9455

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9455
• Author: Lyons, J. K., M. J. Pucherelli and R. C. Clark.
• Title: Sediment Transport and Channel Characteristics of a Sand-Bed portion of the Green River Below Flaming Gorge Dam, Utah, U.S.A.
• USFW Year: 1992.
• USFW - Doc Type: R-92-08,
• Copyright Material: NO

bed-material load of the Green River. Discharge variations such as those that occurred during
1983-1986 cause channel width fluctuations. These fluctuations delay the channel margin
variations caused by the the change in sediment load following Flaming Gorge construction and
make them difficult to detect. These short-term (occurring and persisting on the order of 1 to
10 years) adjustments in the river equilibrium are responses in the channel to discharge
variations that alter the average form of the river channel for a period of years, but help to
define the equilibrium conditions found over a longer (10 to 100+ years) period (Richards, 1982).
Presently undetectable feedback mechanisms may be influencing the response in channel
morphology. The future sequence of large floods in the basin, will also influence future channel
geometry of the Green River.
The study of river channel changes caused by major perturbations such as dam construction is
far from complete. According to historical gauge records for the basin and interpretation of
aerial photography of two long river segments, channel changes caused by the construction of
Flaming Gorge Dam occurred soon after its completion. Because the Green River is a relatively
long watercourse draining a diverse watershed, a considerable range of responses could occur in
the future.
REFERENCES
Andrews, E. D. 1980. "Effective and bankfull discharges in the Yampa River Basin, Colorado
and Wyoming," Journal of Hydrology, 46, 311-330.
Andrews, E. D. 1986. "Downstream effects of Flaming Gorge Reservoir on the Green River,
Colorado and Utah," Geological Society of America Bulletin, 97, 1012-1023.
Andrews, E. D. and J. M. Nelson. 1989. "Topographic Response of a Bar in the Green River,
Utah to Variation in Discharge," in River Meandering, S. Ikeda and G. Parker (eds.),
American Geophysical Union Monograph No. 12, Washington, D.C., 463-485.
Ashmore, P. E. and T. J. Day. 1988. "Effective discharge for suspended sediment transport in
streams of the Saskatchewan River Basin," Water Resources Research, 24, 864-870.
Bull, W. B. 1979. "Threshold of critical power in streams," Geological Society of America
Bulletin, 90,453-464.
Carling, P. A. 1988. "Channel change and sediment transport in regulated U.K. rivers,"
Regulated Rivers: Research and Management, 2,369-387.
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