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<br /> <br />II 1. SALI N ITY STUD I ES <br /> <br />CA) <br />CAl <br />c.n <br />...... <br /> <br />SALT AND SEDIMENT YIELDS ON EPHEMERAL WASHES: PRICE RIVER BASIN, UTAH1 <br /> <br />Background <br /> <br />Rainfall, stream discharge and water quality data were collected from 1979 to <br />1981 on three small ephemeral washes--Wattis Branch, Soldier Creek and Coal <br />Creek--in saline geologic settings in the Price River Basin, Utah (Fig. 1). <br />The purpose of the study was to quantify salt and sediment yields, as well as <br />water quality, during transient runoff events. In addition, through an analy- <br />sis of salt-sediment ratios in the discharge, the importance of erosion and <br />sediment transport as salinity yield mechanisms was further described. Very <br />few data existed previously which depicted total dissolved solids (TDS) and <br />total solids (TS) concentrations in relation to complete storm hydrographs in <br />sma 11 ephemeral channel s. <br /> <br />Wattis Branch originates in steeply dissected Mancos shale uplands and <br />traverses exposed bottomland shale a.nd. alluvium. The basin area is 1,270 ha <br />(3,060 acres). Elevations range from 1,851 m (6,073 ft) to 2,675 m (8,777 ft) <br />and the average slope is 14.7 percent. Fifty percent of the watershed is <br />classified as either a badland soil complex or exposed shale badland. <br /> <br />SoldferCr~ek and Coal Creek originate in sandstone formations in -the lower <br />Book C1 iffs, then traverse exposed bottom1 and sha1 e and all uvi um. Basi n areas <br />- are.324ha (801 acres).and 106 ha (262 acres), respectively. - Elevations range <br />from 1,140 m (3,740 ft) to 1.890 m (6,201 ft) and the average slope is 10.9% <br />in Soldier Creek basin and 9.9% in Coal Creek basin. Soils are primarily <br />gravelly and sha1y 10ams on upland ridges and silt and sha1ey loams on the <br />bottom1ands. <br /> <br />Vegetation in all three sub-basins is sparse and ranges from pinon pine (Pinus <br />edulis) and juniper (Juniperus osteos~erma) on gravelly upland sites to low <br />sagebrush (Artemisia arbuscula), rabbltbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus), shad- <br />scale (Atriplex confertlfollaJ, Nuttall saltbush (Atriplex nuttalll1 J, mat <br />sa1 tbush (Atn pl ex corrugata), and vari ous grasses on bottom1 ands. _ Bad1 ands <br />are sparselY vegetated. Precipitation averages less than 250 mm (10 in.) <br />annually. Most runoff-producing precipitation occurs as high intensity, <br />short-duration summer convectional storms. There is little land us~, except <br />for some winter and spring grazing by livestock. <br /> <br />On1y.a few runoff events were successfully monitored during the 1979-80 period <br />because of difficulties encountered with the automatic sampling equipment. In <br />1981 eighteen runoff events were monitored successfully during late summer and <br />early fall. <br /> <br />1Detai1ed study results provided in USDI (1982a), Lin, et al. (1983) and <br />Riley, et a1. (1982). <br /> <br />4 <br />