Watershed Environmental Engineering Research Team

Blocking the migration for salmonid with river structures such as head works and sluice gates leads to emaciation and extinction of that species. Even if river channel continuity is secured, the absence of spawning beds cannot allow sustainable inhabitation. Therefore, the team researches the physical conditions of flow channel needed to secure river channel continuity and spawning beds for cold water fish.

Recently, a lot of turbidity has flowed out in association of extremely heavy rains, causing declines in fish catches and suspended water intake for tap water due to long-term concentrated turbidity. Contrary to this, smaller suspended soil outflows have caused coastal erosion and the loss of mudland. To resolve these problems, the team is working to develop a method for turbidity assessment and management by estimating turbidity outflow per grain size using radioisotopes.