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Channel Change and Bed-Material Transport in the Lower Chetco River, Oregon

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Channel Change and Bed-Material Transport in the Lower Chetco River, Oregon Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Channel Change and Bed-Material Transport in the Lower Chetco River, Oregon By J. Rose Wallick, Scott W. Anderson, Charles Cannon, and Jim E. O’Connor Open-File Report 2009–1163 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Cover: Chetco River gravel bars (photograph by Jim O’Connor, U.S. Geological Survey, September 2008) Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Channel Change and Bed-Material Transport in the Lower Chetco River, Oregon By J. Rose Wallick, Scott W. Anderson, Charles Cannon, and Jim E. O’Connor Open-File Report 2009–1163 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior KEN SALAZAR, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey Suzette M. Kimball, Acting Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2009 For product and ordering information: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS Suggested citation: Wallick, J.R., Anderson, S.W., Cannon, Charles, and O’Connor, J.E., 2009, Channel change and bed-material transport in the lower Chetco River, Oregon: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2009–1163, 83 p. 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 material contained within this report. ii Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Purpose and Scope ................................................................................................................................................... 3 Background ................................................................................................................................................................ 3 Units and Locations ................................................................................................................................................... 4 The Chetco River ........................................................................................................................................................... 4 Geography and Geology ............................................................................................................................................ 4 Hydrology ................................................................................................................................................................... 5 The Study Area .......................................................................................................................................................... 7 Land-Use and Landscape Disturbance in the Chetco River Basin ............................................................................. 9 Forest Management and Fire ................................................................................................................................10 Navigation Improvements ......................................................................................................................................10 Chetco River Gravel Mining...................................................................................................................................11 Valley Bottom Mapping and Analysis of Historical Channel Change ............................................................................13 Historical Changes in Channel Planform and Vegetation ..........................................................................................13 Acquisition and Rectification of Historical Aerial Photographs ...............................................................................13 Uncertainties and Limitations to Planimetric Mapping ...........................................................................................15 Mapping Channel Features, Floodplain Vegetation, and Bank Materials ..............................................................17 Results of Channel Mapping .................................................................................................................................19 Results of Land Cover Mapping ............................................................................................................................27 Vertical Changes in Channel Morphology and Bathymetry .......................................................................................29 Survey data used in study .....................................................................................................................................29 Uncertainty and Limitations Associated with the Repeat Survey Data ..................................................................31 Results of Repeat Surveys ....................................................................................................................................32 Summary and Discussion of Historical Channel Change ..........................................................................................36 Bed Material: Characterization, Transport, and Budget ................................................................................................38 Bed Material Characterization and Source ................................................................................................................39 Gravel Distribution and Textures ...........................................................................................................................39 Sampling ...............................................................................................................................................................39 Assessment of Bed-Material Sizes ........................................................................................................................41 Bed Material Lithology and Sources ......................................................................................................................44 Bed-material Particle Attrition ................................................................................................................................46 Flow Modeling ...........................................................................................................................................................46 Direct Measurement of Bedload Transport ...............................................................................................................48 Sampling ...............................................................................................................................................................49 Results and Discussion of Bedload Sampling .......................................................................................................53 iii Estimation of Bed-Material Transport Rates Using Established Transport Equations ...............................................54 Equation Selection and Analysis ...........................................................................................................................54 Results and Discussion of Bed-Material Transport Equation Calculations ............................................................59 Estimation of Bed-Material Flux by Assessment of Channel Change .......................................................................63 Morphologic Analysis ............................................................................................................................................64 Assessment of Sediment Volumes from Morphologic Analysis .............................................................................70 Bed-Material Sediment Budget for the Lower Chetco River ......................................................................................72 Comparison with Sediment Yield from Regional Drainage Basins ............................................................................73 Summary of Bed-Material Observations and Analyses .............................................................................................73 Summary ......................................................................................................................................................................75 Primary Findings .......................................................................................................................................................75 Implications Regarding Possible Future Trends and Monitoring Strategies ..............................................................76 Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................................................77 References Cited ..........................................................................................................................................................78 Figures Figure 1. Map showing watershed
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