Efficiency is how well a river can carry its water and its load; it is worked out by

dividing the rivers wetted perimeter by the cross-sectional area (CSA). The larger the
wetted perimeter and the more semi-circular the CSA is, the more efficient the river
will be. The efficiency of the river is determined by its shape, if a river is crooked has
edged shapes, has eroded parts to it or the CSA or wetted perimeter is small or un-
semi-circular the water will be more shallow and therefore it will have a poor
efficiency.

There are many things that can change the cross-sectional area or the river as it flows
downstream. Corrosion occurs when the rivers load grinds against the river bed down
vertically, and grinds the sides. This affects the river largely as it deepens it by vertical
erosion and makes it wider by lateral erosion. There is also another corrosion that
happens when small materials such as small stones collide with one another in the
water and break into smaller particles and they then become smooth and rounded, this
corrosion is called attrition. And finally, another erosion that affects the CSA of the
river downstream is hydraulic action when the water is moving at a high speed and
hits into weak rock at the side of the channel causing it to break

When talking about the CSA of a river, there is a link with discharge as the higher the
discharge and this will lead to more erosion.

In my results it is clearly seen that the discharge increases from site to site and
downstream. As we followed the river downstream it became clear that the water was
moving at a higher velocity. This meaning a stronger hydraulic action is created
causing the higher amount of discharge to erode the banks and river bed. However the
majority of the erosion that occurred was lateral as the river became a lot wider than it
did deeper. With the rivers discharge eroding the bed and banks the river is made
more efficient and was able to carry more water and load. Therefore the river became
a lot faster therefore more hydraulic action causing more erosion. Also meandering
occurred at site 4 caused by the discharge from the river crashing on the banks.

Also there are other factors that reduce the wetted perimeter of a river, the hydraulic
action causing the river bed to become more smooth and causing it to become more
semi-circular therefore in effect making it more efficient. The wetted perimeter was
also effected by the load amount, at the first site there was a lot of load mount and
therefore in effect clogging up the river however as we moved further downstream
this became less of a problem as there was less vegetation and therefore making it
more efficient.

The river Tillingbourne’s efficiency ratio from source to mouth became greater, with
the width, depth and wetted perimeter all multiplying. This fits in with Bradshaw’s
idea that all rivers should become more efficient as they go downstream.

From my data it is clear that the river Tillingbourne fits in with Bradshaw’s idea of a
perfect river, as the CSA increased at every site the velocity mostly increased at most
sites and the wetted perimeter increased at most sites therefore all round making the
river more efficient also allowing the river to be able to carry more water and load