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<br /> <br />Deerlodge Park was 16,500 ft3/s and the 1983 instantaneous peak discharge was <br />23,400 ft3/s. In 1983, the flood plain at Dee'rlodge Park was inundated by <br />floodwater for several days during the peak runoff. Recurrence intervals of <br />annual maximum daily mean discharges were estimated for the 1982 and 1983 <br />streamflows at Deerlodge Park using the 43 years of streamflow record, and a <br />Log Pearson Type III analysis (U.S. Water Resources Council, 1981). The 1982 <br />peak daily mean discharge had a recurrence interval of about 3 years, and the <br />1983 peak daily mean discharge had a recurrence interval of about 20 to 25 <br />years. The combined long-term mean annual streamflow of the Yampa River near <br />Maybe" and the Little Snake River near Lily is 1.5 million acre-ft/yr (U.S. <br />Geological Survey, 1982). In 1982, the combined annual streamflow of the <br />Yampa River near Maybell and the Little Snake River near Lily was 1.9 million <br />acre-ft, and in 1~83 it was 2.3 million acre-ft. <br /> <br />A . flow-duration curve is a cumulative-frequency curve that shows the <br />percentages of time speci fi ed di scharges are equa 1 ed or exceeded duri ng a <br />given period. It combines into one curve the flow characteristics of a stream <br />throughout a range of discharge, without regard to the sequence of occurrence <br />(Searcy, 1959). Historical streamflows at station 09251000 Yampa River near <br />Maybell and station 09260000 Little Snake River near Lily were examined to <br />determine an appropriate period of record for estimating the long-term <br />flow-duration curve at station 09260050 Yampa River at Deerlodge Park. <br />Flow-duration curves calculated from 10-year increments were compared for each <br />site. In the decade of the 1920's, days when discharge was very low occurred <br />much less frequently than in other decades. By contrast, in the decade of the <br />1930's, days when discharge was very low occurred much more frequently than in <br />other decades. Streamflow of the decades since 1940 has been relatively <br />uniform and has had a greater effect on the present channel morphology than <br />has streamflow from earlier in the century; therefore, only discharge data <br />recorded since 1940 was used in streamflow analysis. A long-term (1941-1983) <br />flow-duration curve for Deerlodge Park was computed from the daily sums of <br />daily mean discharges recorded at the Maybell and Lily gaging stations. This <br />curve is presented in figure 6. <br /> <br />SEDIMENT TRANSPORT AT DEER LODGE PARK <br /> <br />The relation between water discharge and sediment discharge at Deerlodge <br />Park was used to quantify the amount of sediment entering the Yampa River <br />Canyon. The total sediment load of a river can be divided into two compo- <br />nents: (1) Suspended-sediment, which is the relatively fine material (clay, <br />silt, and some sand-size material) transported in suspension; and (2) bedload <br />which is coarser material (sand, gravel, and cobble sizes) that moves by <br />roll i ng or bouncing along the bed. Measurements of both suspended sediment <br />di scharge and bedload di scharge were made at the Deerlodge Park study reach <br />during the spring and summer of 1982 and 1983. Supplemental streamflow and <br />S2diment data Ivere collected 'in 1983 at two additional sites (fig. 3). <br />Suspended-sedi ment measurements were mc;de at station 09260000 Li tt 1 e Snake <br />River near Lily to provide additional information on sediment entering the <br />Yampa River. Also, discharge measurements were made and sediment samples were <br /> <br /> <br />11 <br />