Sediment deposition threatens the performance of many irrigation systems. Because of the high impact on irrigation performance and crop production, many studies have been done on how to deal with sediment deposition. In this research, the Delft3D model, originally developed for hydro-morphologic modeling of rivers and estuaries, was adapted for the use in irrigation systems simulations and applied to different case studies. This research addresses two shortcomings of previous studies of sediments in irrigation systems. Firstly, while previous studies primarily used 1D models, this research uses a 2D/3D model. The use of 2D/3D models in irrigation systems is significant because the non-uniform flow around structures such as offtakes, weirs and gates, leads to asymmetric sedimentation patterns that are missed by 1D simulations. Secondly, whereas previous studies mostly considered non-cohesive sediments, this research simulates cohesive, non-cohesive and a mix of both sediment types. This is important for irrigation systems that draw water from natural rivers that carry a mix of cohesive and non-cohesive sediments. The findings of this research are important for irrigation system maintenance and gate operation. It is also essential for the development of canal operating plans that meet crop water requirements and at the same time minimizes sediment deposition by alternating gates.

After publishing the famous “Fluvial Processes in Geomorphology” in the early 1960s, the work of Luna Leopold, Gordon Wolman, and John Miller became a key for opening the door to understanding rivers and streams. They first illustrated the problem to geomorphologists and geographers. Later, Chang, in his “Fluvial Processes in River Engineering”, provided a basis for engineers, showing this group of professionals how to deal with rivers and how to understand them. Since then, more informative studies have been published. Many of the authors started to combine fluvial geomorphology knowledge and river engineering needs, such as “Tools in Fluvial Geomorphology” by G. Mathias Kondolf and Hervé Piégay, or focused more on river engineering tasks, such as “Stream Restoration in Dynamic Fluvial Systems: Scientific Approaches” by Andrew Simon, Sean Bennett, and Janine Castro. Finally, Luna Leopold summarized river and stream morphologies in the beautiful “A view of the river”. It appears that we continue to explore this subject in the right direction. We better understand rivers and streams, and as engineers and fluvial geomorphologists, we can establish tools to help bring rivers alive. However, there is still a hunger for more scientific tools that we could use to further understand rivers and to support the development of healthy streams and rivers with high biodiversity in the present world, which has started to face water scarcity.

Sediment transport is a book that covers a wide variety of subject matters. It combines the personal and professional experience of the authors on solid particles transport and related problems, whose expertise is focused in aqueous systems and in laboratory flumes. This includes a series of chapters on hydrodynamics and their relationship with sediment transport and morphological development. The different contributions deal with issues such as the sediment transport modeling; sediment dynamics in stream confluence or river diversion, in meandering channels, at interconnected tidal channels system; changes in sediment transport under fine materials, cohesive materials and ice cover; environmental remediation of contaminated fine sediments. This is an invaluable interdisciplinary textbook and an important contribution to the sediment transport field. I strongly recommend this textbook to those in charge of conducting research on engineering issues or wishing to deal with equally important scientific problems.