Abstract

This study is focused in the Eume´s estuary (Galicia, Spain). The geography of this region, in the northwest of Spain, is plenty of river mouths. The Eume river is associated to the Ares river mouth, with five kilometres long. Recent works in the region have induced significant changes in the system morphodynamics, including a jetty and converting a sand spit into a pocket beach. The navigation channel has also been affected.

The objective of this work is to analyse the actual conditions and potential interventions to keep a constant depth in the channel. Three numerical models developed by GIOC (University of Cantabria, Spain), digital terrain models and a long term evolution model have been applied to analyse the dynamics of the system. The long term evolution model is used in the Eume´s tidal inlet and beach founded in the formulation of a sediment budget. The model is able to describe the morphologic behaviour of each sedimentary unit based on the bathymetric surveys that exist from previous works. Since the model can be used to asses the morphological effect of an engineering work on each sedimentary unit, it is applied to establish the optimum maintenance dredging strategy.

Keywords: Eume´s estuary, wave propagation, morphological changes, dredging strategy