Deltares is a Dutch research institute focused on water management. It has over 850 staff working on developing and applying expert knowledge to sustainable development of deltas, coasts, and rivers. Deltares has been collaborating with USGS to apply its modeling capabilities to coastal systems in the US, including the Columbia River, Puget Sound, and San Francisco Bay. Key areas of collaboration include understanding sediment processes, developing community models to assess climate change impacts, and applying models to inform management of dredging, flooding, and ecosystem restoration.

1. 1 december 2015
Delft3D applications in the USA,
towards an open model community.
Cooperation between Deltares, Deltares USA, USGS…
and all interested.
Edwin Elias

2. 1 december 2015
.Founded in 1920’s
.Non-profit organisation
.850 staff: 20% Ph.D.’s, 40% M.Sc.’s
.Annual turnover of $ 150 million
.50% Dutch / EU gov’t grants
.50% market
.Serving the public and private sectors
.National (40%) and international (60%)
.Exact sciences, integrated with social
sciences
Mission:
development, distribution
and application of expert
knowledge for sustainable
development and preservation
of delta, coastal and fluvial
areas.
Deltares background

3. Deltares USA background
1 december 2015
Silver Spring,
Maryland

4. 1 december 2015
Pacific and Marine Science Centre
Santa Cruz, CA
St. Petersburg Coastal
and Marine Science Center
Collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey
Goal : understanding coastal hazards and coastal
processes using models and data
“they have the data, we have the models”

5. 1 december 2015
USGS interest:
Obtain the best science possible.
Deltares interest :
Increase our process knowledge for conditions
that are not present, or we will never measure in
the Netherlands
Such knowledge helps us improve our models and
develop model robust and world-wide applicable
models.
Collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey

6. 1 december 2015
Projects and Topics
USGS interest:
Obtain the best science possible
Deltares interest :
Increase our process knowledge for conditions
that are not present, or we will never measure in
the Netherlands
Such knowledge helps us improve our models and
develop model robust and world-wide applicable
models.
AND…towards an open model
community. Sharing models, data
and model applications.

7. Deltares’ tools
• Delft3D large scale morphodynamical model
• Open-source
• Co-funded by Office of Naval Research
• Used by US Navy (research and operational)
• 570+ US organization have downloaded it
• XBeach local scale morphodynamical model
• Open source
• Launch funding by US Corps of Engineers
• 1000 + users, many in US academic world
• More and more consultants, too!

8. SF bay
• Morphology
• Flood protection
• Water Quality
• Software
Pacific Northwest
• Columbia river
• Morphology / dredging
• Water quality and Contaniments
• Flood protection
Puget Sound
• Water quality
• Eco-system restoration
Pacific
• Climate change
• Coral reefs
Artic
• Morphology of thawing shorelines
(gravel)
• Wave dynamics and Ice
Southern California
• Sandy shoreline / nourishments
• CosMos
Key areas of Interest
Coastal modelling
Reservoir modelling
Contaminated sediments
Evasive species
Navigation and Dredging
FEWS
DelftFM model (community idea)
Water quality & ecology
CosMos systems
(California, Hawaii)
* Hazards
* economics
* flood maps
Coastal Fews – coupled
FEWS (water shed)
Coupling surface and sub-
surface flow
Coral Reef modelling
Atoll modelling (overwash and
coupling to groundwater)
Climate change and Natural
Hazards

9. Coastal model applications in the US
1 december 2015
Puget Sound / Elwha / Skagit / Capitol Lake, WA
Maui/Molokai, HI
Kwajalein Atoll, RMI
St. Lawrence Island, AK
Mouth of Columbia River/Willapa Bay/Grays Harbour, WA
San Francisco Bay Community Model, CA
So California Coast
San Diego Bight/Tijuana River, CA
Mississippi Delta, LA
Chandeleurs/Breton, LA
Santa Rosa FL
Rockaway NY
Assateague, MD/VA
Duck, NC
Camp Osborne, NJ
Ship Island, MS
Dauphin Island, AL
Santa Cruz Harbour
Guam GoM
DelRay, FL
Delaware Bay
Longboat Key, FL
Galveston, TX
Delft3D in black
Xbeach in blue
Fire Island NY
San Francisco Bay Community Model, CA

10. Columbia River Studies
• 4th largest river in the us according to volume
• 2000 km long with a drainage basin size of France
• Average discharge 7500 m3/s
• Highest discharge of 35000 m3/s

11. Columbia River Studies
• Major (hot-spot erosion) along the MCR beaches
• Jetty maintenance
• Maintenance dredging
• Salmon migration
• Safe shipping
• Contaminent accumulations in the river

12. Some examples: Columbia River
1 december 2015
Columbia River
• Understanding the
Sediment Budget end
processes
• Effects of Jetty
Rehabilitation
• Dredging and Dredge
disposal
• Predicting the accumulation
of contaminents in the
Columbia River
• Predicting the effects of
changes in the water
• Collaborations with USACE,
ONR, Washington State.

13. Research Approach
• Invested in building a process-based hydrodynamic and
morphodynamic model
• Model was validated with field data
• Depending on problem; base model is adapted and
used to answer specific questions.

14. Model Validation
“Mega Transect measurements”
Water levels
Waves
Salinity
Currents
sediment transport
morphological change

15. Model Validation
“Mega Transect measurements”
Water levels
Waves
Salinity
Currents
sediment transport
morphological change

16. Identification of dominant sediment
transport processes.
SUMMER WINTER

17. Identification of dominant sediment
transport processes.

18. ONR – RIVET II Measurements
1 december 2015
• Upward looking ADCP
• Nearbed ADV
• Pressure
• CTD
• OBS (suspended sed conc)
• Rotary sonar
• Pencil-beam sonar
• Acoustic release
• Transponder for AUV
Distance(m)

19. Present day research:
Sand Waves

20. Some examples: Columbia River
1 december 2015
Columbia River
• Understanding the
Sediment Budget end
processes
• Effects of Jetty
Rehabilitation
• Dredging and Dredge
disposal
• Predicting the accumulation
of contaminents in the
Columbia River
• Predicting the effects of
changes in the water
• Collaborations with USACE,
ONR, Washington State.

21. Puget Sound; Capitol Lake
1 december 2015
Primary Goal:
Investigate feasibility of restoring tidal
and estuarine processes to lake/estuary

22. Puget Sound; Capitol Lake
1 december 2015
Primary Goal:
Investigate feasibility of restoring tidal
and estuarine processes to lake/estuary

23. Present day Research
• Effects of restorations on sediment
transport
• Effects of sediment transport on
sea-grass and shell fish habitat
• Effects of deltas on flood risks
1 december 2015

24. 1 december 2015
USGS interest….
(1) What are the dominant sediment transport
pathways?
- San Francisco Bay Coastal System
- Ocean Beach
- Dredge disposal sites
- Large sand wave fields
- Crissy Marsh Inlet
(2) Long-term evolution of San Pablo and Suison Bay
(3) What is the cause of observed ebb tidal
delta constriction?
(4) What is the cause of the erosional hot spot
at Ocean Beach?
- Sediment supply?
- Wave refraction/focusing patterns?
- Tidal current patterns?
San Francisco Bay Community model v1.0

25. Delft3D Base Model Set up
Single domain model application

26. Depth(m)

27. San Francisco Bay
1 december 2015

28. OCOF – Our Coast Our Future.
1 december 2015
• Community model San Francisco Bay
• OCOF – Tools to understand the
anticipated vulnerability to SLR
Marine Geology Volume 345, Pages 1-326, 1 November 2013
A multi-discipline approach for understanding sediment transport and geomorphic evolution in an
estuarine-coastal system: San Francisco Bay.
Edited by P.L. Barnard, B.E. Jaffe and D.H. Schoellhamer.
http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/coastal_processes/sfbaycoastalsys/SFBay_model/

29. Courtesy Mick van der Wegen
“…extend modeling capabilities to
assess Delta ecosystem
response to changes in climate
and physical configuration”
Development of Delft3D Bay Delta
model for calculations with
- Water levels
- Salinity
- Sediment
- Temperature
- Fish habitat
- Phytoplankton dynamics
- Island flooding
San Francisco Bay Community model v2.0

30. Courtesy Mick van der Wegen
Bathymetry grid

31. In progress: Seamless Bathy-Topo (LIDAR) grid
Courtesy Mick van der Wegen

32. San Francisco Bay Delta Community Model
www.d3d-baydelta.org
January 13, 2014

33. Boundary conditions from
WaveWatch
Lookup table of local wave height, period,
direction (25-50m resolution) for each
Hawaiian Island.
Climate change predictions
Future Coral Reef Community Projections of DOI-Managed Coastal Assets in the Hawaiian Islands

34. Roi Namur, Republic of Marshall Islands
• Small atoll in Pacific Ocean
with U.S. base
• Island experiences wave
events with flooding
• Flooding causes damage
and infiltrates drinking water
supply
• Likely to increase due to
climate change due to
• Sea level rise
• Higher waves
• Coral reef degredation
1 december 2015
See : Many Atolls May be Uninhabitable Within Decades Due
to Climate Change.
Storlazzi, Elias & Berkowitz, Nature Scientific Reports 5, 14546

35. • Anthropogenic influences in the past are important
for the present day developments and problems.
1939
2002
Take home…..
We observe very similar problems in the US

36. Very Similar Problems in The US
• Nature and Humans compete / conflict

37. • Decadal scale morphodynamics of
complex systems
Coupling Sediment transport to
“ecology”
Climate change predictions of
flooding and coastal morphology
Operational coastal forecasting
systems
Future and Present day research Interests;