TY - JOUR
T1 - Numerical simulation and application of nature based solutions to solve bank erosion in hydrosystems
AU - Rivillas-Ospina, German
AU - Díaz, Karina
AU - Gutiérrez, Ronald R.
AU - Berrío, Yeison
AU - Doria, Rubén
AU - Felizzola, Manuel
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s)
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Nature based solutions (NBS) have been successfully applied in developed nations. Its application in developing countries is however still incipient to some extent. Moreover, very few studies have addressed its implementation in the domain of large river systems, which have been exposed to ever increasing anthropogenic pressure in the last decades. The Magdalena River is the main waterway in Colombia, and it exhibits one of the largest sediment loads in South America. This contribution presents the successful operationalization (i.e., hydrological and hydraulic analysis, as well as numerical simulation) of sediment traps for sedimentation control and bank stabilization of the right bank of the Magdalena at Magangué Municipality (lower Magdalena) through wooden sustainable alternatives. The NBS simulation and intervention assessment indicates that the traps effectively restored the bank shore in the critical sector of the study area. To the best of our knowledge, the intervention in question is one of the first of its kind in the region. The numerical results indicate that these traps were able to reduce the exposure of vulnerable communities, not only to floods, but also to negative hydrodynamic changes associated to climate change. Thus, the contribution currently described can potentially provide for practitioners and decision makers a guide for the application of NBS in river engineering, and, for scientists, valuable insights into processes associated with NBS in different environments. We posit that the operationalization of NBS in developing countries needs to be institutionally encouraged through, for example, the construction of a database of successful interventions, and the establishment of methodological guidelines.
AB - Nature based solutions (NBS) have been successfully applied in developed nations. Its application in developing countries is however still incipient to some extent. Moreover, very few studies have addressed its implementation in the domain of large river systems, which have been exposed to ever increasing anthropogenic pressure in the last decades. The Magdalena River is the main waterway in Colombia, and it exhibits one of the largest sediment loads in South America. This contribution presents the successful operationalization (i.e., hydrological and hydraulic analysis, as well as numerical simulation) of sediment traps for sedimentation control and bank stabilization of the right bank of the Magdalena at Magangué Municipality (lower Magdalena) through wooden sustainable alternatives. The NBS simulation and intervention assessment indicates that the traps effectively restored the bank shore in the critical sector of the study area. To the best of our knowledge, the intervention in question is one of the first of its kind in the region. The numerical results indicate that these traps were able to reduce the exposure of vulnerable communities, not only to floods, but also to negative hydrodynamic changes associated to climate change. Thus, the contribution currently described can potentially provide for practitioners and decision makers a guide for the application of NBS in river engineering, and, for scientists, valuable insights into processes associated with NBS in different environments. We posit that the operationalization of NBS in developing countries needs to be institutionally encouraged through, for example, the construction of a database of successful interventions, and the establishment of methodological guidelines.
KW - Delft3D
KW - Lotic ecosystems
KW - Magdalena River
KW - Nature Based Solutions
KW - OPENFOAM
KW - River hydrodynamics
KW - Riverbank erosion
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85206145124&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ecohyd.2024.09.005
DO - 10.1016/j.ecohyd.2024.09.005
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85206145124
SN - 1642-3593
JO - Ecohydrology and Hydrobiology
JF - Ecohydrology and Hydrobiology
ER -