Laserfiche WebLink
DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT <br />4500 ~ <br />N <br />V <br />4000 <br />3500 ^ DRIEST YR - <br />^AVG YR <br />3000 <br />^ WETTEST YR <br />2500 <br />N <br />N <br />Q1 <br />2000 <br />~O <br />~{i <br />1500 <br />N <br />1000 <br />v <br />500 00 ~O ~ <br />N _ N ~ ~ N ~ M- <br />O ~n ~~O X00 ~ N ~ W~ 00r <br />N~ ~~O ~~O n V ~ N (h N <br />0 <br />NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT <br />N <br />w <br />V <br />Figure 8. Monthly acre-foot inflow converted into average daily cubic feet per <br />second flow comparing the driest, average and wettest years. <br />A pre-McPhee bankfull discharge in Reach 1 created a fairly large channel with <br />significant floodplain habitats of mixed deciduous trees assumed to be a mix of <br />willow, box elder and cottonwoods. In Reach 1, is it probable that cottonwoods <br />were a significant component of the riparian forest. Further downstream, their <br />numbers probably dwindled, as the timing of peaks and the relative `flashiness' of <br />peak flows were probably less conducive to cottonwood germination and growth. In <br />addition, cottonwoods through Reach 4 are often in close proximity to historic <br />settlement, and there does not appear to be many younger trees represented. <br />In this natural' condition, the alluvial system was allowed access to a substantial <br />portion of valley bottom, and was characterized by a dynamic stability that allowed <br />for rates of erosion and deposition that, over time, maintained the river's floodplain <br />and in-channel habitats. Based on current vegetative patterns it can be assumed <br />that most of the riparian vegetation along reaches 1-4 was similar to current <br />vegetative patterns, with the exception of tamarisk, which did not become a <br />significant riparian component until they became established in the upper Colorado <br />River basin in the 1930s-1950s. <br />The low flows during dryer years between September and March as depicted in <br />Figure 4 above would suggest that the river did not (with the possible exception of <br />9/5/06 1 g <br />