Author(s): Rene Diaz Carvajal; Alejandro Mendoza; Fabian Rivera-Trejo; Gaston Priego; Moises Berezowsky

Linked Author(s): Alejandro Mendoza, Moisés Berezowsky

Keywords: River bifurcation; Sedimentation; Control gates

Abstract: The Grijalva River, one of the largest in Mexico, bifurcates when it enters the delta of the Mezcalapa River. The two resulting diffluents, the Samaria River and the Carrizal River, pass by different towns, so the distribution of flows in the diffluents of the bifurcation is of interest due to the flooding problems that can occur if one of the diffluents begin to capture more flow. It was the case of the Carrizal River, where in the late 1990s it captured up to 90% of the flow coming from the Grijalva River. To regulate the flow derived by the Carrizal River, in 2005 began the construction of a control structure. Consequently, in the 2010s, the development of a sedimentation process began at the entrance of the Carrizal River, considerably limiting its capacity to capture flow. Due to this, we proposed a morpho-hydraulic model that replicates the behavior observed at the bifurcation during the years of most significant sedimentation. In the first instance, the purpose is to understand the sedimentation processes generated by the control structure in the Carrizal River. The second is to explore a tool to help test mitigation measures to reduce the magnitude of sedimentation at the site.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3850/IAHR-39WC252171192022816

Year: 2022