Regionalized equations for bankfull-discharge and channel characteristics of streams in New York State—Hydrologic Regions 4 and 4a including the Catskill Mountain region of Southeastern New York
Dates
Start Date
2003-06-29
End Date
2003-07-02
Citation
Miller, S.J., and Davis, Dan, 2003, Optimizing Catskill Mountain Regional Bankfull Discharge and Hydraulic Geometry Relationships: in Proceedings of AWRA 2003 International Congress, June 29-July 2, 2003, New York City, 10 p.
Summary
The NYCDEP Stream Management Program (SMP) is responsible for developing stream management plans for NYC water supply watersheds in the Catskill Mountains, New York State. This mostly forested region of Pleistocene glacial deposits over sedimentary rocks ranges in elevation from approximately 600 to 4,120 feet above sea level; average annual precipitation ranges from 36 to >60 inches/year. The SMP uses fluvial geomorphology as a framework for stream assessment, restoration and monitoring. Bankfull discharge, a common surrogate for channel forming discharge, forms a basis for assessing and classifying stream morphology (Rosgen, 1994). The SMP documented bankfull discharge and associated stream geometry for 41 cross sections at 18 USGS [...]
Summary
The NYCDEP Stream Management Program (SMP) is responsible for developing stream management plans for NYC water supply watersheds in the Catskill Mountains, New York State. This mostly forested region of Pleistocene glacial deposits over sedimentary rocks ranges in elevation from approximately 600 to 4,120 feet above sea level; average annual precipitation ranges from 36 to >60 inches/year. The SMP uses fluvial geomorphology as a framework for stream assessment, restoration and monitoring. Bankfull discharge, a common surrogate for channel forming discharge, forms a basis for assessing and classifying stream morphology (Rosgen, 1994). The SMP documented bankfull discharge and associated stream geometry for 41 cross sections at 18 USGS stream gage stations, which produce statistically significant regression models as a function of drainage area. Coefficients of determination (R2) for bankfull discharge, cross-sectional area, width, and depth are 0.81, 0.90, 0.88, and 0.85, respectively. Stratifying the data using either of two co-variables – hydrologic region (Lumia, 1991) or mean annual runoff (MAR) – significantly improves regional models. Observed scatter is best explained by variation in MAR, a measure of water availability largely dependent on the distribution of precipitation, enabling optimization of the data set to generate more specific regional curves for the Catskill Mountains. Regionalized equations for bankfull-discharge and channel characteristics of streams in New York State —Hydrologic Regions 4 and 4a including the Catskill Mountain region of Southeastern New York, are listed in this report.