DOCSLIB.ORG

Watershed Definitions the Atlantic Ocean Or Gulf of Mexico from Those That Flow Into the Pacific Ocean

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Watershed Definitions the Atlantic Ocean Or Gulf of Mexico from Those That Flow Into the Pacific Ocean Watersheds • Reading: – Table groups: discussion questions about issues facing Arizona’s rivers Watersheds • Lecture: – HidtifthdHow you identify a watershed – Why are they important “A river is the report card for its – Simple unit conversions watershed.” — Alan Levere • Activity: – Using tributaries to find a watershed boundary – Estimating volume Arizona Water Issues © 2010 The University of Arizona – HWR203 1 Arizona Water Issues © 2010 The University of Arizona – HWR203 2 Drainage Divide What separates watersheds? Drainage Basin How do you identify watershed boundaries? • A region or area bounded by a drainage divide and occupied by a drainage system; • specifically, the tract of country that gathers water originating as precipitation and contributes it to a particu lar s tream c hanne l or system of channels, or to a lake, reservoir or other body of water. • The original meaning of the term signifies a “water parting” or the River Networks line, ridge, or summit of high Contour Lines ground separating two drainage Drainage Divides Reynolds and Johnson basins. boto.ocean.washington.edu/gifs/purus.gif Source: Glossary of Geology, 3rd Ed.,1987, ©AGI 2010 The Universityhttp://www.alpinezone.com/hiking/01images/older/KNIFEDGE.jpg of Arizona – HWR203 Arizona Water Issues © 2010 The University of Arizona – HWR203 3 Arizona Water Issues 4 The Continental Divide is a line separating waters that flow into Watershed Definitions the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico from those that flow into the Pacific Ocean. It runs north-south along the crest of the Rocky • A region draining into a river or Mountains (in Mexico and Canada too) and is sometimes called the Great Divide. lake (American Heritage Dictionary) This map layer was compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey by extracting the • The area that produces runoff appropriate lines from the Hydrologic Unit Boundaries layer of the National Atlas. to a downstream point (Handbook of Hydrology) • The area contained within a drainage divide above a specified point on a stream (Dictionary Of Geologic Terms) • The upstream area that can contribute runoff to a point below. • A drainage basin that divides the landscape into http://www.nationalatlas.gov/Images/condivm.gif hydrologically defined areas. (Environment Canada) Arizona Water Issues © 2010 The University of Arizona – HWR203 5 Arizona Water Issues © 2010 The University of Arizona – HWR203 6 www.nationalatlas.gov/ condivm.html 1 The drainage pattern allows you to understand the watershed Watershed - Importance boundaries and directions of stream flow even without topography 1. Understand what a watershed is both literally and conceptually (including the mapped representation of a watershed and the issue of scale). 2. Understand the components and processes of a watershed including runoff, soil, geology, geography, permeability, storage, land cover, land use, vegetation, precipitation, stream flow, flooding, drought (climate), fire, drainage patterns, erosion, deposition and population. 3. Understand a watershed as a system (e.g. a change in one area will affect the difthtit)dhthttftidynamics of the entire system) and how that system functions. 4. Understand that watershed management is complex because of culture, economics, politics, social constructs, scientific studies and aesthetics. Some water users include urban, rural, agricultural, business & industry, energy, recreation, fish and wildlife and earth systems. 5. Understand that watersheds change over time both naturally (e.g. flooding, fire) and due to anthropogenic causes (e.g. damming a river, water rights, water withdrawals). 6. Know some of the issues facing the watershed managers of the Colorado River Watershed as well as other Southwestern Watersheds. Arizona Water Issues © 2010 The University of Arizona – HWR203 7 Arizona Water Issues © 2010 The University of Arizona – HWR203 8 … although a shaded DEM helps! Seeing Watersheds Activity 1: trace the main channel of the river from its mouth to the headwaters. 2: trace the major tributaries (start at the coast/Gulf). 3a: Find the drainage divides byyg marking a dot above the top of each river, midway to the adjacent watershed. 3b: Connect the dots (start at the mouth) to form the watershed boundary. 4:Identify sub-watersheds of major tributaries Arizona Water Issues © 2010 The University of Arizona – HWR203 9 Arizona Water Issues © 2010 The University of Arizona – HWR203 10 Synonyms: Watershed – Sub-watershed Basin Catchment Catchment Area Catchment Basin Drainage Area Drainage Basin Feeding Ground Gathering Ground Hydrographic Basin Watershed HUC: HUC: 14-15 1401-1508 Source: Glossary of Geology, 3rd Ed.,1987, American Geophysical Institute Arizona Water Issues © 2010 The University of Arizona – HWR203 11 Arizona Water Issues © 2010 The University of Arizona – HWR203 12 2 Colorado – “source” of 4 WS’s Major Western Rivers Strahler: = 8,131,000 af 4-7 © 2010 The University of Arizona – HWR203 Arizona Water Issues 13 Arizona Water Issues © 2010 The University of Arizona – HWR203 14 Colorado River Watershed before 1921 Major Western Rivers ag.arizona.edu/watershed/ Green River Columbia Yellowstone Snake Grand River Klamath Sacramento Platte San Joaquin Colorado River Rio Gila Grande Musser, 2005. Arizona Water Issues © 2010 The University of Arizona – HWR203 15 Arizona Water Issues © 2010 The University of Arizona – HWR203 16 Colorado River Watershed after 1921 How to determine Green River headwaters? •Hydrology –larger drainage area GrandColorado River River •Green River drains larger area •Politics –who Colorado River wants it more •CO Legislature wanted river to begin in CO Musser, 2005. Arizona Water Issues © 2010 The University of Arizona – HWR203 17 3.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Landforms & Bodies of Water
    Name Date Landforms & Bodies of Water - Vocab Cards hill noun a raised area of land smaller than a mountain. We rode our bikes up and down the grassy hill. Use this word in a sentence or give an example Draw this vocab word or an example of it: to show you understand its meaning: island noun a piece of land surrounded by water on all sides. Marissa's family took a vacation on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Use this word in a sentence or give an example Draw this vocab word or an example of it: to show you understand its meaning: 1 lake noun a large body of fresh or salt water that has land all around it. The lake freezes in the wintertime and we go ice skating on it. Use this word in a sentence or give an example Draw this vocab word or an example of it: to show you understand its meaning: landform noun any of the earth's physical features, such as a hill or valley, that have been formed by natural forces of movement or erosion. I love canyons and plains, but glaciers are my favorite landform. Use this word in a sentence or give an example Draw this vocab word or an example of it: to show you understand its meaning: 2 mountain noun a land mass with great height and steep sides. It is much higher than a hill. Someday I'm going to hike and climb that tall, steep mountain. Synonyms: peak Use this word in a sentence or give an example Draw this vocab word or an example of it: to show you understand its meaning: ocean noun a part of the large body of salt water that covers most of the earth's surface.
    [Show full text]
  • South Fox Meadow Drainage Improvement Project
    VILLAGE OF SCARSDALE WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NEW YORK COMPREHENSIVE STORM WATER MANAGEMENT SOUTH FOX MEADOW STORMWATER IMPROVEMENT PROJECT In association with WESTCHESTER COUNTY FLOOD MITIGATION PROGRAM Rob DeGiorgio, P.E., CPESC, CPSWQ The Bronx River Watershed Fox Meadow Brook Bronx River Watershed Area in Westchester 48.3 square miles (30,932 acres) 15 Sub-watersheds Percent of undeveloped land in the Watershed 3.3% (0.8 acres in Fox Meadow Brook (FMB) FMB watershed) 928 acres (5.7% of watershed) Bronx River Watershed Fox Meadow Brook George Field Park High School Duck Pond Project Philosophy and Goals •Provide flood mitigation within the Fox Meadow Brook Drainage Basin. •Reduce peak run off rates in the Bronx River Watershed through dry detention storage. •Rehabilitate and preserve natural landscapes and wetlands through invasive species management and re- construction. •Improve water quality. • Petition for and obtain County grant funding to subsidize the project. Village of Scarsdale Fox Meadow Brook Watershed SR-2 BR-4 SR-3 BR-7 BR-8 SR-5 Village of Scarsdale History •In 2009 the Village completed a Comprehensive Storm Water Management Plan. •Critical Bronx River sub drainage basin areas identified inclusive of Fox Meadow Brook (BR-4, BR-7, BR-8). •26 Capital Improvement Projects were identified, several of which comprise the Fox Meadow Detention Improvement Project. •Project included in Village’s Capital Budget. •Project has been reviewed by the NYS DEC. •NYS EFC has approved financing for the project granting Scarsdale a 50% subsidy for their local share of the costs. Village of Scarsdale Site Locations – 7 Segments 7 Project Segments 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Classifying Rivers - Three Stages of River Development
    Classifying Rivers - Three Stages of River Development River Characteristics - Sediment Transport - River Velocity - Terminology The illustrations below represent the 3 general classifications into which rivers are placed according to specific characteristics. These categories are: Youthful, Mature and Old Age. A Rejuvenated River, one with a gradient that is raised by the earth's movement, can be an old age river that returns to a Youthful State, and which repeats the cycle of stages once again. A brief overview of each stage of river development begins after the images. A list of pertinent vocabulary appears at the bottom of this document. You may wish to consult it so that you will be aware of terminology used in the descriptive text that follows. Characteristics found in the 3 Stages of River Development: L. Immoor 2006 Geoteach.com 1 Youthful River: Perhaps the most dynamic of all rivers is a Youthful River. Rafters seeking an exciting ride will surely gravitate towards a young river for their recreational thrills. Characteristically youthful rivers are found at higher elevations, in mountainous areas, where the slope of the land is steeper. Water that flows over such a landscape will flow very fast. Youthful rivers can be a tributary of a larger and older river, hundreds of miles away and, in fact, they may be close to the headwaters (the beginning) of that larger river. Upon observation of a Youthful River, here is what one might see: 1. The river flowing down a steep gradient (slope). 2. The channel is deeper than it is wide and V-shaped due to downcutting rather than lateral (side-to-side) erosion.
    [Show full text]
  • Moving Water Shapes Land
    KEY CONCEPT Moving water shapes land. BEFORE, you learned NOW, you will learn •Erosion is the movement of • How moving water shapes rock and soil Earth’s surface • Gravity causes mass movements • How water moving under- of rock and soil ground forms caves and other features VOCABULARY EXPLORE Divides drainage basin p. 579 How do divides work? divide p. 579 floodplain p. 580 PROCEDURE MATERIALS alluvial fan p. 581 •sheet of paper 1 Fold the sheet of paper in thirds and tape delta p. 581 • tape it as shown to make a “ridge.” sinkhole p. 583 •paper clips 2 Drop the paper clips one at a time directly on top of the ridge from a height of about 30 cm. Observe what happens and record your observations. WHAT DO YOU THINK? How might the paper clips be similar to water falling on a ridge? Streams shape Earth’s surface. If you look at a river or stream, you may be able to notice something about the land around it. The land is higher than the river. If a river is running through a steep valley, you can easily see that the river is the low point. But even in very flat places, the land is sloping down to the river, which is itself running downhill in a low path through the land. NOTE-TAKING STRATEGY Running water is the major force shaping the landscape over most A main idea and detail of Earth. From the broad, flat land around the lower Mississippi River notes chart would be a good strategy to use for to the steep mountain valleys of the Himalayas, water running downhill taking notes about streams changes the land.
    [Show full text]
  • Topic: Drainage Basins As Open Systems 3.1.1.2 Runoff, Hydrographs & Changes in the Water Cycle Over Time
    Topic: Drainage basins as open systems 3.1.1.2 Runoff, hydrographs & changes in the water cycle over time What you need to know How runoff varies within the water cycle. How to analyse a flood hydrograph How the water cycle changes over time Introduction: Runoff (the flow of water over the Earth’s surface) can vary depending upon a range of physical and human factors. These include: • Time of year. • Storm conditions. • Vegetation cover. • Soil saturation levels. • Topography & relief. • Agricultural land use. • Urban land use. Physical factors affecting runoff: Time of year In temperate climates, where seasonal change is evident, runoff levels can vary greatly throughout the year. In summer, runoff levels can be low due to a reduction in rainfall. Soil saturation levels will be low and therefore any rainfall at this point can easily infiltrate into the ground. However, intense baking of the soil by the sun can lead to the soil becoming effectively impermeable and summer storms can lead to high levels of runoff as the rain is unable to soak in. This can lead to flash flooSAMPLEds. In winter, precipitation may be in the form of snow and the water may be stored on the ground due to low temperatures. Warmer temperatures in spring may lead to snowmelt and this can lead to the soil reaching field capacity quickly. Further meltwater will therefore run over the surface. © Tutor2u Limited 2016 www.tutor2u.net Topic: Drainage basins as open systems 3.1.1.2 Runoff, hydrographs & changes in the water cycle over time Storm conditions Intense storms with heavy rainfall can lead to soils quickly becoming saturated.
    [Show full text]
  • Louisiana's Waterways
    Section22 Lagniappe Louisiana’s The Gulf Intracoastal Waterways Waterway is part of the larger Intracoastal Waterway, which stretches some three As you read, look for: thousand miles along the • Louisiana’s major rivers and lakes, and U.S. Atlantic coast from • vocabulary terms navigable and bayou. Boston, Massachusetts, to Key West, Florida, and Louisiana’s waterways define its geography. Water is not only the dominant fea- along the Gulf of Mexico ture of Louisiana’s environment, but it has shaped the state’s physical landscape. coast from Apalachee Bay, in northwest Florida, to Brownsville, Texas, on the Rio Grande. Right: The Native Americans called the Ouachita River “the river of sparkling silver water.” Terrain: Physical features of an area of land 40 Chapter 2 Louisiana’s Geography: Rivers and Regions The largest body of water affecting Louisiana is the Gulf of Mexico. The Map 5 Mississippi River ends its long journey in the Gulf’s warm waters. The changing Mississippi River has formed the terrain of the state. Louisiana’s Louisiana has almost 5,000 miles of navigable rivers, bayous, creeks, and Rivers and Lakes canals. (Navigable means the water is deep enough for safe travel by boat.) One waterway is part of a protected water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Map Skill: In what direction Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway extends more than 1,100 miles does the Calcasieu River from Florida’s Panhandle to Brownsville, Texas. This system of rivers, bays, and flow? manmade canals provides a safe channel for ships, fishing boats, and pleasure craft.
    [Show full text]
  • River Network Rearrangements in Amazonia Shake Biogeography and Civil Security
    Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 10 September 2018 doi:10.20944/preprints201809.0168.v1 River Network Rearrangements in Amazonia Shake Biogeography and Civil Security Authors K Ruokolainen1,2*, G Massaine Moulatlet2,3, G Zuquim2, C Hoorn3,4, H Tuomisto2 Affiliations 1 Department of Geography and Geology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland. 2 Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland. 3 Universidad Regional Amazónica IKIAM, km 7 Via Muyuna, Parroquia Muyuna, Tena, Napo, Ecuador. 4 Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 94248, 1090 GE Amsterdam, The Netherlands. *Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] Key words: avulsion, civil defence, dispersal barrier, flood, Rio Madeira, rain forest, species distribution Abstract The scene for regional biogeography and human settlements in Central Amazonia is set by the river network, which presumably consolidated in the Pliocene. However, we present geomorphological and sediment chronological data showing that the river network has been anything but stable. Even during the last 50 kyr, the tributary relationships have repeatedly changed for four major rivers, together corresponding to one third of the discharge of the Amazon. The latest major river capture event converted the Japurá from a tributary of the Rio Negro to a tributary of the Amazon only 1000 years ago. Such broad-scale lability implies that rivers cannot have been as efficient biogeographical dispersal barriers as has generally been assumed, but that their effects on human societies can have been even more profound. Climate change and deforestation scenarios predict increasing water levels during peak floods, which will likely increase the risk of future river avulsions.
    [Show full text]
  • Effects of a Shallow Flood Shoal and Friction on Hydrodynamics of A
    PUBLICATIONS Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans RESEARCH ARTICLE Effects of a shallow flood shoal and friction on hydrodynamics 10.1002/2016JC012502 of a multiple-inlet system Key Points: Mara M. Orescanin1 , Steve Elgar2 , Britt Raubenheimer2 , and Levi Gorrell2 A flood shoal can act as a tidal reflector and limit the influence of an 1Oceanography Department, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, USA, 2Applied Ocean Physics and inlet in a multiple-inlet system Engineering, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA The effects of inertia, friction, and the flood shoal can be separated with a lumped element model As an inlet lengthens, narrows, and Abstract Prior studies have shown that frictional changes owing to evolving geometry of an inlet in a shoals, the lumped element model multiple inlet-bay system can affect tidally driven circulation. Here, a step between a relatively deep inlet shows the initial dominance of the and a shallow bay also is shown to affect tidal sea-level fluctuations in a bay connected to multiple inlets. shoal is replaced by friction To examine the relative importance of friction and a step, a lumped element (parameter) model is used that includes tidal reflection from the step. The model is applied to the two-inlet system of Katama Inlet (which Correspondence to: M. M. Orescanin, connects Katama Bay on Martha’s Vineyard, MA to the Atlantic Ocean) and Edgartown Channel (which con- [email protected] nects the bay to Vineyard Sound). Consistent with observations and previous numerical simulations, the lumped element model suggests that the presence of a shallow flood shoal limits the influence of an inlet.
    [Show full text]
  • Where Rivers Meet the Sea
    A C T I V I T Y 1 Where Rivers Meet the Sea Estuary Principle Estuaries are interconnected with the world Ocean and with major systems and This curriculum was developed and produced for: cycles on Earth. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and The National Estuarine Research Question Research Reserve System (NERRS) What are estuaries? 1305 East West Highway NORM/5, 10th Floor Silver Spring, MD 20910 Introduction www.estuaries.noaa.gov Financial support for the Estuaries Did you know that estuaries are interconnected with the world-ocean and major 101 Middle School Curriculum was systems on Earth? provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration via Estuaries are places where the planet's major environments of land, ocean, rivers, grant NA06NOS4690196, administered through the Alabama and the atmosphere come together. Estuaries are found all-over the planet, mostly Department of Conservation and in the form of salt water marshes and mangrove swamps. Estuaries, no matter Natural Resources, State Lands where they are located on Earth, have shared characteristics. They all have a Division, Coastal Section and Weeks Bay National Estuarine semi-enclosed body of water that has a free connection to the open sea, and fresh Research Reserve. Support was water derived from land drainage. The North American shoreline is ringed with also provided by the Baldwin estuaries. County Board of Education. There are twenty-eight estuarine reserve sites in the United States that make up a system of estuaries stewarded by NOAA's National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS). These reserves are located in 22 of the 35 U.S coastal states from Alaska to Puerto Rico, including the Great Lakes Basin, and protect over 1.3 million acres of coastal land and waters.
    [Show full text]
  • Drainagebasin Characteristics
    350 TRANSACTIONS, AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION DRAINAGE-BASIN CHARACTERISTICS Robert E. Horton Factors descriptive of a drainage-basin as related to its hydrology may be classi­ fied broadly as s (1) Morphologic—These factors depend only on the topography of the land forms of which the drainage-basin is composed and on the form and extent of the stream-system or drainage-net within It. (2) Soil factors—This group includes factors descriptive of the materials form­ ing the groundwork of the drainage-basin, including all those physical properties in­ volved in the moisture-relations of soils. (3) Geologic-structural factors—These factors relate to the depths and charac­ teristics of the underlying rocks and the nature of the geologic structures in so far as they are related to ground-water conditions or otherwise to the hydrology of the drainage-basin. (4) Vegetational factors—These are factors which depend wholly or in part on the vegetation, natural or cultivated, growing within the drainage-basin. (5) Climatic-hydrologic factors--Climatic factors include: Temperature, humid­ ity, rainfall, and evaporation, but as humidity, rainfall, and evaporation may also be considered as hydrologic, the two groups of factors have been combined. Hydrologic factors relate specially to conditions dependent on the operation of the hydrologic cycle, particularly with reference to runoff and ground-water. One of the central problems of hydrology is the correlation of the hydrologic characteristics of a drainage-basin with its morphology, soils, and vegetation. The problem is obviously complex. In some cases, as, for example, with reference to geologic structure, it is obviously difficult, if not impossible, to express the characteristics of the drainage-basin in simple, numerical terms.
    [Show full text]
  • Landforms and Waterways Archipelago: an Archipelago Is a Cluster Or Chain of Islands in the Ocean, Such As the Galapagos Or the Hawaiian Islands
    Landforms and Waterways Archipelago: An Archipelago is a cluster or chain of islands in the ocean, such as the Galapagos or the Hawaiian Islands. Atoll: An atoll is a reef, which forms a ring of small islands on a coral base that surrounds a lagoon of water in an ocean. There are many atolls in the Indo-Pacific. Bay: A bay is a body of water formed by an indentation of land, but still connected to the main body of water (ocean or lake) and is smaller that a gulf, but larger than a cove. Beach: A beach runs along coastlines, lakes or rivers and is made up of sand, pebbles or rocks. Bluff: A bluff is a high, steep bank or cliff. Butte: A butte is a hill, with steep sides and a flat top that is standing out on its own. Canyon: A canyon is a deep slice of land that runs between two steep cliff walls, often carved over time by a river. Cape: A cape is a spit of land that extends out into the ocean or other bodies of water (i.e. Cape Cod) Cave: A cave is a naturally formed hollow underground. Channel: A channel is a deeper section of a river that is sought after by boats for passage or a narrow body of water that connects two large bodies of water. Cliff: A cliff is a vertical rock wall. Col: A col is the lowest point between two peaks. Continent: A continent is one of seven large landmasses on earth: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.
    [Show full text]
  • The Development of International Water Resources : the "Drainage Basin Approach"
    THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL WATER RESOURCES : THE "DRAINAGE BASIN APPROACH" C. B. BOURNE* Vancouver With the growth of modern technology, states sharing a drainage basin could affect each other far more seriously than ever before by the utilization of its waters in their territories. This fact has inevitably influenced the evolution of legal rules for solving inter- national water conflicts. As the interdependence of co-basin states became clearer, the inadequacy of the old theories, particularly the theory of territorial sovereignty that a state may do as it pleases with the water in its territory without any legal responsi- bility for the injury it may inflict on neighbouring states, was recognized. A new theory that would take account of this inter- dependence was therefore sought, and soon the notions of com- munity and of good neighbourship were being advocated as the proper foundation for the rules of international water law. An early manifestation of this new theory was an emphasis on the drainage basin. Before long the basin was being spoken of as a unit which should form the basis for planning the develop ment of international water resources. This emphasis is under- standable. For the effects of a work on an international river in one state are usually more noticeable in co-basin states within the drainage basin than outside it, even though its effects outside the basin may in fact be serious. It is one thing, however, to assert that international law, recognizing the interdependence of co-basin states, imposes an obligation on them to take heed of the injury their utilizations of water may inflict on each other; it is another to claim that inter- *C.
    [Show full text]