WSP09960

• File Number: 8407.600
• Description: Platte River Basin - River Basin General Publications - Kansas General Publications
• State: CO
• Basin: South Platte
• Water Division: 1
• Date: 6/1/1971
• Author: Kansas Water Resourc
• Title: Kansas Streamflow Characteristics - Part 8 - In-Channel Hydraulic Geometry of Streams in Kansas - Technical Report Number 8
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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Figure S. Photograph of the Smoky Hill River at Elkader, Kansas,
which has a wide braided channel with sand banks.

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The hydraulic-geometry parameters of width, mean depth, and velocity
were related to the average discharge, and the discharge exceeded 10,
50, and 80 percent of the time from a flow-duration curve. A flow-
duration curve shows the percentage of time that specified discharges
are equaled or exceeded. Examples are presented on figure 6. The
curves show the distributions of flow for two drainage basins that
have extremely different climates. The mean annual precipitation at
Pottawatomie Creek near Garnett is more than twice that at Smoky Hill
River at Elkader.

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FreQuency information through 1965 for all the stations included in
this report is available in a report by Burns (1967). The flow-
duration data from that report were used in this analysis, except
for a few stations that have short records. Flow-duration information
for these stations includes records through 1968. All average
discharges were determined from records through 1968. Table I gives
the results of analysis for each station and the limits of use.
Stations for which the regulated period of record was used to define
the parameters are followed by asterisks in table I.

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