Author(s): F. Rivera-Trejo; G. Soto-Cortes; J. Barajas-Ferandez; E. Carrizosa-Elizondo; I. Gomez-Esquivel
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: Flood control; Fluviomorphology; Sediment transport; Field data; Delta processes
Abstract: Most rivers in the southeast of Mexico carry high sediment loads, and therefore develop deltas. This is the case of the Grijalva River, one of the most important rivers in Mexico, which has modified its water and solid contributions to the Bajo Grijalva, having a process of natural and progressive adaptation. The Villahermosa City, capital of the Tabasco State, with more than 650 000 inhabitants, and one of the most important petroleum business centers of Mexico has grown near of the river, and in 1999 suffers the worst flooding of the last 50 years due to this adaptation. In this paper discusses such deltaic processes and the corresponding field measurements strategies for the Bajo Grijalva River. This river has been an important morphologic change due to a dam system located upstream that produced a change of the dominant water flow with consequences of siltation and avulsions of the river channel and important damages for flooding. Dredging is only a temporary solution of this problem, field measurements strategies along the Bajo Grijalva, are being examined as the main strategy to understand and control the fluviomorphological behaviour of the river.
Year: 2007