Characterizing Sub-Daily Flow Regimes: Implications of Hydrologic Resolution on Ecohydrology Studies

Bevelhimer, Mark S.; McManamay, Ryan A.; O'Connor, B.

doi:10.1002/rra.2781

Title: Characterizing Sub-Daily Flow Regimes: Implications of Hydrologic Resolution on Ecohydrology Studies

Journal Article · Mon May 26 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · River Research and Applications

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.2781· OSTI ID:1263830

Bevelhimer, Mark S. ^[1]; McManamay, Ryan A. ^[1]; O'Connor, B. ^[2]

Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Environmental Sciences Div.
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Environmental Sciences Div.

Natural variability in flow is a primary factor controlling geomorphic and ecological processes in riverine ecosystems. Within the hydropower industry, there is growing pressure from environmental groups and natural resource managers to change reservoir releases from daily peaking to run-of-river operations on the basis of the assumption that downstream biological communities will improve under a more natural flow regime. In this paper, we discuss the importance of assessing sub-daily flows for understanding the physical and ecological dynamics within river systems. We present a variety of metrics for characterizing sub-daily flow variation and use these metrics to evaluate general trends among streams affected by peaking hydroelectric projects, run-of-river projects and streams that are largely unaffected by flow altering activities. Univariate and multivariate techniques were used to assess similarity among different stream types on the basis of these sub-daily metrics. For comparison, similar analyses were performed using analogous metrics calculated with mean daily flow values. Our results confirm that sub-daily flow metrics reveal variation among and within streams that are not captured by daily flow statistics. Using sub-daily flow statistics, we were able to quantify the degree of difference between unaltered and peaking streams and the amount of similarity between unaltered and run-of-river streams. The sub-daily statistics were largely uncorrelated with daily statistics of similar scope. Furthermore, on short temporal scales, sub-daily statistics reveal the relatively constant nature of unaltered streamreaches and the highly variable nature of hydropower-affected streams, whereas daily statistics show just the opposite over longer temporal scales.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

DOE Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1263830

Journal Information:: River Research and Applications, Vol. 31, Issue 7; ISSN 1535-1459

Publisher:: Wiley

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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