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<br />Draft Fmal Completion Report to UDWR for Contract #93-1070, Amendment 3 <br /> <br />5 <br /> <br />estimated that the sediment transported into the Green River in the reach between the Yampa River confluence and the <br /> <br /> <br />White and Duschesne Rivers was equal to the sediment exported from that reach. Sediment mass balance thus appears <br /> <br /> <br />to be maintained for the Green River within the central Uinta Basin. <br /> <br />Channel Change Since Flaming Gorge Dam <br /> <br />Two studies have measured or described channel change in the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam. <br />Andrews (1986) studied the Green River between Flaming Gorge Dam and its confluence with the Colorado River, and <br />Lyons and others (1992) focused on the Green River through the Uinta Basin. The following discussion highlights those <br />results applicable to the reach that includes Ouray NWR. <br />Andrews (1986) calculated the changes in sediment balance and discharges since closure of Flaming Gorge <br />Dam using USGS gage records for the station near Jensen. Utah. for the period 1947 to 1981. The effective discharge, <br />the modal value of the sediment load-duration function. was reduced 44 percent (from 580 m3fs to 325 m3fs) after <br />closure of Flaming Gorge Dam, although no significant change in the sediment rating curve for the sand-sized fraction <br />bad occurred. In addition. Andrews (1986) compared aerial photographs taken in 1964 and 1978 to assess changes in <br />bankfull width at 15 cross-sections within a 97 -Ian reach that included the Ouray NWR. Andrews (1986) determined <br />that, on average, the channel had narrowed by 13 percc;nt from 213 m to 186 m, and much of the narrowing resulted <br />from accretion of islands to the bank (Andrews and Nelson. 1986). Andrews (1986) estimated that channel narrowing <br />would be complete when the average channel width was 160 m, based on hydraulic geometry relations. He estimated <br />that channel narrowing would be completed in approximately 30 years. <br />. Lyons and others (1992) recalculated effective discharge and measured channel change in the Uinta Basin. <br />Using more extensive photo-interpretation. and discharge and sediment records that extended to 1987, they concluded <br />that channel narrowing had been completed by 1974, and was not as great as reported by Andrews (1986). Andrews <br />(1986) did not include data from the large floods on the Green River between 1983 and 1986, but Lyons and others <br />(1992) showed that these floods did increase channel width within the central Uinta Basin. While Lyons and others <br />(1992) largely confirmed Andrew's (1986) findings, Lyons and others (1992) argued that a sediment mass balance <br />quasi-equilibrium has already been reached in the Uinta Basin. and channel widening and channel narrowing will occur <br />in the future as short-term adjustments to periods of high and low discharge. Although high flows such as occurred <br />