Annual Peak Discharges and Stages for Gaging Stations in Georgia Through September 1990
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ANNUAL PEAK DISCHARGES AND STAGES FOR GAGING STATIONS IN GEORGIA THROUGH SEPTEMBER 1990 By Glen W. Hess and Timothy C. Stamey U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Open-File Report 92-113 Prepared in cooperation with the GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION HIGHWAY DIVISION Atlanta, Georgia 1993 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BRUCE BABBITT, Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Dallas L. Peck, Director For additional information Copies of this report can be write to: purchased from: District Chief U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey Books and Open-File Reports Section 3039 Amwiler Road, Suite 130 Federal Center Peachtree Business Center Box 25425 Atlanta, GA 30360-2824 Denver, CO 80225 CONTENTS Abstract 1 Introduction 1 Annual peak discharges and stage data for streamflow-gaging stations in Georgia Summary 2 Selected references 8 Glossary 10 ILLUSTRATIONS Figures 1.-5. Maps showing regional boundary and location of gaging stations in: 1. Northwest Georgia 3 2. Northeast Georgia 4 3. Southwest Georgia 5 4. Southeast Georgia 6 5. Atlanta Metropolitan area 7 TABLES Table 1. Alphabetical list of streamflow-gaging stations 11 2. Annual peak discharges and stage data for streamflow-gaging stations in Georgia, through September 1990 22 111 CONVERSION FACTORS, VERTICAL DATUM, AND ACRONYMS Multiply To obtain Length foot (ft) 0.3048 meter mile (mi) 1.609 kilometer Flow cubic foot per second (ft3/8) 0.02832 cubic meter per second Area square mile (mi2) 2.590 square kilometer VERTICAL DATUM Sea Level-In this report, "sea level" refers to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD of 1929)--a geodetic datum derived from a general adjustment of the first-order level nets of both the United States and Canada, formerly called Sea Level Datum of 1929. ACRONYMS USGS U.S. Geological Survey GDOT Georgia Department of Transportation iv ANNUAL PEAK DISCHARGES AND STAGES FOR GAGING STATIONS IN GEORGIA THROUGH SEPTEMBER 1990 By Glen W. Hess and Timothy C. Stamey ABSTRACT A knowledge of annual peak discharges and stages can provide a better understanding of the hydrologic and hydraulic characteristics of flooding at a particular stream site. Annual peak-discharge and stage data are needed for flood-frequency analyses of streamflow commonly used in the design of hydraulic structures in a flood plain, flood-plain management, and other uses by urban planners and engineers. Annual peak discharges and stages through September 30, 1990, and historical flood data from as early as 1796, were compiled for 493 gaging stations in Georgia having 5 or more years of record. These data include other information on station location, description, drainage area, type of gage(s), description of the stage-discharge relation, and historical data. INTRODUCTION Knowledge of annual peak discharges and stage information can provide a better understanding of the hydrologic and hydraulic characteristics at a particular stream site. Annual peak-discharge data and stage are used in flood-frequency studies. Knowledge of the magnitude and frequency of floods is essential for the design of hydraulic structures, such as bridges, culverts, embankments, dams, and levees in a flood plain; flood-plain management; and other uses, such as flood warning, flood forecasting, and reservoir design. Flood-plain management includes flood-plain zoning, land-use regulations, and establishing flood boundaries and flood- insurance rates. This report presents annual peak discharges and stages and randomly collected historic peaks dating as far back as 1796 for 493 gaging stations in Georgia having five or more years of record. These discharge data can be used to determine the magnitude and frequency of floods at a particular stream site. The value of gaging station statistics lies in the transferability of flood information from gaged sites to ungaged sites using regionalization techniques, which was used to prepare a companion report entitled, "Techniques for Estimating Magnitude and Frequency of Floods in Rural Basins in Georgia" (Stamey and Hess, 1992). Reports presenting the results of previous flood studies conducted in the State are listed in the "Selected References" of this report. This report was prepared as part of an ongoing cooperative program of water-resources investigations between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), Highway Division, and is based on data collected and published by the USGS for many years. These data were collected as part of various cooperative programs between the USGS and other Federal, State, and local agencies. The principal cooperating agencies that helped fund the collection of annual peak-discharge and stage data, and other streamflow data in Georgia, are Georgia Department of Transportation Highway Division Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division Georgia Geologic Survey Tennessee Valley Authority U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District Mobile District U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Weather Service The authors also wish to thank the Georgia Power Company for assisting in the data-collection program. ANNUAL PEAK DISCHARGES AND STAGE DATA FOR STREAMFLOW-GAGING STATIONS IN GEORGIA Data were collected primarily by the USGS in cooperation with various Federal, State, and local agencies. Annual peak discharge and stage data for 493 gaging stations having 5 or more years of record are presented in this report. A network of continuous-record streamflow stations was established between the late 1800's to 1950 to define the flow characteristics of large streams (drainage areas more than 500 mi2). Many crest-stage gages were installed in the early 1950's to determine annual flood-peak stages on medium-size streams (drainage areas 20 to 500 mi2) in the selected areas of insufficient geographic coverage in the State. A flood-frequency program on small streams (drainage areas less than 20 mi2) began in 1964 when more than 100 flood hydrograph and rainfall gages were installed. Data were collected at these sites for 10 or more years. Additional small stream gages were included in the program in 1976 and 1984 to insure a better geographical coverage of annual peak data. The streamflow-gaging stations included in this report are shown in figures 1-5, and are listed alphabetically in table 1 [at the back of this report], along with map numbers (from figures 1-5), figure number, station numbers, and page numbers where data are located. The annual peak-discharge and stage data, station location, drainage area, type of gage(s), description of the stage-discharge relation, available randomly collected historical data, and other pertinent remarks are given in table 2 [at the back of this report]. SUMMARY Annual peak discharges and stages through September 30, 1990, and historical peaks as early as 1796 were compiled for 493 streamflow-gaging stations in Georgia having 5 or more years of record. Thee data are presented in this report along with information on the location, drainage area, type of gage(s), stage-discharge relation, available randomly collected historical data, and other pertinent remarks. These data can help planners and managers to better understand the hydrologic and hydraulic characteristics at a particular stream site, and are necessary for determining magnitude and frequency of floods. The annual peak discharges in this report were used to determine the frequency of floods in Georgia, described in a companion report entitled, "Techniques for Estimating Magnitude and Frequency of Floods in Rural Basins in Georgia". 35° 33° Base from U.S. Geological Survey Hydrdogic boundary from State base map, 1970 Stamey and Hess (1992) 0 10 20 30 40 50 MILES " I" I l' I 'l ' 0 10 20 30 40 50 KILOMETERS EXPLANATION REGIONAL FLOOD-FREQUENCY BOUNDARY A332 STREAM-GAGING SITE AND MAP NUMBER Figure 1. Regional boundary and gaging stations in northwestern Georgia. 84' NORTH CAROLINA EXPLANATION REGIONAL FLOOD-FREQUENCY BOUNDARY STREAM-GAGING SITE AND MAP NUMBER LOCATION OF MAP AREA Base from U.S. Geological Survey Hydrologic boundary from Suit base map, 1970 Stamey and Hess (1992) ) 10 20 30 40 50 MILES , , 1 , 1 1 1 1 1 ""1 1 1 1 1 0 10 20 30 40 50 KILOMETERS Figure 2. Regional boundary and gaging stations in northeastern Georgia. 85° ,400 STREAM-GAGING SITE AND MAP NUMBER Base from U.S. Geological Survey Hydrologic boundary from State base map, 1970 Stamey and Hess (1992) Figure 3.--Regional boundary and gaging stations in southwestern Georgia. LOCATION OF MAP AREA EXPLANATION REGIONAL FLOOD-FREQUENCY BOUNDARY A231 STREAM-GAGING SITE AND MAP NUMBER 0 10 20 30 40 50 MILES I______I 0 10 20 30 40 50 KILOMETERS Base from U.S. Geological Survey Hydrologic boundary from State bate map, 1970 Stanley and Hess (1992) Figure 4.-Regional boundary and gaging stations in southeastern Georgia. 6 84°15- 34°00- 84°30 33°45- - Base from U.S. Geological Survey 01 23456 MILES Hydrologic boundary from Atlanta 1:100,000,1981 I n i i i r i Stamey and Hess (1992) 0123456 KILOMETERS EXPLANATION REGIONAL FLOOD-FREQUENCY BOUNDARY STREAM-GAGING SITE AND MAP NUMBER Figure 5. Regional boundary and gaging stations in the Atlanta Metropolitan area. SELECTED REFERENCES Barnes, H.H., Jr., and Golden, H.G., 1966, Magnitude and frequency of floods in the United States, Part 2B, South Atlantic slope and eastern Gulf of Mexico basins, Ogeechee River to Pearl River: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 1674,409 p. Bunch, C.M., and Price, McGlone, 1962, Floods in Georgia magnitude and frequency: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report, Atlanta, Georgia, 152 p. Carter, R.W., 1951, Floods in Georgia, magnitude and frequency: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 100,127 p. Federal Investigative Board, 1977, Report of failure of Kelly Barnes Dam., Toccoa, Georgia: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Weather Service, Soil Conservation Service, and U.S.