Monitoring deposited fine sediment in rivers

Deposited fine sediment is the fine sand, silt or clay (less than 2mm wide) that settles on the bed of a river. It occurs naturally through weathering processes, bank erosion and water movement, but can increase due to human activities.

The natural levels of deposited fine sediment will vary for a number of reasons, including source inputs, surrounding geology, stream size, land slope and amount of rainfall in the catchment. However, activities such as agriculture, horticulture, forestry and earthworks can increase the amount of fine sediment that enters a river.