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the rate of degradation is slow. The photographs also show examples <br />of channel hydraulics, vegetative growth, old logjams, bankline <br />slopes, stable and eroding bankline sediments, and the bedding <br />material in the general channel. The sixth photograph shows the <br />mass of sand sized sediment captured above an approximately eight <br />foot high Beaver dam in Deep Creek. <br />The hydraulic observations were then used by WWE to define the <br />Manning's characteristics of the Deep Creek channel. The average <br />discharge from the approximately four square mile drainage area is <br />estimated at 1,900 acre feet/year. The maximum flood rates are <br />55.6 cfs (cubic feet per second) for 2-year recurrence, 114.1 cfs for <br />5-years, and 180 cfs per 100-years. The June 19, 2000 field <br />observations determined the Manning's roughness coefficient (n) for <br />this reach of Deep Creek to be approximately 0.065. This "n" <br />correlates well with informatioin summarized in the USGS Water- <br />Supply Paper #1849, titled "Roughness Characteristics of Natural <br />Channels". The summary tabulation of hydraulics characteristics is <br />presented within the report: The 2-year discharge is 55.6 cfs, in a <br />channel averaging 9 feet wide, 1 foot deep, and sloping at 0.049 ft/ft. <br />These characteristics project a average subcritical flow rate for Deep <br />Creek of 5.1 ft/sec. <br />The final section of the WWE report projects sediment yield for the <br />observed reach of Deep Creek. The projections were analyzed using <br />methods described by John G. Elliott, "Regionalization of Mean Annual <br />Suspended-Sediment Loads in Streams, Central, Northwestern and <br />Southwestern Colorado," a 1988 U.S. Geological Survey, Water - <br />Resources Investigations Report 87-4193. Based on a mean annual <br />runoff of 1,900 acre-feet (2.62 cfs), a mean basin elevation of 8460 <br />feet amsl, and a drainage basin of 4 square miles, sediment load is <br />predicted to vary from 330 tons/year to 660 tons per year. John <br />Elliott recommends that these high and low values be averaged, <br />which projects an average sediment yield of 495 tons/year. This <br />yield is equivalent to a sediment load of 0.32 acre-feet/year or 0.08 <br />acre-feet/square mile/year at a unit weight for sediment of 70 <br />pounds/cubic foot. <br />As the report summarizes; "Deep Creek between the Upper and <br />Lower gaging stations is characterized by awell-incised channel with <br />cobble- to boulder-sized rock common along the streambed. The <br />stream transports significant volumes of sandy sediments, especially <br />during peak flows, as evidenced by the large buildup behind the <br />