What is bankfull stage in hydrology?

Bankfull Stage – an established gage height at a given location along a river or stream, above which a rise in water surface will cause the river or stream to overflow the lowest natural stream bank somewhere in the corresponding reach.

What is a Bankfull bench?

Bankfull Bench: a flat area adjacent to the stream at bankfull elevation, either naturally occurring or constructed to create an area for flows above bankfull to spread out and dissipate energy.

What is a reference reach?

The reference reach is a river segment that represents a stable channel within a particular valley morphology. The reference reach is used to develop natural channel design criteria based upon measured morphological relations associated with the bankfull stage for a specific stable stream type.

How do you calculate Bankfull flow rate?

The resulting equations are: bankfull discharge = 45.3 (drainage area)0.856; bankfull channel width = 13.5 (drainage area)0.449; bankfull channel depth = 0.801 (drainage area)0.373; bankfull channel cross- sectional area = 10.8 (drainage area)0.823.

What are bankfull conditions?

Bankfull: The water level, or stage, at which a stream, river or lake is at the top of its banks and any further rise would result in water moving into the flood plain. When groundwater provides the entire flow of a stream, baseflow conditions are said to exist.

What is Bankfull width?

“Bankfull width” means: • For streams – the measurement of the lateral extent of the water surface elevation. perpendicular to the channel at bankfull depth. In cases where multiple channels exist, bankfull width is the sum of the individual channel widths along the cross section.

What are regional curves?

A regional curve is a regression of these rela- tions and provides estimated channel dimensions and streamflow for the bankfull channel when drainage area is known. USGS streamflow-measurement stations provide a source of readily available and reliable information from which regional curves can be developed.

Does stream restoration work?

Researchers with the Appalachian Laboratory of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science found that restored streams generally do achieve more stable banks and channels, so they’re dumping less sediment into the water.

How long does stream restoration take?

New research has found that the number of plant species growing just next to restored streams can take up to 25 years to increase above those channelized during the timber floating era.

How is Bankfull width measured?

In cases where multiple channels exist, such as around a small island, bankfull width is the sum of the individual channel widths along the cross section. Bankfull depth is the average distance from the channel bed to the estimated water surface elevation at bankfull flow.