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Evaluation of Flow Records <br />Streamflow data were obtained from USGS Water Supply Papers and from a commercially <br />available CD-ROM and software package that contains peak- and daily-flow data from the USGS <br />WATSTORE files. These data were used to quantify changes in flow regime due to reservoir <br />regulation and water withdrawals. We have made no attempt at this point to evaluate the quality of <br />these records, particularly the peak flow data from early in the century. We raise this point because <br />it appears that peak flows on the Colorado River were anamolously high in the early 1900s (Graf, <br />1985) and because other researchers have questioned estimates of peak discharge made early in the <br />century on streams elsewhere in Colorado (Jarrett et al., 1993). In any event, it was not until the <br />middle of this century that water development in the upper basin began to have much of an effect <br />on streamflows of the upper Colorado River (Liebermann et al., 1989), and thus our analysis <br />focuses on the changes in flow regime that occurred after 1930. <br />Field Studies <br />Field measurements were made at four sites in spring and summer 1993; three of these sites <br />were chosen to study changes in backwater habitats (Sites 1-3, Fig. 1) and the fourth site (Site 4, <br />Fig. 1) was chosen to evaluate thresholds for bed-material transport. The backwater study sites are <br />all formed by lateral bar that forces flow down a side channel. These side channels are in all cases <br />much smaller than the main channel. Field work at these sites consisted of repeated surveys to <br />determine erosion and deposition in the side channels. A series of cross-sections were established <br />across these channels prior to the 1993 spring runoff, and they were surveyed subsequently <br />through the summer. Measurements of the bed material substrate were also made at each site. <br />The site chosen for studying bed-material transport is located in a single thread alluvial <br />reach of the Colorado River near Fruita (Site 4, Fig. 1). In this reach, the river has an average <br />slope of 0.0015 and the bed material consists of cobbles and gravel. Survey measurements of <br />channel cross sections and water surface slopes were taken through the reach at several different <br />6