A plan for study of flood hydrology of foothill streams in Colorado

McCain, Jerald F.; Ebling, J.L.

doi:10.3133/ofr791276

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This information can be obtained using the flood-information transfer techniques discussed in the "Introduction". Past applications of these techniques have failed to adequately describe the flood hydrology of foothill streams (McCain and Ebling, 1979). Although there are limited precipitation and streamflow data, investigators have assumed that the total basin area contributes runoff during rainstorms.…”

Section: Regional Flood-frequency Relationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of the flood hydrology in the Colorado Front Range using precipitation, streamflow, and paleoflood data for the Big Thompson River basin

Jarrett¹,

Costa²

1988

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A multidisciplinary study of precipitation and streamflow data and paleoflood studies of channel features was made to analyze the flood hydrology of foothill and mountain streams in the Front Range of Colorado (with emphasis on the Big Thompson River basin) because conventional flood-frequency analyses do not adequately characterize the flood hydrology. In the foothills of Colorado, annual floodflows are derived from snowmelt at higher elevations in the mountain regions, from rainfall at lower elevations in the plains or plateau regions, or from a combination of rain falling on snow. Above approximately 7,500 feet snowmelt dominates; rain does not contribute to the flood potential. Regression analyses were done to determine flood characteristics at ungaged sites. These study results helped identify a relatively homogeneous hydrologic foothill region in the South Platte River basin. When the .m4r^ina£e_,are^a below_ 8,000_feet w?s Ubed in the regional flood-prediction equations rather than"the total drainage area, the standard error of estimate improved from 142 to 44 percent for the regional flood-prediction equations. These regression relationsNand study results indicate that methods of computing flood characteristics ,~^4>ased on rainfall-runoff modeling, overestimate flood magnitude in the foothills and mountains of Colorado. Regional flood-frequency relations were ecwnpared with rainfallrunoff flood-estimating technique results, which included an evaluation of the magnitude and frequency of the probable maximum flood. The study demonstrated that the concept of storm transposition from lower elevations to higher elevations, that is the basis of the rainfall-runoff method, is not supported by meteorological, hydrological, and paleoflood data. Regional-regression relations were used to compute the recurrence interval of selected large floods in the study area. Regional flood-frequency equations, combined with paleoflood investigations, provide more reliable estimates of both common and rare floods. This technique improved flood estimates beyond the 100-year recurrence interval. These regional analyses, supported by radiocarbon dating, indicate that the 1976 Big Thompson flood, in the area of most intense rainfall, had a recurrence interval of about 10,000 years. Evaluation of streamflow data and paleoflood investigations provide an alternative for evaluating flood hydrology and the safety of dams. The study indicates the need for additional data collection and research to understand the complexities of the flood hydrology in mountainous regions, especially its effects on flood-plain management and design of structures in the flood plain.

show abstract

Section: Regional Flood-frequency Relationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of the flood hydrology in the Colorado Front Range using precipitation, streamflow, and paleoflood data for the Big Thompson River basin

Jarrett¹,

Costa²

1988

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Elliot! and others 1982Herbert (1983) lorns and others (1964) lorns and others (1965) Jar ret t and Costa (1982) (A more detailed report is in preparation) Kircher and others (1985) Livingston (1970) McCain and Ebling (1979) McCain and Jarrett (1976) Petsch 1980Petsch 1983Richter and others (1984) (An additional technical report will be available in the near future)…”

Section: Area-wide Studies; Also Include Adjacent Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finally, a study currently (1984) is being conducted to develop more reliable methods of determining flood magnitude and frequency in the foothills region of Colorado. The work is described in McCain and Ebling (1979) and Jarret and Costa (1982).…”

Section: Streamflow At Station 29 Williams Fork Belowmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrology of area 58, northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountain coal provinces, Colorado and Utah

Chaney¹,

Brooks²,

Kuhn³

1985

Open-File Report

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Hydrologic information and analyses are needed to aid in decisions to lease Federally owned coal and to prepare the necessary environmental assessments and impact-study reports. This need has become even more critical with the enactment of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. This report, which is one of a series covering the Nation's coal areas, presents information thematically by describing single hydrologic topics through the use of brief texts and accompanying maps, graphs, or other illustrations. The topics encompass the complete physical and hydrologic setting of the area. Area 58, located primarily in west-central Colorado, is in the Southern Rocky Mountain and Colorado Plateau physiographic provinces. The area consists of 13,132 square miles of diverse geology, topography, and climate. The diversity results in a broad array of hydrologic characteristics. The Colorado River is the principal river draining the region. The headwaters of the Colorado and most of its tributaries originate in the mountains forming the eastern boundary of the area. This boundary also is the Continental Divide. The U.S. Geological Survey operates a network of hydrologic stations to measure the streamflow and waterquality conditions. This network currently includes 97 stations collecting streamflow data and 12 stations collecting water-quality data. Information is available for many surface-and groundwater sites measured in the past. Data available include rate of flow, water levels, and water quality. These data are available from the U.S. Geological Survey either in published reports or from computer storage through the National Water-Data Exchange (NAWDEX) or the National Water-Data Storage and Retrieval System (WATSTORE). All coal mines in the basin but one are underground. Production from these mines during 1982 totaled almost 1.0 INTRODUCTION 7.7 Objective Report Summarizes Available Hydrologic Data Existing hydrologic conditions and sources of information are identified to aid leasing decisions and preparation and appraisal of environmental impact studies and mine-permit applications. Hydrologic information and analysis are needed to aid in decisions to lease Federally owned coal and to prepare the necessary environmental assessments and impact study reports. This need has become even more critical with the enactment of Public Law 95-87, the "Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977." This Act requires an appropriate regulatory agency to issue mining permits based on the review of permit application data to assess hydrologic impacts. This need is partly fulfilled by this report, which broadly characterizes the hydrology of Area 58 in west central Colorado and eastern Utah, a part of the Northern Great Plains, and Rocky Mountain Coal Provinces (fig. 1.1-1). This report is one of a series that describes coal provinces nationwide. MONTROSE

show abstract

“…Warm wind-and rain-caused floods generally do not occur above 6,000 ft altitude in the study area (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, oral commun., 1978). McCain and Ebling (1979), while analyzing skew coefficients for foothills, plains, and mountainous areas in Colorado, noted that foothill streams have large positive skews sometimes greater than 1.0, whereas plains streams have skews near zero and mountain streams have slightly negative skews, about -0.3. The Bulletin 17A generalized skew map shows isolines of skew coefficients of -0.2 and -0.3 for Idaho.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A method of estimating flood-frequency parameters for streams in Idaho

Kjelstrom¹,

Moffatt²

1981

Open-File Report

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Skew coefficients for the log-Pearson Type III distribution are generalized on the basis of some similarity of floods in the Snake River basin and other parts of Idaho. Generalized skew coefficients aid in shaping flood-frequency curves because skew coefficients computed from gaging stations having relatively short periods of peak flow records can be unreliable. Generalized skew coefficients can be obtained for a gaging station from one of three maps in this report. The map to be used depends on whether (1) snowmelt floods are dominant (generally when more than 20 percent of the drainage area is above 6,000 feet altitude) , (2) rainstorm floods are dominant (generally when the mean altitude is less than 3,000 feet), or (3) either snowmelt or rainstorm floods can be the annual maximum discharge. For the latter case, frequency curves constructed using separate arrays of each type of runoff can be combined into one curve, which, for some stations, is significantly different than the frequency curve constructed using only annual maximum discharges. For 269 gaging stations, flood-frequency curves that include the generalized skew coefficients in the computation of the log-Pearson Type III equation tend to fit the data better than previous analyses. Frequency curves for ungaged sites can be derived by estimating three statistics of the log-Pearson Type III distribution. The mean and standard deviation of logarithms of annual maximum discharges are estimated by regression equations that use basin characteristics as independent variables. Skew coefficient estimates are the generalized skews. The log-Pearson Type III equation is then applied with the three estimated statistics to compute the discharge at selected.exceedance probabilities. Standard errors at the 2-percent exceedance probability range from 41 to 90 percent. ___|_____ WASHINGTON EXPLANATION » Study area boundary !pjipjj!p;: ; ;;pvpph Study area Gaging station Boise River at Twin Springs, Idaho (13185000) O Gaging station Mores Creek above Rabie Creek near Arrowrock Dam, Idaho (13200000) 40 70 KILOMETERS Base from U.S. Geological Survey 1-2,500,000, United State* 1965 Figure (.-Location of study area. ' 1.877-0.067 log DA-0.193 log MAP-0.337 log ALT 0.600-0.157 log F-0.123 log MAP f 0.060 log MMJT 0.751-0.050 log DA-0.111 log ALT-0.057 log MAP 0.600-0.157 log F-0.123 log MAP 4-0.060 log MMJT Average 90 63 59 41 48 63 Ratige' 4-131 to-55 4-81 to-44 4-75 to-43 4-49 to-33 460 to-37 +81 to-44 11100 '-5 ifr" O'i' : O'^?'" f:^t-Data Tabla E.-Baain charactariatica for aelacted gaging atationa-Continued

show abstract

A plan for study of flood hydrology of foothill streams in Colorado

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Evaluation of the flood hydrology in the Colorado Front Range using precipitation, streamflow, and paleoflood data for the Big Thompson River basin

Evaluation of the flood hydrology in the Colorado Front Range using precipitation, streamflow, and paleoflood data for the Big Thompson River basin

Hydrology of area 58, northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountain coal provinces, Colorado and Utah

A method of estimating flood-frequency parameters for streams in Idaho

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About