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<br />flow-duration curve (curve B, fig. 8) was drawn with the altered discharge <br />distribution. Annual streamflows represented by curves A and B were both 1.47 <br />million acre-ft/yr. The annual total sediment load for scenario B was comput- <br />ed with the flow-duration, sediment-transport-equation method previously de- <br />scribed, and was found to be 1.89 million ton/yr, a 7-p~rcent reduction from <br />the sediment load transported by the prevailing flow regime. <br /> <br />SEDIMENT BUDGET AT DEERLODGE PARK <br /> <br />Potential changes in channel morphology will depend principally on the <br />temporal distribution of streamflow, and the degree to which the balance of <br />sediment transport and supply is di srupted. A sediment budget analysi s has <br />been used to predict gross changes in sediment storage of the Yampa River at <br />Deerlodge Park if the prevailing streamflow or sediment supply are altered. A- <br />sediment budget is the relation between sediment outflow (transport), sediment <br />inflow (supply), and sediment storage in a particular river reach. Sediment <br />budget analysis can be used as a planning tool to: \ (1) Estimate sediment <br />surplus or deficit under the assumed streamflow frequency distribution, mean <br />annual streamflow and sediment supply; and (2) identify levels of reduced <br />streamflow a~d sed~ment supply that may result in negligible sediment surplus <br />or deficit in the 1Deerlodge Park reach. By identifying annual sediment loads <br />through Deerlodge 'Park, the analysis will quantify the amount of sediment <br />estimated to enter the Yampa Canyon under assumed reduced streamflows. These <br />data will be useful in ongoing studies of substrate and sediment transport in <br />downstream canyon reaches. <br /> <br />11< <br /> <br />Elements of the sediment budget at Deerlodge Park, stated in terms of <br />annual sediment surplus or deficit, are presented in table 6. The scenarios <br />in table 6 are based on hypothetical conditions resulting from altered <br />streamflow a(1d(or) reduced sediment supply. Actual changes in the sediment <br />budget will depend on several factors. Amounts of sediment supply are assumed <br />in this illustration, but the actual volume of sediment supplied to Deerlodge <br />Park will be influenced by the 10cc1tion of impoundments in the basin. The <br />annual total sediment load (transport) is computed using an assumed average <br />annua 1 streamflow, the correspondi ng fl ow-durati on curve, and the prevai 1i ng <br />total sediment discharge versu 81' diSCharge relation. If streamflow <br />and(or) sedi~ent pupply ar rastica ly reduced, however, indeterminant <br />changes in tne re llat i on between e 1 ment di scharge and water di schargE! may <br />occur over a period of years, thereby affecting estimates of sediment <br />transport. <br /> <br />Any reduction of annual streamflow probably will involve a reduction of <br />the magnitude and duration of the highest discharges and possibly an increase <br />in the duration of the lower discharges. To estimate the effect of reduced <br />annual streamflow on sediment transport and the sediment budget at Deerlodge <br />Park, the upper part of the 43-year flOW-duration curve (fig. 6) was arbitrar- <br />ily reduced by six intervals. The resulting flow-duration curves are present- <br />ed in figure 9, and they were used to compute annual sediment loads for the <br />scenarios in table 6. These curves were arbitrarily derived and are presented <br />only for the purpose of illustration. Annual streamflows were computed from <br />the fl ow-durat i on curves by summi ng increments of di scharge as descri bed by <br />Miller (1951). Reductions from the prevailing annual streamflow ranged from 9 <br /> <br />24 <br />