Recent Sedimentation and Surface-Water Flow Patterns on the Flood Plain of the North Fork Forked Deer River, Dyer County, Tennessee
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Water-Resources Investigations Report 92-4082 RECENT SEDIMENTATION AND SURFACE-WATER FLOW PATTERNS ON THE FLOOD PLAIN OF THE NORTH FORK FORKED DEER RIVER, DYER COUNTY, TENNESSEE Prepared by the U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY in cooperation with the TENNESSEE WILDLIFE RESOURCES AGENCY Cover photograph. South side outlet of Tigrett Wildlife Manage- ment Area, Dyer County, Tennessee. Note roots of old cypress stump and roots of small tree on top of stump. Photograph by Bradley A. Bryan, U.S. Geological Survey. RECENT SEDIMENTATION AND SURFACE-WATER FLOW PATTERNS ON THE FLOOD PLAIN OF THE NORTH FORK FORKED DEER RIVER, DYER COUNTY, TENNESSEE By William J. Wolfe and Timothy H. Diehl U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Water-Resources Investigations Report 92-4082 Prepared in cooperation with the TENNESSEE WILDLIFE RESOURCES AGENCY Nashville, Tennessee 1993 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR MANUEL LUJAN, JR., Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Dallas L. Peck, Director The use of firm and trade names in this report is for identification purposes only and does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Geological Survey. For additional information write to: Copies of this report can be purchased from: District Chief US. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey Books and Open-File Reports Section 810 Broadway, Suite 500 Federal Center, Box 25425 Nashville, Tennessee 37203 Denver, Colorado 80225 Abstract 1 Introduction 1 Purpose and scope 2 Previous studies 2 Acknowledgments 4 Study area 4 Flood-plain stratigraphy and recent sedimentation rates 5 Flood-plain materials 5 Recent sedimentation rates 8 Surface-water flow patterns 10 Location and condition of the natural channel 10 Primary flow path--the North Fork Forked Deer ditch 13 Present location of flood-plain flow paths 13 Flow paths between Doakville Creek and Parker Ditch 13 Flow paths between Stokes Creek and U.S. Highway 412 16 Flow paths between Parker Ditch and U.S. Highway 412 17 Condition of tributaries 17 Channel evolution in the study area 18 Summary and conclusions 19 References cited 21 FIGURES l-3. Map showing: 1. Location of the study area near Dyersburg, Tennessee 3 2. Location of radiocarbon and tree-ring sampling sites in Dyer County, Tennessee 6 3. Hydrography of the eastern part of the study area, Dyer County, Tennessee 11 4. Longitudinal profile along the natural channel, north of the main ditch of the North Fork Forked Deer River, in Dyer County, Tennesee 12 5. Map showing hydrography of the western part of the study area, Dyer County, Tennessee 14 6. Longitudinal profile along the natural channel, south of the main ditch of the North Fork Forked Deer River, in Dyer County, Tennessee 15 TABLES 1. Radiocarbon ages, sampling locations, and depths of burial of cypress stumps (Tarodium distichum) 8 2. Tree ages and calculated sedimentation rates based on tree-ring analyses 9 3. Number of trees sampled for tree-ring analysis, by sampling site and species 9 Contents iii CONVERSION FACTORS AND VERTICAL DATUM RECENT SEDIMENTATION AND SURFACE-WATER FLOW PATTERNS ON THE FLOOD PLAIN OF THE NORTH FORK FORKED DEER RIVER, DYER COUNTY, TENNESSEE By William J. Wolfe and Timothy H. Diehl ABSTRACT in several tributaries, posing a flood hazard to agricultural land near the flood-plain margin. The occluded tributaries Sedimentation in the 19th and 20th centuries has had likely will continue to overflow unless they are periodically a major effect on surface-water drainage conditions along dredged or their sediment loads are reduced. a 7-mile section of the North, Fork Forked Deer River flood plain, Dyer County, Tenn. During the century prior to 1930, 5 to 12 feet of sediment were deposited over much of the INTRODUCTION flood plain, resulting in channel obstruction and widespread flooding. The estimated bankfull capacity of the natural Obstructed surface-water drainage is a recurrent channel before it was channelized in 19 16 was comparable problem in the flood plains of most major streams in West to the base flow of the river during the 1980’s. Tennessee (Ashley, 1910; Tennessee State Planning Commission, 1936; Robbins and Simon, 1983). Little Ditching of the ci.va between 191i6 and 1;9,21 was information isavaikable onvalley-bottom drainage conditions folfowed by ceductims ia sedimentation rates. over parts of at the time of initial. European settlement in the early and the flood plain. HoweverWthaeftectsofr sed’i’mentation have mi&t8t%Xs, but by the late 1800’s many channels in West persisted. Occlusions along tie natuml’channeli of the river Ibmressee were choked by sediment and debris (Ashley, have divided this stream reach into a series of sloughs. 1910; Morgan and McCrory, 1910). Land clearing and These sloughs continue to fill with sediment and are row-crop agriculture in upland parts of drainage basins surrounded by ponds that have expanded since 1941. during the 19th century greatly accelerated upland erosion and valley-bottom sedimentation over their pre-settlement Degradation of the North Fork Forked Deer ditch may rates (Happ and others, 1940; Trimble, 1976; Knox, 1987; eventually reduce ponding over much of the flood plain. Bamhardt, 1988a, 1988b). Subsequent flooding ofthe valley Active incision of headcuts in both banks of the ditch is bottoms hampered logging and farming operations. This led enhancing the drainage of widespread ponded areas. These local landowners to seek engineering solutions to drainage headcuts likely will have limited effect on drainage of most problems in the early 1900’s (Ashley, 1910). tributaries. Efforts to improve drainage focused on increasing chan- The highest recent sedimentation rates, in places more nel capacity through such means as straightening, dredging, than 0.2 foot per year, are concentrated near the flood-plain and snagging the channels, and clearing the banks of vegeta- margin along tributary streams. In conjunction with beaver tion (Robbins and Simon, 1983). Such measures were com- dams and debris, ongoing sedimentation has blocked flow monly effective over the short term, but improvement of Introduction 1 drainage was often temporary or accompanied by unforeseen Purpose and Scope and undesirable side effects. Commonly, the dredged chan- This report describes the results of the study of the nels tilled quickly with sediment, or became deeper and North Fork Forked Deer River flood plain. The study wider, damaging adjacent forest and agricultural land in the focused on two major objectives: (1) the determination of process (Robbins and Simon, 1983). recent (since about 1800) sedimentation rates; and (2) the identification and location of major surface-water flow paths In some instances, channel modifications may impede, and determination of their relation to recent sedimentation. rather than encourage, drainage on the flood plain adjacent to the channel. Spoil banks are generally too low to keep The study objectives were accomplished in several flood water from entering the flood plain. Natural levee stages. deposits and sand splays may accumulate along the spoil banks, further isolating the flood plain from the channel and 1. Literature on sedimentation and drainage problems in promoting ponding. These effects resemble the problems the study area was reviewed. that channel modifications are intended to correct, and 2. Stratigraphic relations of the upper 20 feet of flood- complicate efforts to understand and alleviate drainage plain sediments were established through field investigations problems in the flood plains of modified channels. and examination of the logs of soil borings. 3. Recent rates of flood-plain sedimentation were deter- The Tigrett Wildlife Management Area (WMA), and mined at selected sites by radiocarbon dating and tree-ring adjacent areas of the flood plain of the North Fork Forked analysis. Deer River, near Dyersburg, Term. (fig. l), are character- 4. Locations and approximate dimensions of major ized by drainage conditions typical of the valley bottoms of surface-water flow paths in the study area were determined many modified streams in the region. Large areas of the by field surveys and analysis of survey records, bridge flood plain are ponded throughout the year, and substantial plans, and aerial photographs. tracts of cypress (Taxodium distichum) and bottomland hardwoods are dead or dying. Owners of agricultural land Fieldwork was accomplished between May and adjacent to the WMA have complained of increased flooding September 1991, and was largely confined to the flood plain along tributary streams (J.W. Johnson, Tennessee Wildlife of the North Fork Forked Deer River along a reach 2.5 to Resources Agency, written commun., 1991). 10 miles upstream from Dyersburg, TeM. (fig. 1). Data collection included radiocarbon dating of buried tree stumps, Management of drainage in the WMA and similar areas, tree-ring analysis, calculation of sedimentation rates, and whether for wildlife, timber, or agriculture, requires an measurement of channel-bed and water-surface elevations. understanding of the present surface-water flow patterns. Published and unpublished reports, maps, survey records, Because flood-plain drainage is partly determined by the and aerial photographs provided background for this study. distribution and accumulation of sediment, such under- standing requires knowledge of the flood-plain sediments and the factors that control their deposition. Previous Studies The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation Accounts of drainage problems in West Tennessee were with Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), con- published in the early 1900’s. Ashley (1910) outlined the ducted a study to identify the major surface-water flow paths organization and financing of drainage districts in 1910, and in the flood plain, to assess their relation to recent reported that the obstruction of some channels by sediment sedimentation, and to improve understanding of the effects and debris was a relatively recent phenomenon. He attri- of recent sedimentation on surface-water drainage conditions buted channel and valley sedimentation to agricultural prac- in the flood plain of the North Fork Forked Deer River.