New floodplain connectivity paper out

The second paper from Billy Beck's dissertation is now in print in Science of the Total Environment. Titled Changes in lateral floodplain connectivity accompanying stream channel evolution: Implications for sediment and nutrient budgets, this study used channel cross-sections measured first in 1998 and re-measured again in 2014 as the basis for a simple hydraulic model. The hypothesis was that ongoing enlargement of channel cross-sections (due to incision and widening) that Billy and others have documented should lead to reduced frequency and extent of floodplain inundation, all else being equal. The result is that not only does channel enlargement increase sediment and nutrient loads to the stream, but it reduces access to the floodplain, which would otherwise serve as storage. This effect needs to be accounted for in watershed sediment and nutrient budgets. Nice work Billy!