Suncook River Avulsion: Geomorphic Based Solutions

In May of 2006, heavy rains in southern New Hampshire resulted in a large scale avulsion on the lower Suncook River near Epsom, NH. The river abandoned nearly two miles of its former course, and assumed a new path through incision and massive sediment transport. Nearby tributary channels incised as much as 20 feet as a result of the avulsion, and transported sediment caused further flooding problems downstream. Since 2006, the site has undergone significant change and several studies have documented the geomorpholgy Interfluve was retained to develop designs for stabilizing headcuts in the main channel and tributaries, with the goal of preventing major damage to infrastructure and habitat. The project is in the final design stages, and this talk discusses the challenges in balancing cost, infrastructure protection and in-stream habitat for a large scale project.