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Channel-Conveyance Capacity, Channel Change, and Sediment Transport in the Lower Puyallup, White, and Carbon Rivers, Western Washington

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Channel-Conveyance Capacity, Channel Change, and Sediment Transport in the Lower Puyallup, White, and Carbon Rivers, Western Washington Prepared in cooperation with Pierce County Public Works and Utilities, Surface Water Managment Channel-Conveyance Capacity, Channel Change, and Sediment Transport in the Lower Puyallup, White, and Carbon Rivers, Western Washington Scientific Investigations Report 2010–5240 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Cover: Photograph showing view of Puyallup River from the Calistoga Road bridge looking upstream, with Mount Rainier in the distance, Orting, Washington. Photograph taken by Jonathan Czuba, U.S. Geological Survey, October 27, 2010. Channel-Conveyance Capacity, Channel Change, and Sediment Transport in the Lower Puyallup, White, and Carbon Rivers, Western Washington By Jonathan A. Czuba, Christiana R. Czuba, Christopher S. Magirl, and Frank D. Voss Prepared in cooperation with Pierce County Public Works and Utilities, Surface Water Management Scientific Investigations Report 2010–5240 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior KEN SALAZAR, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey Marcia K. McNutt, Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2010 For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment, visit http://www.usgs.gov or call 1-888-ASK-USGS For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod To order this and other USGS information products, visit http://store.usgs.gov Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted materials contained within this report. Suggested citation: Czuba, J.A., Czuba, C.R., Magirl, C.S., and Voss, F.D., 2010, Channel-conveyance capacity, channel change, and sediment transport in the lower Puyallup, White, and Carbon Rivers, western Washington: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2010–5240, 104 p. iii Contents Abstract ...........................................................................................................................................................1 Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................2 Purpose and Scope ..............................................................................................................................2 Description of Study Area ...........................................................................................................................2 Climate and Hydrology .........................................................................................................................5 Background.....................................................................................................................................................5 Discharge Regulation and River Engineering ..................................................................................5 Manual Sediment Removal .................................................................................................................6 Peak Discharges for Selected Recurrence Intervals .....................................................................6 Sediment from Mount Rainier .............................................................................................................8 Fluvial Geomorphic Investigations of the Puyallup River System ................................................8 Factors Affecting Flow Conveyance ................................................................................................10 Physical Channel Measurements and Changes .....................................................................................11 Cross-Section Survey.........................................................................................................................11 Cross-Section Data-Collection Methods ...............................................................................11 Channel-Change Analysis .................................................................................................................12 Comparison of 1984 and 2009 Channel Surveys ...................................................................12 Source of Error in Comparison .......................................................................................13 Channel-Elevation Change between 1984 and 2009 ............................................................14 Puyallup River ....................................................................................................................14 White River ........................................................................................................................16 Carbon River ......................................................................................................................18 Overall Channel Changes ................................................................................................19 Bed-Material Grain-Size Survey ......................................................................................................21 Bed-Material Grain-Size Data-Collection Methods .............................................................21 Riverbed Sampling of Fine-Grained Sediment .............................................................21 Characterizing Particle Size of Gravel Bars ................................................................22 Bed-Material Grain-Size Distributions ............................................................................................22 Comparison of Particle Sizes Measured in the 1980s and 2009 .........................................29 Flow-Conveyance Changes at Streamflow-Gaging Stations ...............................................................31 Analysis Methods ...............................................................................................................................31 Stage at High, Median, and Low Discharges ................................................................................33 Puyallup River .............................................................................................................................33 White River..................................................................................................................................35 Other Glacier-Draining Rivers ..................................................................................................36 Other Non-Glacier-Draining Rivers .........................................................................................38 General Aggradation Trends Since the 1980s .......................................................................38 Theoretical Overtopping Discharge ...............................................................................................41 Puyallup River at Puyallup ........................................................................................................41 Puyallup River at Alderton ........................................................................................................41 Puyallup River near Orting .......................................................................................................41 White River near Auburn ..........................................................................................................43 iv Contents—Continued Flow Conveyance of the Puyallup, White, and Carbon Rivers .............................................................44 Methodology ........................................................................................................................................44 Model Calibration ......................................................................................................................45 Model Verification .....................................................................................................................46 Model Comparison to Streamflow-Gaging Station Rating Curves ....................................47 Channel-Conveyance Capacity ........................................................................................................48 Puyallup River .............................................................................................................................49 White River..................................................................................................................................50 Carbon River ...............................................................................................................................52 Comparison of Hydraulic Models ............................................................................................52 Model Sensitivity to Roughness .......................................................................................................53 Flow-Conveyance Changes Related to Physical Channel Changes ...................................................55 Sediment Transport in the Puyallup, White, and Carbon Rivers ..........................................................56 Methodology of Sediment-Transport Modeling ............................................................................56 Input Data ....................................................................................................................................57
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