The dirt in a hole: A review of sedimentation basins for urban areas and construction sites

Excerpt

Accelerated erosion caused by human activities has long been recognized as a source of environmental degradation. Loss of soil can reduce agricultural productivity and, in extreme cases, result in land slides posing a threat to human life. Local communities are commonly faced with problems associated with the transport of sediment to streams. Many reservoirs and basins are experiencing a shorter than expected life due to unforeseen storage losses from sediment loads which, in some cases, are being deposited 1.5 times faster than planned for in the original design.

Additionally, sediments in runoff from nonpoint sources are a primary transporter of nutrients and pollutants. Eighty percent of the total phosphorus in U.S. streams and 73 percent of kjeldahl nitrogen is attributed to eroded sediment (23). The resulting deoxygenation of water from runoff is now responsible for the majority of human-induced fish-kills throughout the country (IS). The Chesapeake Bay Agreement of 1983 stemmed from the realization that the nation's largest estuary faced numerous environmental problems directly associated with transported sediment. Reduced water clarity and toxic and nutrient transport were resulting in eutrophication and algal blooms endangering bay-life habitats and productivity (8). In some cases the …