Towards a Stream Classification System for the Canadian Prairie Provinces

CWRA-CGU National Conference, Banff, Alberta

June 5-8, 2012

Greg MacCulloch and Paul Whitfield

Page 2 –

Introduction

1. A step toward the goal of establishing a classification system for streams that is based on observed variability in flowrates.

2. To gain insight into anticipated stream response that will aid in:– Improved design and operation of hydrometric networks – The prediction of streamflow response at ungauged or

poorly gauged locations.

Page 3 –

Data Set

• Sites on the Canadian Prairies south of 54o N

• Reference Hydrometric Basin Network (RHBN) (Brimley et al., 1999).

The sites that populate this network where chosen to be:– characterized by pristine or stable hydrological conditions, – unaffected by developments within the basin, – and having good quality data for at least 20 years.– continuous record– “having less than 10% of the surface area of the basin modified

in some fashion”– “basins with structures controlling less than 5% of the area of a

basin”– 27 sites met the criteria

Page 4 –

Parameters Reviewed

• Average Annual Yield (mm)

• Range in Annual Yield (mm)

• Ratio Range to Average

• Duration of Peak Yield

• Proportion daily Q to

Annual Total Q:Q>= 0.05%

Q> 1% Annual

Q > 2% Annual

• Proportion of record with completely dry years

• Average March to October zero flow days

• Last Quartile Ratios (monthly)– Avg May to October

– Range May to October

– Non Zero Minimum

– Maximum monthly

Page 5 –

Avg Annual Yield (mm)

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500

Gross Drainage Area (km2)

Ba

sin

Yie

ld (

mm

)

A

B

C

Page 6 –

Avg Annual Yield (mm)

1

10

100

1000

1 10 100 1000 10000

Gross Drainage Area (km2)

Ba

sin

Yie

ld (

mm

)

A

B

C

Page 7 –

Avg Annual Yield (mm)

1

10

100

1000

1 10 100 1000 10000

Gross Drainage Area (km2)

Ba

sin

Yie

ld (

mm

)

A

B

C

Page 8 –

Average Annual Discharge as a Fuction of Gross Drainage Area

y = 20.396x0.8479

R2 = 0.8303

y = 21.282x1.2548

R2 = 0.5842

y = 470.8x1.0448

R2 = 0.9555

1

10

100

1000

10000

100000

1000000

10000000

1 10 100 1000 10000

Gross Drainage Area (km2)

Av

erag

e A

nn

ua

l Dis

char

ge

(dam

3)

A

B

C

Page 9 –

A basic classification for streams on the Canadian Prairies should be separated into two broad categories:

1. Native Prairie Streams: streams that respond to localized water sources i.e., precipitation and snowmelt, proportionally throughout the basin and can be dry from time to time.

2. Exotic Prairie Streams: Streamflow is predominately conveyed from the headwaters and these streams do not experience dry conditions. They respond to localized water sources disproportionally throughout the basin.

Page 10 –

Mass Curve of Seasonal Runoff (mm)

y = 530x

R2 = 0.9984

y = 508x

R2 = 0.9984

y = 521x

R2 = 0.9991

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Year of Record

Ac

cum

ula

tin

g R

un

off

(m

m)

Accumulated Runoff (mm) Early Record Late Record

05BB001 - BOW RIVER AT BANFFPeriod of record: 1909-5-25 to 2010-

12-31

Page 11 –

Mass Curve of Seasonal Runoff (mm)

y = 8.19x

R2 = 0.9393

y = 6.96x

R2 = 0.8528

y = 8.18x

R2 = 0.9734

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Year of Record

Ac

cum

ula

tin

g R

un

off

(m

m)_

Accumulated Runoff (mm) Early Record Late Record

05NF002 - ANTLER RIVER NEAR MELITALongest Contiguous Period of Record: 1943-2009

Page 12 –

Page 13 –

05NF002 - ANTLER RIVER NEAR MELITA

0

50

100

150

200

Oct Nov Jan Feb Apr Jun Jul Sep

Th

ou

san

ds

Day of Water Year (Oct-Sep)

Ac

cum

ula

tin

g D

aily

Flo

w V

olu

me

-(D

am3)

Daily Range Average Jan Feb Apr Sep Oct

Water Year Accumulating Daily Flow Volumes

Longest Contiguous Period of Record: 1943-2009

Spring Intersect: 30-Mar

Fall Intersect: 12-May

Note 1: No Data for November 1 through January 31

Note 2: Peak Water Year 1975 begins Oct 1975 and ends Sep 1976. Summer of 1976 was and extremely high flow year. This year (Oct 75-Sep 76) shown in red is such a high outlier for the period of record that it matches the range line.

Page 14 –

Monthly Quartiles

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Th

ou

san

ds

Month

Mo

nth

ly F

low

(d

am3)

Q4

Q3

Q2

Q1

Q0

05BB001 - BOW RIVER AT BANFFPeriod of record: 1909-5-25 to 2010-12-31

Page 15 –

Monthly Quartiles

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Th

ou

san

ds

Month

Mo

nth

ly F

low

(d

am3)

Q4

Q3

Q2

Q1

Q0

05NF002 - ANTLER RIVER NEAR MELITAPeriod of record: 1935-9-1 to 2009-10-31

Page 16 – 33455678888

26273539404251

9495106108112

133140

515540

627698

800808

207209216

876

179174

686969717575

605754

154150147146

846

344344

455

0 250 500 750 1000

05FB002 - IRON CREEK NEAR HARDISTY05HE001 - SNAKEBITE CREEK NEAR BEECHY

05HC005 - ANTELOPE CREEK NEAR CABRI05NF002 - ANTLER RIVER NEAR MELITA

05NF010 - ANTLER RIVER NEAR WAUCHOPE05NF006 - LIGHTNING CREEK NEAR CARNDUFF

05BM014 - WEST ARROWWOOD CREEK NEAR ARROWWOOD05MG004 - OAK RIVER NEAR RIVERS

11AB075 - LYONS CREEK AT INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY05JB004 - NOTUKEU CREEK ABOVE ADMIRAL RESERVOIR

11AA026 - SAGE CREEK AT Q RANCH NEAR WILDHORSE06AB002 - WOLF RIVER AT OUTLET OF WOLF LAKE

05HA003 - BEAR CREEK NEAR PIAPOT05LJ019 - MINK CREEK NEAR ETHELBERT

05OF014 - SHANNON CREEK NEAR MORRIS05LH005 - WATERHEN RIVER NEAR WATERHEN

05LE011 - MALONECK CREEK NEAR PELLY07JC001 - LAFOND CREEK NEAR RED EARTH CREEK

05OF017 - SOUTH TOBACCO CREEK NEAR MIAMI07OB003 - HAY RIVER NEAR MEANDER RIVER

06CD002 - CHURCHILL RIVER ABOVE OTTER RAPIDS07AH002 - CHRISTMAS CREEK NEAR BLUE RIDGE

05SA002 - BROKENHEAD RIVER NEAR BEAUSEJOUR11AB117 - BATTLE CREEK AT ALBERTA BOUNDARY

05LD003 - OVERFLOWING RIVER NEAR HUDSON BAY05LD001 - OVERFLOWING RIVER AT OVERFLOWING RIVER

05LL027 - PELICAN CREEK SOUTH TRIBUTARY NEAR BIRNIE05LJ005 - OCHRE RIVER AT OCHRE RIVER

07KE001 - BIRCH RIVER BELOW ALICE CREEK07CD001 - CLEARWATER RIVER AT DRAPER

05DE007 - ROSE CREEK NEAR ALDER FLATS05TD001 - GRASS RIVER ABOVE STANDING STONE FALLS

07GG001 - WASKAHIGAN RIVER NEAR THE MOUTH06BD001 - HAULTAIN RIVER ABOVE NORBERT RIVER

05KJ014 - PASQUIA RIVER AT HIGHWAY NO. 907DD002 - RICHARDSON RIVER NEAR THE MOUTH

05TG002 - TAYLOR RIVER NEAR THOMPSON05LG004 - NORTH DUCK RIVER AT COWAN

06DA004 - GEIKIE RIVER BELOW WHEELER RIVER07LE002 - FOND DU LAC RIVER AT OUTLET OF BLACK LAKE

05UH002 - WEIR RIVER ABOVE THE MOUTH06GD001 - SEAL RIVER BELOW GREAT ISLAND

06FB002 - LITTLE BEAVER RIVER NEAR THE MOUTH05AA008 - CROWSNEST RIVER AT FRANK

05BL022 - CATARACT CREEK NEAR FORESTRY ROAD05BA002 - PIPESTONE RIVER NEAR LAKE LOUISE

07AA001 - MIETTE RIVER NEAR JASPER05BB001 - BOW RIVER AT BANFF

05DA010 - SILVERHORN CREEK NEAR THE MOUTH07AA002 - ATHABASCA RIVER NEAR JASPER

05AD005 - BELLY RIVER NEAR MOUNTAIN VIEW05DA007 - MISTAYA RIVER NEAR SASKATCHEWAN

05AD003 - WATERTON RIVER NEAR WATERTON PARK05DA009 - NORTH SASKATCHEWAN RIVER AT WHIRLPOOL

Mean Annual Runoff (mm)

A

B

C

Page 17 –

Stream TypeStation Number Station name

Gross Drainage

Area (km2)

Avg Annual Yield (mm)

Range in Annual Yield (mm)

Ratio Range to Average

Avg Number Days/yr with flow

>2.0% of

annual total

% zero flow for 244 day season

Maximum Monthly Last Quartile Ratio

A 05AD003 WATERTON RIVER NEAR WATERTON PARK 613 913 977 1.1 1 0% 2

A 05DA009 NORTH SASKATCHEWAN RIVER AT WHIRLPOOL POINT 1920 864 381 0.4 0 0% 2

A 05AD005 BELLY RIVER NEAR MOUNTAIN VIEW 319 849 903 1.1 1 0% 3

A 05DA007 MISTAYA RIVER NEAR SASKATCHEWAN CROSSING 248 801 286 0.4 0 0% 2

A 07AA002 ATHABASCA RIVER NEAR JASPER 3870 694 342 0.5 0 0% 3

A 05DA010 SILVERHORN CREEK NEAR THE MOUTH 21 635 488 0.8 3 0% 2

C 05BM014 WEST ARROWWOOD CREEK NEAR ARROWWOOD 777 9 40 4.4 10 24% 77

C 05NF006 LIGHTNING CREEK NEAR CARNDUFF 748 8 68 8.5 6 48% 922

C 05NF002 ANTLER RIVER NEAR MELITA 3220 7 58 8.3 11 42% 95

C 05HC005 ANTELOPE CREEK NEAR CABRI 244 5 29 5.8 7 87% 511

C 05FB002 IRON CREEK NEAR HARDISTY 3500 4 30 7.5 11 5% 78

C 05HE001 SNAKEBITE CREEK NEAR BEECHY 861 4 14 3.5 10 42% 386

Page 18 –

Conclusions

• It is likely that there are distinct classes of streams.

• Stream Characteristics can be distinguished from HYDAT data set– Average Annual Yield (mm) 6 vs. 800

– Ratio of Range in Yield to Average 6 vs. 1

– Average number of days per year with flow >2% 6 vs. 1

– Maximum Monthly LQR 500 vs. 2

• A reference network is a very important asset and needs to be maintained.

• A review of operation of the existing Prairie RHBN is warranted.