This research will document the erosional and depositional effects of the largest and most sustained flood of the Saskatchewan River (eastern Saskatchewan, Canada) since discharge records were begun. Reconnaissance post-flood observations showed that the flood, controlled by upstream dam releases, caused widening and deepening of main channels as well as major displacements of channel-bed sediment to levee tops, floodplains and anastomosed distributary channels. These initial observations will be documented by a program of cross-channel topographic surveys and sediment sampling and later compared to similar surveys completed before the flood.
The results of this work will provide new information concerning the nature of flood effects on river systems immediately downstream of large dams, a situation in which the river is starved of sediment due to impoundment. It will also contribute to a better understanding of how river systems evolve after avulsion (major channel diversion), an event which preceded construction of the dam in the early 1960s.
