Effects of deepening the Elbe Estuary on sediment regime and water quality

Changes in the transport and sedimentation of suspended particulate matter (SPM) after deepening of the navigation channel of the Elbe Estuary in 1999 were studied. Long-term series of the grain size composition of sediments and sedimentation rates in the main stream and its branches (Nebenelben) were compared with changes in flow velocities and tidal water levels. In addition, water quality parameters like biological oxygen demand (BOD₇), dissolved oxygen and particulate organic carbon (POC) were analysed to determine changes in the origin and fate of the SPM. In the main stream, deepening produced no significant changes of the flow velocities. However, there was a decrease of the mean tidal low water level between 5.7 and 8.1 cm at the upper end of the estuary. These small changes in hydrology had the effect that fine-grained suspended matter derived from freshwater run-off accumulated in the surface water of the freshwater region in the estuary and remained within this region until all degradable organic matter was consumed. Accumulation of the fine-grained SPM produced an increase of the <63 μm fraction in the sediments of the Hamburg harbour by about 20% and in the SPM along the freshwater longitudinal profile up to about 120%. Coupled to this the mean BOD₇ increased between May and August by 38%. Enhanced oxygen deficiencies thus occurred after 1999, with concentrations of below 6 mg O₂ L⁻¹ over a length of about 100 km along the freshwater longitudinal profile of the Elbe Estuary. In the shallow water regions present in the branches of the main stream, deepening of the navigation channel was followed by a 25% decrease in the flow velocities during low tide. This was coupled to an increase of the sedimentation rates which produced a rise of the sediment level between 0.7 and 1.5 m until 2004 and a permanent loss in the capacity of the branches for re-aeration of the open water. The results indicate that in tidal systems SPM might be more sensitive for monitoring changes in the transport regime than hydrological parameters.