Sediment Fingerprinting Enables the Determination of Soil Erosion Sources and Sediment Transport Processes in a Topographically Complex Nile Headwater Basin

Sediment fingerprinting was utilized to identify potential hotspots of soil erosion and sediment transport pathways in the Nile Nyabarongo Upper Catchment (NNYU) in Rwanda, where rivers and reservoirs are suffering from alarmingly high levels of sedimentation. Sediment fingerprinting is a practical approach used to identify erosional hotspots and sediment transport processes in highly mountainous regions undergoing swift land use transformation. This technique involves a statistical comparison of the elemental composition of suspended sediments in river water with the elemental composition of soils belonging to different geological formations present in the catchment, thereby determining the sources of the suspended sediment. Suspended sediments were sampled five times over dry and wet seasons in all major headwater tributaries, as well as the main river channel, and compared with soils from respective delineated watersheds. Elemental composition was obtained using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and elements were chosen that could reliably distinguish between the various geological types. The final results indicate different levels of sediment contribution from different geological types. A three-level intervention priority system was devised, with Level 1 indicating the areas with the most serious erosion. Potential sources were located on an administrative map, with the highest likely erosion over the study period (Level 1) occurring in Kabuga cell in the Mwogo sub-catchment, Nganzo and Nyamirama cells in the Nyagako sub-catchment and Kanyana cell in the NNYU downstream sub-catchment. This map enables the pinpointing of site visits in an extensive and rugged terrain to verify the areas and causes of erosion and the pathways of sediment transport. Sediment concentrations (mg L−1) were the highest in the Secoko and Satinsyi tributaries. The composition of suspended sediment was seen to be temporally and spatially dynamic at each sampling point, suggesting the need for an adequate number of sampling locations to identify erosion hotspots in a large mountainous watershed. Apart from prioritizing rehabilitation locations, the detailed understanding of critical zone soil–land cover–climate processes is an important input for developing region-specific watershed management and policy guidelines.