Geomorphic Reconnaissance and GIS Development Yellowstone River, Montana Springdale to the Missouri River Confluence FINAL REPORT 53 53 Qal W 54 D11 54 D11 Tftr Qal Qal Qat River Pattern Geology 53 53 54 D11 54 D11 Vegetation Land Ownership Prepared for: Custer County Conservation District 3120 Valley Drive East Miles City, MT 59301 April 13, 2004 Prepared by: Applied Geomorphology, Inc. DTM Consulting, Inc. 211 N. Grand Ave. Bozeman, MT 59715 Applied Geomorphology, Inc. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. YELLOWSTONE RIVER CUMULATIVE EFFECTS INVESTIGATION ................................................... 1 1.2. PURPOSE OF THE GEOMORPHIC RECONNAISSANCE ...................................................................... 1 1.3. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................................. 2 2. PHYSICAL SETTING ....................................................................................................................... 3 2.1. REGIONAL GEOLOGIC HISTORY ................................................................................................... 3 2.2. BEDROCK GEOLOGY .................................................................................................................... 4 2.2.1. Mapped Bedrock Grade Controls........................................................................................... 5 2.3. QUATERNARY TERRACES............................................................................................................. 7 2.4. MAJOR TRIBUTARIES ................................................................................................................... 7 2.5. RIVER MORPHOLOGY................................................................................................................... 8 2.6. PRIMARY HUMAN INFLUENCES AFFECTING STREAM BEHAVIOR ............................................... 11 2.6.1. Bighorn River Dams ............................................................................................................. 11 2.6.2. River Engineering Works...................................................................................................... 11 3. GIS DEVELOPMENT ..................................................................................................................... 13 3.1. BASELINE DATA COMPILATION AND DOCUMENTATION............................................................. 13 3.2. RIVER CORRIDOR DELINEATION ................................................................................................ 16 3.3. STREAM STATIONING: RIVER MILES AND VALLEY MILES ........................................................ 17 3.4. LAND OWNERSHIP...................................................................................................................... 20 4. REGIONAL GEOMORPHIC ZONES........................................................................................... 21 4.1. UPPER ZONE: REGION A............................................................................................................ 21 4.2. TRANSITION ZONE: REGION B................................................................................................... 22 4.3. PLAINS ZONE: REGION C........................................................................................................... 22 4.4. PLAINS ZONE: REGION D........................................................................................................... 22 4.5. REGIONAL TRENDS IN RIVER GEOMORPHOLOGY......................................................................... 24 4.5.1. Valley Width ......................................................................................................................... 24 4.5.2. Channel Slope....................................................................................................................... 29 4.5.3. Sinuosity ............................................................................................................................... 30 4.5.4. Bank Protection Extent......................................................................................................... 30 5. REACH DELINEATION AND CLASSIFICATION.................................................................... 33 5.1. ESTABLISHED STREAM CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS .................................................................... 33 5.1.1. Form-Based Channel Classification..................................................................................... 33 5.1.2. Process-Based Channel Classification................................................................................. 35 5.2. PREVIOUS APPROACHES TO YELLOWSTONE RIVER CLASSIFICATION......................................... 36 5.3. CLASSIFICATION BASIS FOR THE MIDDLE AND LOWER YELLOWSTONE RIVER .......................... 38 5.3.1. Stream Pattern (Planform) ................................................................................................... 38 5.3.2. Confinement.......................................................................................................................... 39 5.4. REACH DELINEATION RESULTS.................................................................................................. 40 5.5. REACH CLASSIFICATION RESULTS ............................................................................................. 42 5.6. REACH TYPE EXAMPLES ............................................................................................................ 49 5.6.1. Reach A9: Unconfined Anabranching ................................................................................. 49 5.6.2. Reach A12: Partially Confined Braided............................................................................... 50 5.6.3. Reach B4: Partially Confined Straight................................................................................ 50 5.6.4. Reach B7: Unconfined Braided ............................................................................................ 51 5.6.5. Reach B10: Partially Confined Meandering ........................................................................ 51 5.6.6. Reach C12: Partially Confined Meandering/Islands........................................................... 53 5.6.7. Reach D1: Confined Meandering........................................................................................ 53 5.6.8. Reach D12: Partially Confined Anabranching.................................................................... 54 5.6.9. Reach D16: Unconfined Straight/Islands ............................................................................ 54 i 5.7. PRIORITY REACH SELECTION ..................................................................................................... 56 6. AERIAL IMAGERY ASSESSMENT............................................................................................. 63 6.1. IMAGERY SOURCES .................................................................................................................... 63 6.2. AVAILABILITY............................................................................................................................ 63 7. REFERENCES CITED.................................................................................................................... 67 APPENDIX A: DELINEATION OF YELLOWSTONE RIVER CORRIDOR BOUNDARIES........ 71 A.1. CORRIDOR DELINEATION BASED ON GEOLOGIC MAPPING AND TOPOGRAPHY ................................. 71 A.2. CORRIDOR DELINEATION BASED ON INUNDATION MODEL............................................................... 71 A.3. CORRIDOR ASSESSMENT METHODS .................................................................................................. 72 A.4. CORRIDOR ESTIMATION/CALIBRATION IN MAPPED AREAS .............................................................. 73 A.5. EXTENSION OF INUNDATION MODELS TO UNMAPPED AREAS ........................................................... 74 APPENDIX B: GIS-DERIVED SUMMARIES FOR 3 MILE VALLEY SEGMENTS....................... 75 APPENDIX C: GIS-DERIVED SUMMARIES OF GEOMORPHIC PARAMETERS BY REACH 91 APPENDIX D: GIS-DERIVED SUMMARIES OF PHYSICAL FEATURES BY REACH............... 97 APPENDIX E: AERIAL IMAGERY INVENTORY ............................................................................ 103 E.1. IMAGERY SOURCES ......................................................................................................................... 103 E.2. AVAILABILITY................................................................................................................................. 103 E.3. COSTS ............................................................................................................................................. 105 E.4. RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................ 107 E.5. RECOMMENDED STEPS .................................................................................................................... 108 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2-1. Physiographic regions of the Missouri River watershed (Project WET) __________________ 3 Figure 2-2. Generalized geologic map of the Middle and Lower Yellowstone River Basin ____________ 6 Figure 3-1. Middle and Lower Yellowstone River map showing stationing and LIDAR corridor