WSP12135

• File Number: 8210.766
• Description: Gunnison River General Publications - Correspondence - Reports - Etc
• State: CO
• Basin: Yampa/White
• Water Division: 6
• Date: 1/1/1996
• Title: Key Documents - Regulated Rivers - Research and Management - Volume 12 - 391-413 - A General Protocol for Restoration of Regulated Rivers
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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TERRACE

FLOODPLAIN

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Figure I. Major landscape fe-alum or a montane lloodpJam river. showing the three primal)" spatial dimension.s (latera~ longl!udinal or
altitudmal. and vertical) thai are dynamicall} molded through time (the fourth dlme-mlnnl by lIuvia] processes. Biota may re1iide in all
three spatial dimensions: riparo$ (strcam~dc or ripanan), bent110s (channel), hyporheos (river-ioftuenced ground....ater) and phrealOl
(d~ groundwater). The hatched area is the vana] zone or the area of the channel that is periodically dcwalered as a consequence of
the IIverage amplitude of the discharge felJlmc. ~1ajor channel fealutn include a ron IA), nffle rBI and pool (0; Sd rcfc-rs to sites of
sediment deposition and Sc refe~ 10 a major $lie of bank erosiOll. The neaV) solid line is the thalweg and broken lines coflCt'plualize
ciml]ation of water between benthic, hyporheic and phreatic habllalS (after Slanford, 1996: ~ also Stanford and WllJ"d. ]992)

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GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF RIVER ECOLOGY

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Conservation and managcment strategies for largc rivers must have a solid conceptual basis or they will
likely fail to sustain biodiversity and bioproduction. Contemporary river ecology is guided by a number
of intertwined concepls or principles derived from empirical studies. No two rivers are e.'{actly alike and
no single theory encompasses the myriad of biophysical interactions and responses to natural and human
disturbances that make each river unique. However. fundamental principles do apply; many conservadon
and restoration efforts become myopic, COSily and too often fail because plans and actions overlook ecolo-
gical fundamentals.
Unregulated rivers ex.ist as geohydraulic Continua from continental di\'ides to the oceans. They are net-
works of surface and groundwater flow paths that drain catchment landscapes (Gibert et al., 1990) The
energy of flowing waler constantly recontlgures the physical form of these interconnected flow pathways,
primarily by the process of cut and fill alluvlation (Leopold et aI., 19(4) although dissolution can dominate
in limestone massifs (Mangin. [994) and a few other situations. Inorganic and organic materials are eroded
upstream and deposited downstream primarily in relation to: (a) loog- and shon-term flow dynamics; (b) the
resisti\;ty of geological formations to erosion and dissolution; (c) instream retention structures (e.g. eddies,
wood debris); and. (d) the geomelry of the catchment.
Channel morphologies are determined by the legacy of flooding. Big floods fill channels \\;th inorganic
and organic materials eroded laterally and vertically at upstream locations. thereby producing a continuum
of instream structures (pools, runs, riffles, gravel bars, avulsion channels, islands, debns jams) and lateral
floodplain terraces in many sizes and sha~. Local morphologies resulting from infrequent. very large floods
may persist in the same general fonn (quasi-equilibriuml for long time periods until the nex.t big flood. even

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