Traveltime and dispersion of a soluble dye in the South Branch Potomac River, Petersburg to Green Spring, West Virginia

Abstract

Traveltime studies, using rhodamine dyes, were made in 1970 and 1982 on the South Branch Potomac River from Petersburg, West Virginia, to the confluence with the North Branch Potomac River at Green Spring, West Virginia. Flow-duration at the time of the studies was approximately 32 percent in November 1970 and 95 percent in September 1982. Two studies, at discharges of 110 and 1,230 cubic feet per second, were used to define traveltime-distance relationships. A contaminant takes 386 hours to travel 69 miles from Petersburg, West Virginia, to the mouth of the river when streamflow is 110 cubic feet per second. The contaminant would, however, take only 89 hours when streamflow is 1,230 cubic feet per second. The traveltime data were interpolated and extrapolated for selected discharges from 70 to 1,500 cubic feet per second at the index gage near Springfield, West Virginia.