FLOOD00235

• County: Statewide
• Community: State of Colorado
• Stream Name: All
• Title: Stream, Riparian, and Wetland Ecology - Class material, Volume 1 of 2
• Date: 9/1/1987
• Prepared For: Students
• Prepared By: Professor Windell
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Educational/Technical/Reference Information

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Fig. 6. From Hughes. R.M. and J.H. Omernik. 1980. Use and Misuse cf the Terms
Watershed and Stream Order. In L.A. Krumhcdz. (ed). The Warm-...atcr
Streams Symposium: A National Symposium on Fisheries Aspects of Warmwater
Streams. Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society. Allen
Press Inc.. Lawrence. Kansas.

number from maps. Likewise, estimating the discharge characteristics of
small watersheds, slowly flowing or intermittent streams or a poorly
defined watershed may be a significant sourCE' of error; and (3) mean annual
discharge per unit area, mean annual discharge; and mea:n annual discharge
range for one year may not be representative of the act'ual values from year
to year. However, where USGS records are aV~Lilable the averages can be
determined (Hughes and Omernik 1981).

In practice, the stream order sy~tem and the disch,arge/watershed
system have considerable merit for use in stream studies. Although both
have strengths and weaknesses, and are therefore imperf,ect, they provide a
structural and functional framework for the development and evolution of a
significant number of ~cological concepts.

The Water Cycl~,

o Hydrology is the science dealing with the waters of the earth, their
distribution on the surface and underground, and other factors included in
the water cycle (Figure 7). The cycle is strongly influenced by solar
radiation and activity and their effect on the circulat:lon of air o'ver the
land and sea, heat budgets, and water balances. For pu:rposes of analysis
the effects of the water cycle on stream ecosystems can best be understood
by addressing its major parts: precipitatioll" intercepI"ion,,,evaporation;'
transpiration, infiltration/percolation, grol\l,nd water aJld water table~