Magdalena River: Hydro-morphodynamic of the delta area under extreme hydrological events

The Magdalena River, located in Colombia, is considered the longest South American interandino river and the most important in the country. It has a length of 1,550 km from its origin at 3,385 meters above sea level to its mouth at the Caribbean Sea. In the last 10 years, the hydrological regime of the river has changed by having more frequently high and low flow rates which have caused a relatively rapid morphological changes in the delta area. This paper reports the results of evaluating the hydro-morphodynamic conditions of the river at its delta area form the river mouth to 115 Km upstream, under extreme high and low events. A 2D/3D numerical model was setup in Delft-3D. The results reported in the hydro-morphodynamic analysis suggest that temporary hydrological changes may cause significant short-term morphological changes in the delta area of Magdalena River. In addition, it suggests that river training works should include adaptive strategies for hydrological regime changes caused by climate change, watershed modification or El Nino and La Nina phenomena.