What are the geotechnical effects of sand mining on a river environment?

Barrett Felicia: The river, as well as many systems in the planet, has weird ways to compensate for changes. When you deplete a riparian environment of its sediments, well, in this case, sand from a river system, the river adjusts to this change by adjusting its characteristics, especially its morphologic/physical aspects. The baseline of the river may be shifted upstream or downstream, it depends on where you obtain the sediments. This may cause change in erosion in some parts, and deposition in another. This may be not discernible immediately, but its effects are, in theory, large. Like there would be flooding in areas not normally flooded, since there would be shifting in natural levees as well. Subtraction of sediments may also yield to increase in water speed due to the absence of physical boundaries, thus inducing erosion in some areas.Although I am just a young geologist, hope this helps....Show more