Sedimentation Study Topic of 17th Annual Meeting March 29 in Yankton
Potential reuse opportunity for Niobrara River sediment topic of MSAC’s annual meeting March 29
(Springfield) – Reservoir managers around the nation face questions of how to address sediment accumulation which reduces water storage capacities. A recent U.S. Geological Survey report may shed light on a potential reuse opportunity for sediment found in the Niobrara River.
The Missouri Sedimentation Action Coalition invites the public to attend its annual meeting at 11 a.m., March 29, in Yankton to learn more about this recent report. The Niobrara River is responsible for up to 3 million tons or 60 percent of the sediment filling Lewis and Clark Lake annually behind Gavins Point Dam on the Missouri River. Finding a reuse for the sediment could potentially help offset the costs associated with removal.
In 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Nebraska Water Science Center (NWSC) in Lincoln in cooperation with the Midwest Region Initiative on Natural Sources of Frac Sand, began a study to determine whether sediment found in the Missouri and Niobrara Rivers had properties similar to the sand used as a proppant for hydraulic fracking in unconventional oil and gas development. Nathan Schaepe, a NWSC hydrologist, will be the featured speaker focusing on this report which was just released in November.
Schaepe was one of the contributors to the report entitled: “Suitability of river delta sediment as proppant, Missouri and Niobrara Rivers, Nebraska and South Dakota, 2015.” Other contributors included Ronald Zelt, Christopher Hobza, Bethany Burton and Nadine Piatak.
Schaepe earned a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla and has been working for USGS since 2005. He is responsible for managing the USGS National Water Quality Network surface water activities in Nebraska and has been involved in many other surface-water water-quality and sediment studies mainly pertaining to the Niobrara and Platte Rivers in Nebraska. His project work includes: GIS analysis of stream geomorphology, stream bed and suspended-sediment collection and analysis, continuous water-quality monitoring, and stream ecological assessments.
The Nebraska Water Science Center’s mission is: “to lead, innovate, and excel in hydrologic monitoring, investigations, research, and data delivery for Nebraska.”