have made US agencies slow to adopt these practices. But Dr. Paul Boyd and Dr. John Shelley are involved in more reservoir sediment management initiative in the United States than anyone I know.  Dr. Boyd and Dr. Shelley are the regional technical specialists for sediment transport on the Missouri River watershed (Paul in the Omaha District and John in Kansas City)  and the Corps' national subject matter experts on reservoir sediment management. So I wanted to dedicate an episode to check in on these practices in my country, and talk about the "nascent" (as Dr. Morris described it) but growing momentum behind sediment sustainability in the United States.The paper we talk about at the end of the conversation can be found here: https://ascelibrary.org/doi/full/10.1061/%28ASCE%29WR.1943-5452.0001494This series was funded by the Regional Sediment Management (RSM) program.Stanford Gibson (HEC Sediment Specialist) hosts.Mike Loretto edited the episode and wrote and performed the music.Video shorts and other bonus content are available at the podcast website:https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/confluence/rasdocs/rastraining/latest/the-rsm-river-mechanics-podcast...but most of the supplementary videos are available on the HEC Sediment YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/stanfordgibsonIf you have guest recommendations or feedback you can reach out to me on LinkedIn or ResearchGate or fill out this recommendation and feedback form: https://forms.gle/wWJLVSEYe7S8Cd248

Dr. Greg Morris wrote the first text on reservoir sediment management, which generated the categories and set the parameters for a lot of the work and conversations surrounding the topic in the last three decades.  Most of us who work in this field got our start with his Reservoir Sedimentation Handbook. But he has also likely worked on more reservoirs with sedimentation issues - in more settings - than anyone else and has an uncommon reservoir of practical - on the ground - wisdom to offer.  We got into the details, pros and cons, and case studies of the different reservoir management alternatives from his experiences around the world.Dr. Morris' Handbook and other useful publications are available to download here: www.reservoirsedimentation.com This series was funded by the Regional Sediment Management (RSM) program.Stanford Gibson (HEC Sediment Specialist) hosts.Mike Loretto edited the episode and wrote and performed the music.Video shorts and other bonus content are available at the podcast website:https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/confluence/rasdocs/rastraining/latest/the-rsm-river-mechanics-podcast...but most of the supplementary videos are available on the HEC Sediment YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/stanfordgibsonIf you have guest recommendations or feedback you can reach out to me on LinkedIn or ResearchGate or fill out this recommendation and feedback form: https://forms.gle/wWJLVSEYe7S8Cd248

Dr. George Annandale has been advocating for forward thinking about global water supply for decades...which is more connected to sedimentation processes than you might imagine.  In his book, Quenching the Thirst he makes the case that reservoir sedimentation is one of the major challenges to future water supply and managing sediment at new and existing projects is a critical component of sustainable development.Dr. Annandale has worked on multiple projects at various scales both as a consultant and for the World Bank, and he developed a popular screening tool to help managers evaluate reservoir sediment management techniques at their projects.   We talked about how reservoir sediment processes impact global water supply, the economics behind these trends, and the options available to reverse these trends.    He also describes some of the work he has done on the Mekong River, including the innovative design of Sambor Dam.  George is unquestionably a global leader in reservoir sediment management and was one of its earliest and best know advocates.  This conversation was an excellent way to kick off this season.See Dr. Annandale 's Books:Quenching the Thirst andScour Technology (which we didn't talk about, but is one of the most important works on rock scour and erosion in the field)The RESCON software and documenation are here:https://www.hydropower.org/sediment-management-resources/tool-reservoir-conservation-model-rescon-2-betaThis series was funded by the Regional Sediment Management (RSM) program.Stanford Gibson (HEC Sediment Specialist) hosts.Mike Loretto edited the episode and wrote and performed the music.Video shorts and other bonus content are available at the podcast website:https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/confluence/rasdocs/rastraining/latest/the-rsm-river-mechanics-podcast...but most of the supplementary videos are available on the HEC Sediment YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/stanfordgibsonIf you have guest recommendations or feedback you can reach out to me on LinkedIn or ResearchGate or fill out this recommendation and feedback form: https://forms.gle/wWJLVSEYe7S8Cd248

The RSM River Mechanics Podcast is returning with a summer mini-season on reservoir sediment management.  We recorded four episodes on this topic with some remarkable guests, so we're running them together this summer as a shorter "Season 2" before we release a full season this fall.  Episodes include:Ep 2:1 – Dr. George Annandale on the Motivation, Economics, and Approaches to Reservoir Sediment ManagementEp 2:2 – Dr. Greg Morris on Reservoir Sediment Management Techniques and ApplicationsEp 2:3 – Dr. John Shelley and Dr. Paul Boyd on Reservoir Sediment Management Complexities and Case Studies in the United StatesEp 2:4 – Jennifer Bountry on Dam RemovalWe will be releasing these episodes every two weeks over the summer, then will return with some great interviews on River Mechanics, Sediment Transport, and Fluvial Geomorphology with a full third season in the fall.This series was funded by the Regional Sediment Management (RSM) program.Stanford Gibson (HEC Sediment Specialist) hosts.Mike Loretto edited the episode and wrote and performed the music.Video shorts and other bonus content are available at the podcast website:https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/confluence/rasdocs/rastraining/latest/the-rsm-river-mechanics-podcast...but most of the supplementary videos are available on the HEC Sediment YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/stanfordgibsonIf you have guest recommendations or feedback you can reach out to me on LinkedIn or ResearchGate or fill out this recommendation and feedback form: https://forms.gle/wWJLVSEYe7S8Cd248

We are wrapping up season 1 with the second half of our first interview.  This is the rest of my conversation with US Army Corps of Engineers River Mechanics and River Engineering Subject-Matter Expert, Dr. David Biedenharn.If you have feedback on this season, recommendations for season 2 guests, or want to weigh in on our classic paper survey, there is a google form on the podcast website below.This series was funded by the Regional Sediment Management (RSM) program.Stanford Gibson (HEC Sediment Specialist) hosts.Mike Loretto edited the episode and wrote and performed the music.Video shorts and other bonus content are available at the podcast website:https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/confluence/rasdocs/rastraining/latest/the-rsm-river-mechanics-podcast...but most of the supplementary videos are available on the HEC Sediment YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/stanfordgibsonIf you have guest recommendations or feedback you can reach out to me on LinkedIn or ResearchGate or fill out this recommendation and feedback form: https://forms.gle/wWJLVSEYe7S8Cd248

 The regressive erosion on the Rio Coca (Ecuador) may be the morphological event of our generation.  But, because it happened in February 2020, when there was not much room in the news cycle, most people haven't heard about it...even in the geomorph community.  In this episode we try to rectify that. I talked to Pablo Espinoza Giron and Pedro David Barrera Crespo, two of the scientists/engineers who have been working on the Ecuadorian response since the beginning. This series was funded by the Regional Sediment Management (RSM) program.Stanford Gibson (HEC Sediment Specialist) hosts.Mike Loretto edited the episode and wrote and performed the music.Video shorts and other bonus content are available at the podcast website:https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/confluence/rasdocs/rastraining/latest/the-rsm-river-mechanics-podcast...but most of the supplementary videos are available on the HEC Sediment YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/stanfordgibsonIf you have guest recommendations or feedback you can reach out to me on LinkedIn or ResearchGate or fill out this recommendation and feedback form: https://forms.gle/wWJLVSEYe7S8Cd248

Dr. Richard Iverson led the mud and debris flow investigations at the USGS Cascade Volcano Observatory for years, including large scale flume and numerical work that unlocked a remarkable number of new insights about these high-concentration flows.  His  findings have influenced the way I  think about these events more than any other source.With the rising interest in post-wildfire debris flow hazards, these events are getting more attention, so these findings have never been more salient.  I wanted to have a conversation about mud and debris flows in the first season, but my guest wish list only really had one name on it.  So I was thrilled to get to talk to Dr Iverson.  And I had a lot of questions.Richard described wide range of debris flow processes and physics including some remarkable, counter-intuitive, processes that are likely to change the way you think about these events.  It was a remarkable conversation, and I thought Richard made some very technical ideas really accessible.This series was funded by the Regional Sediment Management (RSM) program.Stanford Gibson (HEC Sediment Specialist) hosts.Mike Loretto edited the episode and wrote and performed the music.Video shorts and other bonus content are available at the podcast website:https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/confluence/rasdocs/rastraining/latest/the-rsm-river-mechanics-podcast...but most of the supplementary videos are available on the HEC Sediment YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/stanfordgibsonIf you have guest recommendations or feedback you can reach out to me on LinkedIn or ResearchGate or fill out this recommendation and feedback form: https://forms.gle/wWJLVSEYe7S8Cd248

Dr. Katie Brutsche led the Regional Sediment Management Program for several years.  Regional Sediment Management is the "RSM" in the title of this podcast, and the reason this project exists.  RSM is the aspirational conceptual model of the Corps of Engineer's sediment management over the last couple decades.  We talk about the principles of RSM, the RSM process, some example projects, sediment budgets, and some surprising stats that you probably don't know about dredging.Before Dr. Brutsche led the program she was a distinguished researcher and practitioner in coastal sediment management.  So in this episode, we increase the scale, and move downstream a bit to talk to Katie about that whole world of "post-river" sediment. Check out the RSM WebsiteThe "Beneficial Use" guidance Katie mentioned is: EM 1110-2-5025 Dredging and Dredged Material ManagementThis series was funded by the Regional Sediment Management (RSM) program.Stanford Gibson (HEC Sediment Specialist) hosts.Mike Loretto edited the episode and wrote and performed the music.Video shorts and other bonus content are available at the podcast website:https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/confluence/rasdocs/rastraining/latest/the-rsm-river-mechanics-podcast...but most of the supplementary videos are available on the HEC Sediment YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/stanfordgibsonIf you have guest recommendations or feedback you can reach out to me on LinkedIn or ResearchGate or fill out this recommendation and feedback form: https://forms.gle/wWJLVSEYe7S8Cd248

 I recently described Chris Nygaard as the Corps’ BSPS, our 'Big Sediment Pulse Specialist.'  He led sediment analysis and modeling on the Corps’ latest evaluation of Mount Saint Helens downstream-sediment impacts and a dam removal alternative on the Snake River.  In those projects he analyzed the fate of sediment pulses (real or hypothetical) on the order of hundreds-of-millions of tons.  But Chris also recently spent a couple years as a project engineer with Bonneville Power’s, where he got to see more small, medium, and large scale, river restoration projects in a couple years than most people see in a career.  This series was funded by the Regional Sediment Management (RSM) program.Stanford Gibson (HEC Sediment Specialist) hosts.Mike Loretto edited the episode and wrote and performed the music.Video shorts and other bonus content are available at the podcast website:https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/confluence/rasdocs/rastraining/latest/the-rsm-river-mechanics-podcast...but most of the supplementary videos are available on the HEC Sediment YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/stanfordgibsonIf you have guest recommendations or feedback you can reach out to me on LinkedIn or ResearchGate or fill out this recommendation and feedback form: https://forms.gle/wWJLVSEYe7S8Cd248