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GREEN RIVER TRIBUTARIES <br />BELOW FLAMING GORGE DAM <br />PEAK FLOOD FLOW ANALYSIS <br />Introduction. - The following stations were used in the determination of flood <br />flows into the Green River from major tributaries: <br />1. Yampa River near Maybell, Colorado <br />2. Little Snake River near Lily, Colorado <br />3. Duchesne River near Randlett, Utah <br />4. White River near Watson, Utah <br />5. Price River at Woodside, Utah <br />6. San Rafael River near Green River, Utah <br />For the stations with major upstream reservoirs, especially the Duchesne River <br />with four upstream reservoirs, no attempt was made to remove the effects of <br />regulation and study the unregulated peaks. The assumption is that the existing <br />gauge record adequately reflects all the effects of regulation and that the log <br />Pearson Type III distribution is the proper distribution. <br />If these assumptions are not valid, then the resulting curves and computed return <br />period flows for these stations may be substantially in error. <br />Method of Analysis: Peak flow discharge information was obtained from the <br />CDROM discs developed by Earthlnfo, Inc., and from recent Geological Survey <br />records, where available. The following is a description of what was done for <br />each gauging site: <br />a. Yampa River near Maybell. Colorado - GS number - 09251000. The <br />gauge has been in operation from 1904-1905, and from 1917-1995. The gauge is <br />reflective of the runoff from 3410 square miles above the gauge. The average <br />annual runoff past the gauge is 1,120,000 acre-feet. <br />The records at the gauge are generally good.. The natural flow of river is affected <br />by transbasin diversions, numerous storage reservoirs, and diversions for 65,000 <br />acres above the gauge. The following reservoirs could impact the flood flows that <br />pass the gauge: Stagecoach, Catamount, Yamcolo, Yampa, and Stillwater. These <br />reservoirs account for 56,895 acre-feet of storage. Yamcolo, Yampa, and <br />Stillwater have a combined total of 15,820 acre-feet. Stagecoach reservoir, built <br />in 1988, has the most storage in the basin (33,275 acre-feet). The reservoirs <br />should not have an impact on the larger peak flows for it is doubtful whether the <br />diversions would be in operation during large floods. <br />The annual peak flows vary from a high flow of 25,100 ft3/s on May 17, 1984, to <br />the lowest annual peak of 3620 ft3/s on June 5, 1977. The earliest time that the <br />peak flow has occurred during any water year is March 16th (1966). The latest <br />the peak flow has occurred is June 19th (1949). In general, the peak rate of <br />runoff occurs as the result of snowmelt with a large amount of the peaks <br />occurring in the month of May and early June. <br />Table 1 summarizes the recorded flows for the Yampa River near Maybell, <br />Colorado, used in the analysis. Table 2 summarizes the results of entering the <br />yearly peak flows for the period prior to 1988 into the FREQY computer model, <br />developed by the Flood Hydrology Group, and letting the model compute natural