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RECORD NUMBER: 19 OF 67

Main Title Equations for Estimating Bankfull Channel Geometry and Discharge for Streams in Massachusetts.
CORP Author Geological Survey, Reston, VA.; Massachusetts Dept. of Environmental Protection, Boston.; Vermont State Agency of Environmental Conservation, Montpelier.
Year Published 2013
Report Number USGS/SIR-2013-5155
Stock Number PB2014-105673
Additional Subjects Natural-stream design ; Bankfull discharge ; Bankfull channel geometry ; Restoration ; Streams ; Piedmont province ; Geometry ; Discharge(Water) ; Streamflow ; Channel flow ; Massachusetts ; Watersheds ; Runoff ; Sediment transport ; Regression analysis ; Water flow ; Regional curves
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NTIS  PB2014-105673 Some EPA libraries have a fiche copy filed under the call number shown. 07/26/2022
Collation 74p
Abstract
Regression equations were developed for estimating bankfull geometrywidth, mean depth, cross-sectional areaand discharge for streams in Massachusetts. The equations provide water-resource and conservation managers with methods for estimating bankfull characteristics at specific stream sites in Massachusetts. This information can be used for the adminstration of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Rivers Protection Act of 1996, which establishes a protected riverfront area extending from the mean annual high-water line corresponding to the elevation of bankfull discharge along each side of a perennial stream. Additionally, information on bankfull channel geometry and discharge are important to Federal, State, and local government agencies and private organizations involved in stream assessment and restoration projects. Regression equations are based on data from stream surveys at 33 sites (32 streamgages and 1 crest-stage gage operated by the U.S. Geological Survey) in and near Massachusetts. Drainage areas of the 33 sites ranged from 0.60 to 329 square miles (mi2). At 27 of the 33 sites, field data were collected and analyses were done to determine bankfull channel geometry and discharge as part of the present study. For 6 of the 33 sites, data on bankfull channel geometry and discharge were compiled from other studies done by the U.S. Geological Survey, Natural Resources Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. Similar techniques were used for field data collection and analysis for bankfull channel geometry and discharge at all 33 sites. Recurrence intervals of the bankfull discharge, which represent the frequency with which a stream fills its channel, averaged 1.53 years (median value 1.34 years) at the 33 sites. Simple regression equations were developed for bankfull width, mean depth, cross-sectional area, and discharge using drainage area, which is the most significant explanatory variable in estimating these bankfull characteristics. The use of drainage area as an explanatory variable is also the most commonly published method for estimating these bankfull characteristics.