INFLUENCE OF STREAM CHARACTERISTICS ON BANKFULL DISCHARGE OF DRAINAGE BASINS IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS

HEATHER MCGEE Field Research in Geography: GEOG-3860. Geography Department,Trent University. Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. ABSTRACT During this study, an attempt has been made to analyze the different characteristics of drainage basins and stream bankfull discharges throughout the Rocky Mountains in western Alberta. The Gauckler-Manning Formula is used to calculate bankfull discharges of 10 streams in the Kananaskis Valley and Bow Valley regions of the Rocky Mountains. The report concludes that bankfull discharge value for a mountain stream is heavily dependent on the stream cross-sectional area that has been formed from previous flood events such as snow melt runoff. INTRODUCTION Dimensions, flow properties and other streams characteristics are a result from geology of the area and major peak flow events (Gordon et al. 2004). An equilibrium of the stream system will develop between
Figure 1. Example of typical stream bankfull width and bankfull stage/level. the stream is large enough to contain average (Environment Canada, 2012).

stream discharge and stream size, such that

discharge conditions (Williams, 1978). When the discharge exceeds the bankfull level, flooding occurs (Williams, 1978). For this study, bankfull level is defined as the maximum discharge a stream can contain before water overflows into the floodplains as shown in Figure 1. Bankfull discharges currently occur every 1.5 years (1.5-year flood), in streams that have definable bankfull levels (Gordon et al. 2004). These bankfull events are related to flash floods caused by storm events or spring snowmelt runoff. Due
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to the 1.5-year flood event frequency, perennial vegetation cannot grow within the crosssectional area at bankfull level (Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program, 2012) Due to climate change, 100-year storm events are becoming more frequent. Rain intensity has also increased from climate change, hence flash floods are becoming a major issue (Environment Canada, 2012). Determining the bankfull discharges of streams within the specific studied drainage basins can predict how intense a storm must be to cause flooding. The purpose of the research outlined in this study is to explore the relationship between bankfull discharge in mountainous streams, and the basin characteristics associated with them. The first objective of this study is to investigate the influence of slope and cross-sectional area on streams in mountainous regions by testing the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 1: Bankfull discharge increases proportionally with increasing

stream depth, width, cross-sectional area and gradient. The second objective of this research is to analyze the effects of drainage basin area on stream length and bankfull discharges. This will be achieved by testing the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 2: Bankfull discharge increases proportionally with

increasing drainage basin area and stream length. The last objective of this study is to examine the effects of stream depth and sediment particle size by testing the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 3: Sediment size will increase with depth of stream.

This experiment is necessary in order to understand the factors which affect bankfull discharge, to prepare for flood events that may affect areas used by humans.

THE STUDY STREAMS

The studied area was within the Bow Valley (Lat: 51.05 Long: -115.07) and Kananaskis Valley (Lat: 50.84 Long: -115.17) regions (Alberta Parks, 2012). Illustrated by a triangles, Figure 2 shows the location of all studied streams. Streams 1 to 4 Figure 2. Location of study streams throughout Kananaskis Valley and Bow are located throughout the Bow Valley and Valley. streams 6 to 10 are situated within the Kananaskis Valley. The criteria for selecting streams consisted of streams with identifiable prominent banks, such that if there was no fully defined bank, the stream would not be suitable for this study. Criteria that was not used during stream selection included: stream slope, stream order, stream length, drainage basin area, stream size, and whether streams were perennial, intermittent or ephemeral. Therefore, the chosen streams had a drastic array of characteristics. The valleys are located in between thrust faults in western Alberta, the bedrock of which ranges from limestone to sandstone to shale (Toop, D., et al. 2002). Bedrock is overlain by a layer of alluvial deposits from the extensive quaternary glaciation this region has undergone (Toop, D., et al. 2002).

METHODS One cross-section that was a fair representation of each stream was selected for the purpose of calculating bankfull discharge value. Required equipment for study includes: caliper, stadia rod, 30 m measuring tape, metre sticks, 10-20 pins/flags, and electric leveller with tripod.
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The process of the data collection started with determining the bankfull level of the stream, such that bankfull level points are determined on the stream banks. The width of the stream was measured using a measuring tape and pins from bankfull point to bankfull point, and depth values were taken at intervals of 10% of the width of the channel. At each interval, depth was measured up to the bankfull levelled measuring tape. Sediment particle size was measured at each interval using a caliper. The slope of the channel was measured by an upstream electronic leveller in conjunction with a downstream stadia rod, the distance between the two instruments and the height of the electronic leveller. Trigonometry was used to determine the angle of the stream gradient. Green Kenue software was used to determine stream length and drainage basin area for each stream. The equations used to analyze the data are;
i) Bankfull cross-sectional area (Ab) Ab = W*D, where W = channel width (m) and

D = average channel depth (m). An illustration of bankfull cross-sectional area is shown in Figure 3. ii) Hydraulic radius (R) R = Ab/Pb, where Ab = bankfull cross-sectional area (m2), Pb = bankfull wetted perimeter (m) and Pb =W*D2 . iii) Gauckler-Manning Formula Qb = Ab*(1.486/n)*R2/3*S 1/2, where Qb = bankfull discharge (m3s -1), Ab = bankfull cross-sectional area (m2), R = hydraulic radius (m), S = slope and n = roughness coefficient. Previous literature suggests a roughness factor of 0.040 for mountain streams with no vegetation in channels and the stream bed consisting of alluvial sediments with few boulders (Chow, 1959). Figure 3. Illustration of stream bankfull crosssectional area.

RESULTS & DISCUSSION The results obtained from the study are displayed in Table 1. The table presents data calculated by the application of equations i, ii, iii from the methods section.

Table 1. Bankfull values and parameters for 10 studied streams in the Kananaskis and Bow valleys.

Figure 4. Correlation of bankfull discharge and bankfull crosssectional area.

Figure 5. Correlation of bankfull discharge and average stream depth.

Figure 4 shows a strong positive correlation between stream cross-sectional area and bankfull discharge. This relationship reflects the results in Radecki-Pawlik (2002), such that cross-sectional area will increase with higher average bankfull discharges. The stream size will increase with increasing frequency of bankfull discharges (Gordon et al. 2004). In mountainous streams, the cross-sectional area is significantly influenced by the annual spring snowmelt runoff. During this annual significant event, bankfull discharge would take place (Radecki-Pawlik, A., 2002). Figure 5 shows a very strong positive correlation between average stream depth and bankfull discharge. This phenomenon occurs due to the same fluvial processes that was suggested for cross-sectional area morphologies. When bankfull discharge is obtained, stream velocity increases, such that stream competence and capacity increases. This causes sediments to be carried downstream, deepening the current cross-sectional area of the stream (Radecki-Pawlik,
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A., 2002).

Figure 6. Correlation of bankfull discharge and stream width.

Figure 7. Correlation of bankfull discharge and stream gradient.

Figure 6 shows a weak positive correlation between stream width and bankfull discharge. Therefore, depth is more significant then width in the development of bankfull discharge within mountainous streams. Once bankfull stage is obtained, the increasing discharge will overflow into the flood plains. Hence, stream width may not be substantially affected by bankfull discharges, since once the discharge exceeds bankfull level, it can overflow into the flood plains. The increasing stream flow does not have to widen the river to allow the increasing discharge to continue (Vianello A., et al. 2007). Figure 7 shows a negligible positive correlation between stream gradient and bankfull discharge. For any stream, including mountain streams, decreased slopes dissipate
the force of water (Vianello A., et al. 2007). Therefore, it would be expected that a stream with increased slope would have a larger force on water from gravity, causing increased bankfull discharges. Figure 7 shows that this relationship does not exist within the 10 streams sampled. Outliers could be blamed for the nonexistence of this projected relationship.

Figure 8. Correlation between drainage basin area and bankfull discharge.

Figure 9. Correlation between stream length and bankfull discharge.

Figure 8 illustrates a negative negligible correlation between drainage basin area and bankfull discharge. This relationship contradicts the results found in Wohl E. (2005).
Wohl E. (2005), which concluded that with increasing drainage basin area, the bankfull discharges of the rivers also increased. Outliers possibly have skewed the correlation, contradicting the projected results. Narrowing the stream criteria when choosing streams, such as stream width and slope could have avoided such outliers.

Figure 9 shows a very weak positive correlation between stream length and bankfull discharge. Mountainous stream characteristics include higher stream gradients, discharge increasing downstream and straight flow direction (no meanders) (RadeckiPawlik, A., 2002). Hence, with increasing stream length the bankfull discharge should increase due to the steeper gradients causing extra gravitational energy within mountainous streams. Also the longer the stream, the more tributaries merge into the stream which is known to increase their cross-sectional area, hydraulic radius and discharges (Strahler, A.N., 1957). A stronger correlation was anticipated between stream
length and bankfull discharge for the reasons previously mentioned.

Figure 10 illustrates that there is no correlation between average stream depth and the average sediment size of the bedloads in the measured streams. Velocity of the streams increase in respect to increasing stream depth (Gordon et al. 2004). Hence, stream competency increases with stream velocity and therefore stream depth. This
Figure 10. Correlation between average stream depth and average particle diameter.

phenomenon would cause smaller sediments to be carried downstream to where the competency decreases and is deposited. From these known stream processes, the size of sediments should have increased within stream depths of the 10 sampled mountainous streams. Only one sediment particle was measured per width interval of the stream; more particle measurements would have created a better sample. The appendix shows the particle diameter sizes in respect to the depth of the streams. Some streams reflect
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the notion of increasing sediment size with increasing depth, but most streams generally contradict this expected result most likely due to poor sampling (Refer to Appendix). CONCLUSIONS
1.

Bankfull discharge increases proportionally with increasing stream depth and cross-sectional area. Stream width increases slightly with increasing bankfull discharge. Stream gradient has no significant influence on bankfull discharge of the Rocky Mountain studied streams.

2. Bankfull discharge decreases with increasing drainage basin area. Stream length does not have a significant impact on bankfull discharge of the streams within the mountainous drainage basins. 3. Stream depth has absolutely no relationship to the particle size of the mountainous streams studied throughout the Kananaskis Valley and Bow Valley regions.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Peter Lafleur and John Marsh for guiding and assisting our research teams throughout the Kananaskis and Bow Valleys, Alberta. I would also like to thank Mark Skinner for his comments and suggestions on the research proposal, the GEOG-3860 class for help with field work, and my research partner Hanna North.

REFERENCES
Alberta Parks. 2012. http://www.albertaparks.ca/ Chow, V.T. 1959. Open-channel hydraulics. New York, McGraw-Hill. 680 p. Environment Canada. 2012. Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network: Wadeable Streams Field Manual.

Gordon, N.D, T.A. McMahon, B.L. Finlayson, C.J. Gippel and R.J. Nathan. 2004. Stream Hydrology: An Introduction for Ecologists. Joh Wiley & Sons Limited. England. 429 p.
Liebault, F., Clement, P., Piegay, H., Rogers, C.F., Kondolf, G.M. and Landon, N. 2002. Contemporary channel changes in the Eygues basin, southern French Prealps: the relationship of subbasin variability to watershed characteristics. Geomorphology. 45: 5366.

Radecki-Pawlik, A., 2002. Bankfull Discharge in Mountain Streams: Theory and Practice. Earth Surf. Process. Landforms. 27: 115-123.
Strahler, A.N. 1957. Quantitative analysis of watershed geomorphology. American Geophysical Union Trans. 38:913-920. Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program.2012. Bankfull: What is it and how to locate it. California Environmental Protection Agency. Toop, D.C. and N.N. de la Cruz, 2002. Hydrogeology of the Canmore Corridor and Northwestern Kananaskis Country, Alberta. Alberta Environment, Hydrogeology Section, Edmonton, Alberta. Report to Western Economic Partnership Agreement, Western Economic Diversification Canada. Vianello A, DAgostino V. 2007. Bankfull width and morphological units in an alpine stream of the dolomites (Northern Italy).Geomorphology. 83(3-4): 266-281. Williams, G. P.(1978). Bankfull discharge of rivers. Water Resources Research.14(6): 1141-1154 Wohl E., Merritt D. 2005. Prediction of mountain stream morphology. Water Resources Research. 41(8): 1-10. 9

APPENDIX Cross-sectional area with particle size for all studied streams.

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