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8 <br />from 1965-1987. Assuming that 27 percent (based upon six measurements from <br />1980 to 1986) of the suspended load is sand, the annual sand-load estimate for <br />the Duchesne is 46,000 tons/year for 1965-1987 (table 4). <br />For the White, the flow-duration data for the gauge near the confluence from <br />1974 to 1986 was used to derive an estimate for suspended sand-load discharge of <br />1,020,000 tons/year (table 5). <br />Sand-Load Mass Balance <br />A mass-balance of the suspended sand-load estimates for the gauged locations <br />along the Green and its tributaries provides a description of the present <br />equilibrium status of the channel. Bed-material load (sand load) is the best <br />indicator because it represents the movement of streambed materials. An imba- <br />lance of bed-material loads between two locations may indicate aggradation or <br />degradation of the channel while an imbalance of suspended sediment load is <br />not as reliable an indicator of channel conditions. <br />As described earlier, Andrews [31 constructed a budget of average annual <br />suspended sediment loads for the Geological Survey gauges in the Green River <br />Basin. This budget described the transport conditions in the Green prior to <br />and after construction of Flaming Gorge. The data collected from 1986 to 1988 <br />for this study confirmed that the present-day bed-material transport of the <br />Green in the upper study reach could be described using the long-term gauging <br />records of suspended sediment collected at the Geological Survey gauges near <br />Jensen and Ouray, Utah. Sand-load estimates for the White and Duchesne were <br />constructed from Geological Survey gauging records of suspended sediment for <br />the period of record available at these sites. The long-term suspended sedi- <br />ment record at the Green River, Utah, gauge also represents the present-day <br />transport although few data applicable to the Modified Einstein technique were <br />available. <br />Table 9 presents the sand-load mass balance for the reach of the Green from <br />the site near Dinosaur Quarry to Green River, Utah. For the upper reach, the <br />sand loads for the Dinosaur Quarry and Ouray Refuge sites are equal, as both <br />are developed from the Jensen gauge records. Between the Ouray Refuge and the <br />site below Willow Creek, an additional 1,430,000 tons/year of bed-material <br />load is gained by the Green. The White and Duchesne computed sand-loads total <br />1,066,000 tons/year. The difference 364,000 tons/year, represents about <br />12 percent of the mean annual suspended sand load of the Green River below <br />Willow Creek. Although no bedload information is available for the White <br />River, streams of similar characteristics often have a significant bedload <br />component. Bedload, the sediment that moves by rolling or sliding on or near <br />the streambed, can range from 10 to 35 percent of the total suspended sediment <br />load for a stream similar to the White (Strand and Pemberton [81). The dif- <br />ference is suspended sand-load described above (364,000 tons/year) is sati- <br />sifed if a bedload correction factor of about 10 percent is assumed for the <br />mean annual suspended sediment load of the White (3,630,000 tons/year for <br />1975-1986). The suspended sand-load estimates for the White and Duchesne <br />Rivers are sufficient to assume a quasi -equilibrium exists for the Green River <br />between the Ouray Refuge and the site below Willow Creek.