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flow-duration curve (curve B, fig. 8) was drawn with the altered discharge <br />distribution. Annual streamflows represented by curves A and B were both 1.47 <br />million acre-ft/yr. The annual total sediment load for scenario B was comput- <br />ed with the flow-duration, sediment-transport-equation method previously de- <br />scribed, and was found to be 1.89 million ton/yr, a 7-percent reduction from <br />the sediment load transported by the prevailing flow regime. <br />SEDIMENT BUDGET AT DEERLODGE PARK <br />Potential changes in channel morphology will depend principally on the <br />temporal distribution of streamflow, and the degree to which the balance of <br />sediment transport and supply is disrupted. A sediment budget analysis has <br />been used to predict gross changes in sediment storage of the Yampa River at <br />Deerlodge Park if the prevailing streamflow or sediment supply are altered. A <br />sediment budget is the relation between sediment outflow (transport), sediment <br />inflow (supply), and sediment storage in a particular river reach. Sediment <br />budget analysis can be used as a planning tool to: (1) Estimate sediment <br />surplus or deficit under the assumed streamflow frequency distribution, mean <br />annual streamflow and sediment supply; and (2) identify levels of reduced <br />streamflow and sediment supply that may result in negligible sediment surplus <br />or deficit in the Deerlodge Park reach. By identifying annual sediment loads <br />through Deerlodge Park, the analysis will quantify the amount of sediment <br />estimated to enter the Yampa Canyon under assumed reduced streamflows. These <br />data will be useful in ongoing studies of substrate and sediment transport in <br />downstream canyon reaches. <br />Elements of the sediment budget at Deerlodge Park, stated in terms of <br />annual sediment surplus or deficit, are presented in table 6. The scenarios <br />in table 6 are based on hypothetical conditions resulting from altered <br />streamflow and(or) reduced sediment supply. Actual changes in the sediment <br />budget will depend on several factors. Amounts of sediment supply are assumed <br />in this illustration, but the actual volume of sediment supplied to Deerlodge <br />Park will be influenced by the location of impoundments in the basin. The <br />annual total sediment load (transport) is computed using an assumed average <br />annual streamflow, the corresponding flow-duration curve, and the prevailing <br />total sediment discharge versus water discharge relation. If streamflow <br />and(or) sediment supply are drastically reduced, however, indeterminant <br />changes in the relation between sediment discharge and water discharge may <br />occur over a period of years, thereby affecting estimates of sediment <br />transport. <br />Any reduction of annual streamflow probably will involve a reduction of <br />the magnitude and duration of the highest discharges and possibly an increase <br />in the duration of the lower discharges. To estimate the effect of reduced <br />annual streamflow on sediment transport and the sediment budget at Deerlodge <br />Park, the upper part of the 43-year flow-duration curve (fig. 6) was arbitrar- <br />ily reduced by six intervals. The resulting flow-duration curves are pres~nt- <br />ed in figure 9, and they were used to compute annual sediment loads for the <br />scenarios in table 6. These curves were arbitrarily derived and are presented <br />only for the purpose of illustration. Annual streamflows were computed from <br />the flow°duration curves by summing increments of discharge as described by <br />Miller (1951). Reductions from the prevailing annual streamflow ranged from 9 <br />24 <br />