Effects of in-stream structures and channel flow rate variation on transient storage

In-stream structures can potentially enhance surface and subsurface solute retention. They form naturally in small streams and their installation has gained popularity in stream restoration for multiple purposes, including improved water quality. Yet few studies have quantified the cumulative effect of multiple structures on solute transport at the reach scale, nor how this varies with changing stream flow. We built a series of weirs in a small stream to simulate channel spanning structures such as natural debris dams and stream restoration log dams and boulder weirs. We conducted constant rate conservative (NaCl) tracer injections to quantify the effect of the weirs on solute transport at the reach scale. We used a one dimensional solute transport model with transient storage to quantify the change of solute transport parameters with increasing number of weirs. Results indicate that adding weirs significantly increased the cross-sectional area of the surface stream (A) and transient storage zones (As) while exchange with transient storage (α) decreased. The increase in A and As is due to backwater behind weirs and increased hydrostatically driven hyporheic exchange induced by the weirs, while we surmise that the reduction in α is due at least in part to reduced hydrodynamically driven hyporheic exchange in bed ripples drowned by the weir backwater. In order for weir installation to achieve net improvement in solute retention and thus water quality, cumulative reactions in weir backwater and enhanced hydrostatically driven hyporheic exchange would have to overcome the reduced hydrodynamically driven exchange. Analysis of channel flow variation over the course of the experiments indicated that weirs change the relationship between transient storage parameters and flow, for example the trend of increasing α with flow without weirs was reversed in the presence of weirs. Effects of flow variation were substantial, indicating that transient storage measurements at a single point in time typically cannot be extrapolated to estimate net annual effects. Thus, rigorous evaluation of water quality effects of stream restoration structures requires measurements at multiple channel flow rates.