Flood Processes in Semi-Arid Streams: Sediment Transport, Flood Routing, and Groundwater - Surface Water Interactions
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Flood Processes in Semi-arid Streams: Sediment Transport, Flood Routing, and Groundwater - Surface Water Interactions Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Desilets, Sharon Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 28/09/2021 14:22:24 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/195652 FLOOD PROCESSES IN SEMI-ARID STREAMS: SEDIMENT TRANSPORT, FLOOD ROUTING, AND GROUNDWATER-SURFACE WATER INTERACTIONS by Sharon Louise Einloth Desilets __________________________________ A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of HYDROLOGY AND WATER RESOURCES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN HYDROLOGY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2 0 0 7 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Sharon Desilets entitled “Flood processes in semi-arid streams: Sediment transport, flood routing, and groundwater – surface water interactions” and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ____________________________________________________________________ ________________ Paul “Ty” A. Ferré 11/2/2007 ____________________________________________________________________ ________________ Peter A. Troch 11/2/2007 ____________________________________________________________________ ________________ Brenda Ekwurzel 11/2/2007 ____________________________________________________________________ ________________ Tom Maddock, III. 11/2/2007 ____________________________________________________________________ ________________ Shlomo P. Neuman 11/2/2007 ____________________________________________________________________ ________________ Arthur W. Warrick 11/2/2007 Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. _____________________________________________ ________________ Dissertation Director: Paul “Ty” A. Ferré 11/2/2007 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: Sharon L. E. Desilets 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Sincere thanks to my advisory committee for sharing their time, knowledge, resources, and wisdom: Ty Ferre, Brenda Ekwurzel, Peter Troch, Shlomo Neuman, Art Warrick, and Tom Maddock. In particular, I owe special gratitude to Brenda Ekwurzel who continued to advise me for several years after moving on from the University and to Ty Ferre who guided through the remainder of my dissertation research. I also thank Bart Nijssen who acted as an advisor during his tenure in the Hydrology Department, and Jim Washburne and SAHRA for funding much my work. I appreciate the generous help I received from several colleagues. From the UA Hydrology Department: Maite Guardiola-Claramonte provided assistance with site maps, watershed variables, and sample collection and preparation; Karletta Chief helped with sampling and lab work; and Steve Lyon provided streamflow data. Erik Pytlak of the National Weather Service helped to prepare and interpret radar images, and Evan Canfield of the Pima County Flood Control District provided insights on sediment transport. I appreciate the support of Josh Taiz and the Coronado National Forest for providing access to the beautiful Sabino Creek Watershed and the Fenster School for granting access to Sabino Creek from their campus during a few unusual closure periods of the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area. Finally I am immeasurably grateful to my family for years of support. Most especially, I thank my husband Darin, without whose love, encouragement, and vision I would not have been able to complete my degree. 5 DEDICATION For my wonderful and loving parents, Leo and Arleen Einloth. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT............................................................................................................... 8 1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................... 10 1.1 Semi-arid setting............................................................................................ 10 1.2 Flooding in semi-arid streams........................................................................ 11 1.3 Multi-process approach.................................................................................. 12 1.4 Site description: Sabino Basin....................................................................... 13 1.5 Dissertation format......................................................................................... 14 2 PRESENT STUDY.............................................................................................. 16 2.1 Summary of paper 1 ...................................................................................... 16 2.2 Summary of paper 2....................................................................................... 17 2.3 Summary of paper 3....................................................................................... 18 2.4 Summary of paper 4....................................................................................... 19 2.5 Conclusions.................................................................................................... 20 3 REFERENCES.................................................................................................... 22 APPENDIX A: POST-WILDFIRE CHANGES IN SUSPENDED SEDIMENT RATING CURVES: SABINO CREEK, ARIZONA........................................................................................... 23 Abstract............................................................................................................... 24 1. Introduction.................................................................................................... 25 2. Sediment rating curves................................................................................... 27 3. Site description............................................................................................... 29 3.1. Sabino watershed.................................................................................... 29 3.2. Aspen Fire............................................................................................... 31 4. Methods......................................................................................................... 32 4.1. Sampling campaign................................................................................ 32 4.2. Analyses.................................................................................................. 33 5. Results............................................................................................................ 33 6. Discussion...................................................................................................... 36 6.1. Sediment rating curves and wildfire....................................................... 36 6.2. Seasonality and temporal variations in post-fire recovery..................... 38 6.3. Sediment mass balance model................................................................ 41 A. Model setup........................................................................................ 41 B. Model interpretation........................................................................... 43 7. Conclusions.................................................................................................... 44 Acknowledgements............................................................................................ 46 References........................................................................................................... 47 List of Tables...................................................................................................... 51 List of Figures..................................................................................................... 52 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS -- Continued APPENDIX B: FLASH FLOOD COMPOSITION IN A SEMI-ARID MOUNTAIN WATERSHED................................................................................................................ 61 Abstract................................................................................................................. 62 1. Introduction.....................................................................................................