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114 National Water Summary 1987-Water Supply and Use: HYDROLOGIC PERSPECTIVES ON WATER ISSUES <br />the effects of varying flow regimes on fish habitat, <br />recreation, and other instrearn values. Several <br />important research reports reflect past research and <br />also serve as references for future methodological <br />advances. Bovee (1982) addressed instream-flow <br />assessments for fish habitat; his report has become the <br />baseline for discussion of emerging technologies. <br />Tennant (1976, p. 10) described the need for periodic <br />flushing events to maintain certain hydrologic <br />characteristics of the channel necessary to protect the <br />environment for fish. Hyra (1978) analyzed the <br />streamflow requirements of recreational activities. <br />The technologies developed since 1978 fall into <br />two categories-those appropriate to preliminary plan- <br />ning and those designed for project impact assessment. <br />The preliminary planning methods are related most <br />closely to the traditional concept of minimum flow. <br />These methods typically use a streamflow characteris- <br />tic that represents the minimum flow for a particular <br />instrearn use. Examples include 40 percent of mean <br />annual flow, the point at which the size of wetted <br />perimeter begins to fall sharply with small reductions <br />in flow, flows equaled or exceeded 90 percent of the <br />time, 10 percent of the mean annual flow, or the lowest <br />flow on record (Trihey and Stalnaker, 1985). <br />Project impact assessment requires a different <br />approach. During the 1970's, instream-flow assess- <br />ment methods that attempted to evaluate fish habitat <br />in terms of changes in the environment were <br />developed. These "incremental" methods estimate the <br />quality of fish habitats at different increments of <br />streamflow. Early investigators of these approaches <br />used depth, velocity, and substrate criteria to evalu- <br />ate the influence of incremental changes in stream- <br />flow on the quality of spawning habitat for salmon in <br />Washington streams (Collings and others, 1972). <br />Waters (1976) applied weighted criteria for depth, <br />velocity, and substrate/cover and introduced computer <br />simulation to evaluate the response of rainbow trout <br />habitat to streamflow in California. <br />The application of hydraulic modeling methods <br />in conjunction with streamflow-dependent criteria for <br />fish habitat began with single transect methods in <br />which the stream model was based on the measure- <br />ments taken at a single cross-section of the stream. <br />The U.S. Forest Service introduced one such method <br />called R-2 CROSS (Isaacson, 1976). <br />Single transect methods were followed by more <br />sophisticated multiple transect methods in which the <br />stream models were based on several representative <br />cross sections of the stream channel. Fishery impact <br />assessment methods were adapted from water-surface <br />profile (wSP) simulation models that were used by the <br />U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Soil Con- <br />servation Service, and the U.S. Army Corps of <br />Engineers. The multiple transect techniques support <br />predictions of depth and velocity at points across a <br />transect and changes in the wetted perimeter of the <br />channel as a function of flow (Dooley, 1976). The <br />development and refinement of hydraulic simulation <br />models to facilitate evaluation of habitat conditions <br />under a wider range of streamflow conditions has con- <br />tinued to the present (Milhous, 1984). The Physical <br />Habitat Simulation Model (PHABSIM) is an important <br />analytical component of the Instream Flow Incremental <br />Methodology (IF1M) described by Bovee (1982). <br />In general, project impact assessment <br />approaches are more labor and data intensive, and <br />more costly, than preliminary planning methods. Thus, <br />the first question facing the manager is which of the <br />two approaches to use. The decision is based on the <br />magnitude and nature of the problems being addressed. <br />Generally, preliminary planning methods would be <br />appropriate whenever a specific project has relatively <br />benign effects; fisheries, recreational, and other <br />instrearn values are limited; or development is not <br />anticipated for several years in the future (Trihey and <br />Stalnaker, 1985). <br />The more complex and data-intensive project <br />impact assessment methods are used when alteration <br />of the streamflow, stream temperature, channel <br />structure, or water chemistry is anticipated and there <br />are concerns about the effects of these alterations on <br />instrearn values. These methods can help answer the <br />question, "What will happen if the minimum flow <br />standards are violated?". These methods also might <br />provide useful guidance to resource agencies seeking <br />opportunities to improve existing fish populations or <br />to alter the species composition of a stream. <br />Once the decision is made as to the type of <br />method to use, the manager has an array of specific <br />methods available. The choice of method depends on <br />the resource agency's management policy, the region <br />of the country, the type of instrearn uses to be <br />provided, and, for fishery uses, the species of concern. <br />The more frequently used methods of determin- <br />ing instrearn flows are listed in table 18. Two conclu- <br />sions can be drawn from those data. First, they show <br />the diversity of available methods. This diversity is <br />Table 18. Methods for determining instream-flow <br />requirements and number of States using method <br />[Source: American Fisheries Society survey conducted by Dudley <br />Reiser in 1987 (unpublished). More complete information on each <br />method can be obtained from Lamb, 19891 <br />Number <br />Method of States <br />using <br />method <br />Instream flow incremental methodology <br />(IFIM) ................................................ 38 <br />Tennant method ..................................... 16 <br />Wetted perimeter .................................... 6 <br />Aquatic Base Flow (ABF) ......................... 5 <br />7-Day, 10-Year Low Flow (7010) ............... 5 <br />Professional judgment ............................. 4 <br />Single Cross Section (R-2 CROSS)............ 3 <br />USGS Toe-Width ................................... 2 <br />Flow records/ duration ............................. 2 <br />Water quality ......................................... 2 <br />Average Depth Predictor (AVDEPTH)......... 1 <br />Arkansas ............................................... 1 <br />Habitat quality index ................................ 1 <br />Oregon ................................................. 1 <br />Vermont fish-flow ................................... 1 <br />U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Hydraulic <br />Modeling (HEC-2) ................................ 1 <br />the result of many people independently attempting <br />to solve the technological problems associated with <br />assessing appropriate streamflow levels for instream <br />uses and also of the variation of instrearn uses. Second,