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<br /> <br />collected, preserved, and analyzed in accordance with standard procedures of <br />the U.S. Geological Survey (Brown and others, 1970; Goerlitz and Brown, 1972; <br />Fishman and Friedman, 1985; Britton and Greeson, 1989). <br /> <br />Estimates of annual sediment load transported by the White River are <br />based on streamflow and suspended-sediment and bedload~sediment data for water <br />years 1983-87 collected at site 3 on the White River. Samples of suspended <br />sediment were collected using depth-integrated techniques from equal stream- <br />width increments. Bedload was collected at equal~width increments using a <br />Helley-Smith sampler (Emmett, 1980). Sediment-collection techniques and <br />laboratory analyses used in this study a~e summarized in Guy (1969) and Guy <br />and Norman (1970). <br /> <br />River-basin Characteristics <br /> <br />The White River basin in northwestern Colorado (fig. 1) includes most of <br />Rio Blanco County and parts of Moffat and Garfield Counties. The drainage <br />area of the White River at Taylor Draw Dam (fig. 2) is 2,773 mi2. Surface <br />rocks in the basin consist mostly of sedimentary rocks that range in age from <br />Paleozoic in the east to Mesozoic and Cenozoic in the central and western <br />parts of the basin. The headwaters of the White River originate in the high <br />mountains of the White River uplift in eastern Rio Blanco and Garfield <br />Counties. The river flows from an alpine climate westward through transi~ <br />tional climates near Meeker and into a semiarid climate in western Rio Blanco <br />County. Near Rangely, the White River enters Utah and joins the Green River. <br />Ranching, agriculture, recreation, and energy development are the primary land <br />uses in the basin. A general discussion of the White River basin is presented <br />in Boyle and others (1984). <br /> <br />Hydrology <br /> <br />Precipitation in the basin ranges from 9 in. in western Rio Blanco County <br />to 22 in. in eastern Rio Blanco County. Most precipitation occurs as winter <br />snow and summer thunderstorms. Discharge in the White River occurs princi~ <br />pally from snowmelt during spring and early summer (fig. 4). Occasional, <br />intense thunderstorms may temporarily increase flow and sediment loads in the <br />White River during summer. <br /> <br />Streamflow extremes for 1910-1987 (U.S. Geological Survey, 1988) indicate <br />that maximum discharges measured at streamflow-gaging stations in the White <br />River occurred during snowmelt runoff in 1983 and 1984 when Taylor Draw Dam <br />was under construction. A maximum discharge for site 3 of 6,440 ft3/s was <br />recorded in June 1984. A minimum daily discharge in the lower White River <br />basin of 62 ft3/s was recorded immediately downstream from the reservoir at <br />the discontinued U.S. Geological Survey streamflow-gaging station 09306300 in <br />July 1977 (U.S. Geological Survey, 1982). Station 09306300, White River near <br />Rangely, was at the present dam site and was discontinued in 1982 when con~ <br />struction of the dam began. The mean annual discharge at station 09306300 <br />for the period of record, water years 1973-81, was 633 ft3/s or about 460,000 <br />acre-ft. The mean annual discharge at site 3 for the period of record, water <br />years 1983-87, was 1,099 ft3/s or about 796,000 acre-ft. Mean daily discharge <br />at site 3 for the period of reservoir operation (1985-87) and mean daily <br /> <br />10 <br />