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An Analysis of the Potential for Glen Canyon Dam Releases to Inundate Archaeological Sites in the Grand Canyon, Arizona

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An Analysis of the Potential for Glen Canyon Dam Releases to Inundate Archaeological Sites in the Grand Canyon, Arizona An Analysis of the Potential for Glen Canyon Dam Releases to Inundate Archaeological Sites in the Grand Canyon, Arizona Open-File Report 2014–1193 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Cover: View of the Colorado River and its left bank at river mile 72.7, looking north from Unkar Delta. Photograph taken by A. East, U.S. Geological Survey, May 3, 2013. An Analysis of the Potential for Glen Canyon Dam Releases to Inundate Archaeological Sites in the Grand Canyon, Arizona By Hoda A. Sondossi and Helen C. Fairley Open-File Report 2014–1193 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior SALLY JEWELL, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey Suzette Kimball, Acting Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2014 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 Suggested citation: Sondossi, H.A., and Fairley, H.C., 2014, An analysis of the potential for Glen Canyon Dam releases to inundate archaeological sites in the Grand Canyon, Arizona: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2014-1193, 26 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20141193. ISSN 2331-1258 (online) 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. Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Study Area ..................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Methods ......................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Source Data ............................................................................................................................................................... 4 Cultural Site Data ................................................................................................................................................... 5 Modeled Water-Surface Elevation Data ................................................................................................................. 6 Topography ............................................................................................................................................................ 6 Virtual Shorelines ................................................................................................................................................... 6 Analysis ........................................................................................................................................................................10 Results ..........................................................................................................................................................................11 Differences between Restricted Raster and Canyon-Wide Vector Analyses ............................................................15 Discussion ....................................................................................................................................................................16 References Cited ..........................................................................................................................................................17 Appendix A. Site-Specific Inundation Data and Summary of Area Inundated by Site Groupings and Stage Elevation ............................................................................................................................................................19 Figures Figure 1. Map showing project area, located in the Colorado River corridor between Lees Ferry and Diamond Creek, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona ................................................................................................ 3 Figure 2. Diagram showing longitudinal profile and cross sections similar to those used to generate virtual shorelines ............................................................................................................................................................ 7 Figure 3. Diagram showing a water-surface raster created from linking cross section water-surface elevations ......... 8 Figure 4. Diagram showing how the “subtract” command is used to generate areas of inundation by a given modeled discharge ............................................................................................................................................... 8 Figure 5. Diagram showing how a small range of error in predicting water-stage results in large uncertainty in extent of inundation in areas of low slope .............................................................................................. 10 Figure 6. Diagram showing how a cultural site polygon may interact with virtual shoreline polygons ........................ 11 Figure 7. Graph showing number of cultural sites in Groups A and B that likely would be inundated by six modeled discharges, Colorado River corridor between Lees Ferry and Diamond Creek, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona ................................................................................................................................................. 13 Figure 8. Graph showing percentage of cultural sites, by count, in Groups A and B that likely would be inundated by six modeled discharges, Colorado River corridor between Lees Ferry and Diamond Creek, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona ......................................................................................................................... 13 Figure 9. Graph showing total area within cultural sites in Groups A and B that likely would be inundated by six modeled discharges, Colorado River corridor between Lees Ferry and Diamond Creek, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona ................................................................................................................................................. 14 Figure 10. Graph showing percentage of total area within cultural sites in Groups A and B that likely would be inundated by six modeled discharges, Colorado River corridor between Lees Ferry and Diamond Creek, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona .................................................................................................................................... 14 Figure 11. Diagram showing why a higher number of cultural sites are shown to interact with virtual shoreline polygons in the vector analysis compared to the restricted raster analysis. ................................................................ 15 iii Tables Table 1. Summary statistics for the two cultural site datasets (Groups A and B), Colorado River corridor between Lees Ferry and Diamond Creek, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona ......................................................... 5 Table 2. Number of cultural sites that likely would be partially inundated by each discharge, Colorado River corridor between Lees Ferry and Diamond Creek, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona ......................................... 12 Conversion Factors and Datums Conversion Factors Inch/Pound to SI Multiply By To obtain Length mile (mi) 1.609 kilometer (km) Flow rate cubic foot per second (ft3/s) 0.02832 cubic meter per second (m3/s) SI to Inch/Pound Multiply By To obtain Length meter (m) 3.281 foot (ft) kilometer (km) 0.6214 mile (mi) Area square meter (m2) 0.0002471 acre square meter (m2) 10.76 square foot (ft2) Flow rate cubic meter per second (m3/s) 35.31 cubic foot per second (ft3/s) Datums Vertical coordinate information is referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88) Horizontal coordinate information is referenced North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83) Elevation, as used in this report, refers to distance above the vertical datum. iv An Analysis of the Potential for Glen Canyon Dam Releases to Inundate Archaeological Sites in the Grand Canyon, Arizona By Hoda A. Sondossi1 and Helen C. Fairley2 Abstract The development of a one-dimensional flow-routing model for the Colorado River between Lees Ferry and Diamond Creek, Arizona in 2008 provided a potentially useful tool for assessing the degree to which varying discharges from Glen Canyon Dam may inundate terrestrial environments and potentially affect resources located within the zone of inundation. Using outputs from the model, a geographic information system analysis was completed to evaluate the degree to which flows from Glen Canyon Dam might inundate archaeological sites located along the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. The analysis indicates that between 4 and 19 sites could be partially inundated by flows released
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