lication No. 79-e42

F

WA-13-1010, WA-13-1020

DESCHUTES RIVER BASIN SUSPENDED

SEDIMENT TRANSPORT STUDY

A1 l e n Moore Dar re l Anderson

J u l y 1979

Washington S ta te Department o f Ecology Water and Wastewater Mon i to r ing Sec t ion

Olympia, Washington 98504

P r o j e c t Report DOE-PR-7

DESCHUTES BASIN DESCRIPTION

LS AND METHODS

Stream

Stream f l ow measurements Suspended Sedim

ream Bank Eros i

Resul ts

Sediments M o n i t o r i n g

Deschutes R i ve r a t Mouth T r i b u t a r y Cont r ibu t ions (Upper Deschutes) Stream Bank Eros ion

Page

1

TABLES

Number Page

1 T o t a l Tons of Suspended Sediment Contr ibuted by each S t a t i o n w i t h Average Dai ly Peak Flows f o r each S t a t i o n .

FIGURES

1 Locat ions of Sample S t a t i o n s and Raw Bank Areas. 2

2 Annual Peak Discharges of t h e Peschutes River S t a t i o n A (USGS Gage). Water y e a r October 1 t o September 30. 6

3 T o t a l Suspended Sediment Transpor t i n Tons v s Average Dai ly Peak Flow i n CFS (cubic f e e t per s e c o z ) November -December 1977. Regress ion Line Drawn. 9

4 Da i ly Peak Flows i n cub ic f e e t pe r second ( c f s ) f o r each S t a t i o n , November 1977.

5 Da i ly Peak Flows i n cubic f e e t per second ( c f s ) f o r each S t a t i o n , December 1977.

6 Tons of Suspended Sedfment Transported d a i l y by each S t a t i o n December 1977 . 1 3

7 Tons of Suspended Sediment Transported Dai ly by each 14 S t a t i o n December 1977.

a T u r b i d i t y i n Jackson Uni t s (JTU) f o r a l l S t a t i o n s 16 December I - 26, 1977.

i t s mouth in 1951, forming Capi to1 r salmon culturing (Percival es. Formation of the lake ling basin for sediments sediments have accumu 1 ated

en necessary to maintain depth. The onsible for maintaining the lake, operation during the 1978-79 winter.

ry few years.

I t became appare lanning of the Capitol Lake dredging mation was avai 1 able concerning the

sources of the se ake. Therefore, during 6-78, the Depa iment monitoring a t ected locations in the Desch The study included two

objectives: (1) identify sources of sediments transported by the Des- es River; and ( 2 ) determine the quantity and significance of sedi-

each of the sources identified.

Drought conditions pr vai l ed during the 1976-77 monitoring period; therefore, the data gathered was considered atypical and not repre- sentative. The project was restarted in the spring of 1977 and con- cl uded during January 1978. During this period, typical climatological conditions existed in the Deschutes River drainage. This report pre- sents and discusses the results of the 1977-78 monitoring effort .

DESCHUTES BASIN DESCRIPTION

utes River originates on Cougar Mountain (3,840 fee t ) in the ional Forest. From i t s origin, the river flows in a

s , then empties into Budd Inlet a t d (Figure 1) .

asses about 162 square mil s with the upper ly of heavily forested Ian s and fa i r ly rugged rural communities and f a r lands in the lower

lopment near e river mouth in the

ws occur in t ths with a maximum of 7,780 cfs (cubic ded on January 15, 1974. Minimum flows occur in ranged from 66 to 100 cfs. The average annual

09 c f s (U,S,G.S., 1962).

Sediment cont r ibu t ions were determined using two methods. F i r s t , sus- pended sediment t r a sported down the r i v e r was measured by water q u a l i t y moni tor ing . Second the t o t a l amount of mater ia l en ter ing the r i v e r

eroding h igh r i v e r banks wa calculated using v isua l survey tech- s i n the f i e l d .

Stream Moni tor ing

Stream monitor ing was conducted dur ing November and December 1977 when the ma jo r i t y o f t t a l annual suspended sediment i s produced i n the basin. This samp selected based on the f ind ings o f Orsborn, et al., (1975 owed t h a t Deschutes flows exceed 1000 c f s on ly e i g h t (8) percent o f the time. Between 80 and 85 percent of the annual sediment load i s t ransported dur ing t i s high-water period. Inves t iga t ions by Nelson (1971 ) and Orsborn, et aZ., (1975) showed t h a t near ly a l l o f the suspended sediment transported down the Deschutes o r i g ina tes i n the upper watershed above the Weyerhaeuser Va i l Camp. Therefore, moni tor ing s ta t ions were establ ished a t 13 s i t e s i n t h i s area:

S ta t i on Locat io

Deschutes a t Va i l i t c h e l l Creek

L i t t l e Deschutes Upper Deschutes Lewis Creek L inco ln Creek Unnamed Creek Thurston Creek Johnson Creek Huckleberry Creek F a l l Creek Reichel Creek Spurgeon Creek

The moni tor ing s t a t i o n loca t ions are shown i n Figure 1.

t r i b u t a r i e s ( L i t t l e Deschutes and M i t c h e l l Creek) were o r in tens ive moni t o ing. The continuous data from these two

s ta t i ons provided the informa i o n needed t o est imate suspended sediment cont r ibu t ions on the other i n t e r m i t t a n t l y sampled t r i b u t a r i e s . Also,

as being i n f 1 uenced by on-goi ng ing, maintenance, logging, and l o g

t ruck t r a f f i c , T t a r i e s i n the Deschutes basin t h a t would represent c bed by man's inf luence, However, there are a numbe t have been logged, sedimentation processes are s ta ogging a c t i v i t i e s are going on a t

sent, M i t che l ed as a stream representat ive of t h i s egory. I t was r three years prev iously .

Sus

11 o f t he suspended se iment samples were analyzed f o r t o t a l suspended s o l i d s (TSS) and t u r b i d i t y (NTU) a t t a1 l abo ra to r y i n Tumwater. To ta l suspended so l i d s we y the Gooch c r u c i b l e method used by U. .G.S. (Guy, 1969) a mg/l. The U.S.G.S.

hod i s compara h a t of Standard Methods (1971).

T u r b i d i t y was analyzed us ing a Hach Mode1 2100A Turb id imeter and re- corded as NTU (Neph 1 ometr ic T u r b i d i t y U n i t s ) . Continuous suspen iment curves were drawn fo r the th ree s t a t i o n s w i t h t h e automatic samplers. Th e curves a l so were used as a ids i n

t curves f o r t h ns sampled by hand

Using t he continuous stream f 1 ow and sediment concen t ra t ion curves, suspended se iment t r anspo r t e r day was ca l cu la ted f o r each o f the 12 sampling s i t e s .

Stream Bank Erosion

A rev iew o f land and a e r i a l reconnaissance data (Department o f Natura l Resources and Department o f Ecology) i nd i ca ted subs tan t i a l numbers o f high-bank eros ion ( s l i e p o t e n t i a l ) areas e x i s t a long t he Deschutes River . Two o f these were monitored. One area i s loca ted i n the upper Deschutes watershed near the Wey rhaeuser 11 20 road and the o the r along t he lower r i v e r near Bo Gravel Company (F igure 1 ) .

Using a surveyor ' s chain and Brunton Pocket T rans i t , a re ference l i n e was es tab l i shed p a r a l l e l t o t he r i v e r w i t h i n each survey area, w i t h observat ion s ta t i ons spaced every 20 f e e t along t h i s l i n e . The s lope and he igh t o f the stream bank was determined a t each s t a t i o n us ing a Sunto, PM5/360 PC c l inometer and a surveyor ' s chain. These areas were re-measured p e r i o d i c a l l y dur ing t he A p r i l 15, 1977 t o January 10, 1978 mon i to r ing pe r i od t o p rov ide i n fo rma t i on concerning the amount o f ma- t e r i a l l o s t over t ime.

RESULTS

A se r i es o f storms passed through the Deschutes watershed du r i ng t he 1977-78 w in te r , ranging from moderate t o h igh i n t e n s i t y . On December 3, the f l o w reached 4710 c f s o r about the two-year h igh f l o w (Wi l l iams, 19761, The w i n t r f lows appeared t o be f a i r l y t y p i c a l o f the Deschutes R iver when compared t o 1950-1978 d ischarge data f o r the U.S.G.S. gaging s t a t i o n a t V a i l (F igure 2 ) .

Suspended

1 o f 23,131 tons o f sedim t reached Capi e dur ing Decem- cember 19, 19 1. da ta ) . O f t h i s s (79 percent ransported dur ing t od. The mont ment discharges f a r

R iver a t Tumwater a re

Table 1. Total Tons of Suspended Sediment Contributed by each S t a t i o n wi th Average Daily Peak Flows f o r each S t a t i o n . *

S t a t i o n

Deschutes River a t Vail Mi t c h e l l Creek L i t t l e Deschutes Upper Deschutes Lewis Creek Lincoln Creek Unnamed Creek Thurston Creek Johnson Creek Huckleberry Creek Fa l l Creek Reichel Lake Creek

Suspended Sediment Transpor t (Tons) November December Total Ranking

Deschutes Mouth 18,262

Total of a l l S t a t i o n s above S t a t i o n A

Suspended Sediment a t t h e Mouth Excluding Tr ibu ta ry S t a t i o n s

Raw Bank (January 1977-78) Boe Sand and Gravel Weyerhaeuser 11 20 Road

Average Daily Peak Flow (Nov. -Dec. 197 flows ( c f s ) Ranki ng

"Ranking of S t a t i o n s According t o Tons o f Suspended Sediment and Average Daily Peak Flows. Total Suspended Sediment i n Tons a t PIouth of Deschutes River , a l l S t a t i o n s Above "A" and a t Mouth, Excluding Tr ibu ta ry S t a t i o n s , November-December 1977. Total Tons of Suspended Sediment Contributed by Two Raw Areas, January 1977-1978.

A regression da t a coll ecte means to comp (Figure 3 ) .

the other t r i

iment

FIGURE DESCHUTES R I V E R BASIN SUSPENDED SEDIMENT TRANSPORT STUDY* TOTAL .- SUSPENDED SEDIMENT TRANSPORT 1.r4 1-UiUS Vs AVERAGE DAii-'Y PEAP; FLOW

C\=S ( CIJBIC FU7.i PER SFICUNC) WUV,-- P:T :I 977 . KFGRESSIilN i...:LNE !:!YA\.IN .

i- j + +* +-)-+"r+-,* +-+-+-t+-t 4-+ i -+ 4 + t i -ti--+-+-+ ' DATE

:r 10 15 2D 25 30

. DESCHU'ES RIVER SUSPENOED SECLRENT TRANSPUN1 STUDY. DAILC Prw: FLOWS IN CJUIT rrv PER ~ E C E Y D LCF-S) FOR EACH S'A L ~ ! ~ , n ~ r . ~ 9 7 ~ .

Further i n f o r

and 7 ,

J - R E I C H R L LAKE CREEK lcaC?0

. 3ESCHUTES RIVER SUSPENDED SFDlMFN r TRANSPORT STUDY. TUNS OF SUSIJ!-NDr 11 51-DIUEN T TRANSOUR rF3 T)A [i BY i- ALL4 STATION, NU\/. 1977.

. DE56HUTES 1'43 %JSPENDED SEDIMENT TRANSPORT STUDY. TONS OF SUSPENDED SEDIMrNT TRAQSpDR'C9 ? A I \ _ Y : j 4 'ACI-I S T A l - I D N ! L C 3 7 7 .

ow the mouth of ers; 30 percent coarse A1 1 of the fine sands

ecome suspended sediment

The large raw bank area a1 ng the Boe Sand and Gravel, Inc. property (Figure 1 ) delivered an estimated 2,620 tons of material to the Des- chutes River during the survey period (Table 1 ) . Like the 1120 road river bank, the river eroded the base of the bank only during high

material entered the river through a

This process app ared to occur throughout t h year, with winds, wetting and drying, and reezing and thawing being contributing factors. Accelerated cutting, sl iding, and slumping appeared to occur during high flows. Assuming 50 percent of the Boe raw bank material became sus- pended sediment during t e high flows of November and December 1977, about 1,310 tons we t r i buted during this period. This represented some 22 percent of tal amount of sediment added to 21.6-mile section of the Deschutes between V i l and the mouth.

There are more than 1 2 erosion banks along the Deschutes River. Also, several raw banks in addition to the Boe s i t e were identified along the lower Deschutes. These do not include eroding banks less than about 15 fee t high. Thorson and Othberg (1978) identified ten major raw bank areas in about a five-mile stretch of the Upper Deschutes between Fall Creek and Deschutes Fa1 s (Figure 1) .

Turbidity Monitoring

The Deschutes mainstem a t Station A had the highest values of a l l sta- tions while the upper Deschutes (Station B ) had the lowest values. The tributaries and mainstem streambed between Stations A and D appeared to be the main factors contributing to the higher values found a t Station A. Figure 8 shows daily turbidity values for a l l stations for Decem- ber 1 through December 26, 1977.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

An estimated 3,043 tons (25 percent) of the 12,233 tons of suspended inating from the upper Deschutes basin during November and

from the tributaries monitored. The stream banks and o account for the 9,190 ton (75 percent) difference.

Another 6,029 was picked up along the lower Deschutes, nearly a l l of which appe to come from the mainstem. These results indicate that the majo of the 18,262 tons (67 percent) of suspended sediments transported t o Cap i t 1 Lake by the Deschutes River during the two-month monitoring period originated from the streambed and banks along the mainstem i t s e l f ,

A t least 1 2 large actively ero g banks are known to exis t a1 ong the river, Eleven of these documented banks are located in the upper basin.

en April 1977 to ercent of the

The effects of forest practice ave a large impact ries are considered However, as logging

pe and soil s tab i l i ty studies

contribute to sediment transport in the mainstem below.

The dominant erosio pears to be natural erosion of the mainstem banks and channel. ould be control led to a certain extent. The Federal Soil Con proposes that i f the Deschutes River were protected by rock riprap that suspended sediments entering Capitol Lake could be reduced by about 25 to 30 percent (Limeberry, 1970).

The tributaries in the upper Deschutes a l l empty into the same river, however, their flow and suspended sediment production characteristics are quite different. Mitchell Creek was considered to be the "stable" area and the Li t t le Deschutes the actively logged area. As the study progressed i t became evident that i t i s extremely d i f f i cu l t to directly compare the cause of one stream's suspended sediment output w i t h another. The large number of variables such s soil types, flow volumes, stream gradients, and associated flow speeds an exposure to storm fronts make cause-and-effect relationships almost impossible to determine, a t least for a short-term study. Causes possibly could be understood i f a specific stream were studied and one o r two conditions varied, such as a land use. I t might also be possible to definitively deternine causes of s diment i f a large sample of stream types were used.

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