Measuring Effect of Gravel Augmentation Using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in Mountainous Areas of the Trinity River, California

Abstract

The construction of dams and transport water from the Trinity River into the Sacrament River have had an adverse impact on habitat for aquatic animals. The Trinity River Restoration Program (TRRP) has conducted various projects to implement recovery of the Trinity River and its fish population. The objective of this paper is to estimate the mobility of the riverbed materials by tracing PIT-tags gravel using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system and to understand the tendency of deposition and scouring by computing the 2-dimensional (2D) model calculation for riverbed variation. From the results of the survey, we could detect the PIT-tags gravel at most 460 m downstream from the gravel injection point (IP) when floods have occurred twice after gravel injection and there is a possibility that the area of 200-250m downstream from IP seems to have a potential to catch gravel and to be a sandbar in the near future. On the other hand, from the results of the 2D model calculation, it seems that there is a periodical strong cycle for making geomorphological structure at several places. In especially, it suggests that the left bank area 325 to 400 m downstream from IP has a potential to catch the sediment. In other words, there is a possibility that sandbar is formed in the area.