Molly S. Wood 2014 Key Points<br/> - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2009) estimates that excessive sediment is the leading cause of water-quality impairment in water bodies in the United States. The cost of damages attributable to sediment is high, estimated at more than $20 billion annually (Osterkamp and others, 2004).<br/> - Sediment monitoring is essential to informed solutions to sediment-related issues. However, sediment monitoring by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has decreased considerably over the past quarter century.<br/> - New techniques that make use of acoustic backscatter have shown great potential for accurately and cost-effectively estimating suspended-sediment concentrations.<br/> application/pdf 10.3133/fs20143038 en U.S. Geological Survey Estimating suspended sediment in rivers using acoustic Doppler meters reports