Bankfull /

Effective /
Dominant
Discharge

Brian Bledsoe

Department of
Civil and Environmental
Engineering
Colorado State University
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if you haven’t already
• http://www.stream.fs.fed.us/publications/videos.html
 Why do we care?
To simplify the world (and the design
process) by selecting a single, surrogate
discharge that best represents the integrated
effects of a complex series of flow events
 And…
• Consistency of reference
– Among sites and over time
• Hydrological significance
– Bankfull stage can tend to occur within a range
of recurrence intervals
• Morphological significance
– Bed load/flow measurements suggest that
bankfull flow may transport the greatest
amount of material over many years
– Point where the active channel stops and the
floodplain begins (or the breakpoint between
the processes of channel formation and
floodplain formation)
 Definitions:
• Bankfull Discharge: fills a stable alluvial channel to the
elevation of the active floodplain

• Dominant Discharge: would produce the same channel

geometry that is produced by the long-term hydrograph if
constantly maintained in an alluvial stream over a long period
of time

• Effective discharge: transports the largest percentage of the

sediment load over a period of many years. Effective
discharge is the peak of a curve obtained by multiplying the
flood frequency curve and the sediment discharge rating curve
 Looking for clues…
• Stream/river engineering is an in-exact
science at best
• Determination of bankfull stage/flow is one
of the least exact tasks, but its one of the
highest in importance
Rosgen (1996) considers
bankfull discharge
“...the single most important
parameter in Level II
classifications.”
 Data used to determine
bankfull stage

• Gauge data
• Regional curves
• Area history
• Field indicators
– Top of point/lateral bars
– Change in bank slope
– Vegetation clues
– Erosional features
 Gauge Data
• Only place you may have flow record
AND physical clues
• Observe “best” local indicators near
gauges
• Relate to local, valley, and basin scale
factors for potential extrapolation (in
conjunction with other methods)
 Regional Curves
• Regional Hydraulic Geometry Curves
– National Water Management Center (NWMC)
( http://wmc.ar.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/HHSWR/Geomorphic/ )
– Water in Environmental Planning - Dunne and Leopold

• Data Required
– Drainage area (proportional to Qbf flow)
– Other dominant controls
• Land use
• Precipitation amounts
• History
Physiographic Provinces of Regional Curves

CIVE 521 – Fall 2009

• Regional curves
showing bankfull
dimensions by
drainage area

• From NRCS - Stream

Restoration Design
National Engineering
Handbook (2007)
 Regional Curve Example
Example results
from Castro &
Jackson (2001)
Pacific NW

CIVE 521 – Fall 2009

Regional Curve Example

CIVE 521 – Fall 2009

From Lawlor (2004)
Western Montana data
 Area History
• Recent flood and/or drought history
• Area geologic history
– Glaciation
– Native vs. transported material
• Deposition / Erosion history
– Piedmont example
• Settlement  Deforestation  Urbanization
 Field indicators of Bankfull Stage
• Field indicators
– Top of point/lateral bars
– Change in bank slope
– Vegetation clues
– Erosional features
 Field Determination of Bankfull
Discharge (Rosgen, 1996)

• The presence of a floodplain at the elevation

of incipient flooding
• Elevation of the highest depositional
features
• A break in slope of the banks
• Evidence of inundation (rock staining,
exposed roots, vegetation change)
 Williams (1978)
Compared 16 different ways of determining the
bankfull discharge:
• depositional features
• cross-section morphology
• vegetation, and others

Bankfull discharge, as defined by the active

floodplain elevation (36 sites), does not have a
common recurrence interval (but does have a
mode of 1.5 years)
 Ease of measure

Easier ?

• Alluvial material • Bedrock channel

• Connected to floodplain
• Snowmelt hydrograph
• Consistent history
• Sand & gravel dominated
system
• Incised system
• Flashy hydrograph
• Boulder or clay dominated
system
• Complex history
 Effective Discharge
The effective discharge is the discharge that
transports the largest portion of the annual
sediment yield over a period of years
(Andrews, 1980)
Effective Discharge
Calculation Effective
Discharge

Discharge
 CLASS Bin Freq PROB of AVG Q PROB of SED RATE SED RATE PRODUCT
OCCUR EXCEED
(PDF) (CFS) (CDF) (CFS) (Tons/Day)
(Tons)
A B C = A*B
1 0 0 0.00 0.00 100.00 0.0000 0.00 0.00
2 24.00 14 0.04 12.00 99.96 0.0002 0.66 0.00
3 27.97 339 0.97 25.99 98.99 0.0005 2.11 0.02
max. flow 11043 4 32.60 2364 6.75 30.29 92.24 0.0006 2.66 0.18
min. flow 10 5 38.00 4637 13.25 35.30 78.99 0.0008 3.35 0.44
Q2 5724 6 44.29 4204 12.01 41.14 66.98 0.0010 4.22 0.51
Interval 0.0922148 7 51.62 3451 9.86 47.95 57.12 0.0012 5.31 0.52
8 60.16 5211 14.89 55.89 42.24 0.0015 6.69 1.00
9 70.12 3731 10.66 65.14 31.58 0.0020 8.43 0.90
10 81.72 2192 6.26 75.92 25.32 0.0025 10.62 0.66
11 95.24 1897 5.42 88.48 19.90 0.0031 13.37 0.72
12 111.01 1522 4.35 103.13 15.55 0.0039 16.84 0.73
13 129.38 1165 3.33 120.19 12.22 0.0049 21.21 0.71
14 150.79 942 2.69 140.09 9.53 0.0062 26.71 0.72
15 175.75 556 1.59 163.27 7.94 0.0078 33.64 0.53
16 204.84 511 1.46 190.30 6.48 0.0098 42.37 0.62
17 238.74 499 1.43 221.79 5.06 0.0124 53.36 0.76
18 278.25 335 0.96 258.50 4.10 0.0156 67.20 0.64
19 324.31 229 0.65 301.28 3.45 0.0196 84.63 0.55
20 377.98 153 0.44 351.14 3.01 0.0247 106.58 0.47
21 440.54 136 0.39 409.26 2.62 0.0311 134.23 0.52
22 513.45 133 0.38 477.00 2.24 0.0391 169.06 0.64
23 598.43 108 0.31 555.94 1.93 0.0493 212.92 0.66
24 697.48 64 0.18 647.95 1.75 0.0621 268.15 0.49
25 812.91 60 0.17 755.19 1.58 0.0782 337.71 0.58
26 947.45 68 0.19 880.18 1.39 0.0985 425.32 0.83
max. flow 11043 CLASS Bin Freq PROB of AVG Q PROB of SED RATE SED RATE PRODUCT
min. flow 10 OCCUR EXCEED
Q2 5724 (PDF) (CFS) (CDF) (CFS) (Tons/Day)
(Tons)
Interval 0.0922 A B C = A*B
1 0 0 0.00 0.00 100.00 0.0000 0.00 0.00
2 24.00 14 0.04 12.00 99.96 0.0002 0.66 0.00
3 27.97 339 0.97 25.99 98.99 0.0005 2.11 0.02
4 32.60 2364 6.75 30.29 92.24 0.0006 2.66 0.18
Logarithmic Bins
5 38.00 4637 13.25 35.30 78.99 0.0008 3.35 0.44
6 44.29 4204 12.01 41.14 66.98 0.0010 4.22 0.51
19 324.31 229 0.65 301.28 3.45 0.0196 84.63 0.55
20 377.98 153 0.44 351.14 3.01 0.0247 106.58 0.47
21 440.54 136 0.39 409.26 2.62 0.0311 134.23 0.52
22 513.45 133 0.38 477.00 2.24 0.0391 169.06 0.64
23 598.43 108 0.31 555.94 1.93 0.0493 212.92 0.66
24 697.48 64 0.18 647.95 1.75 0.0621 268.15 0.49
25 812.91 60 0.17 755.19 1.58 0.0782 337.71 0.58
26 947.45 68 0.19 880.18 1.39 0.0985 425.32 0.83
27 1104.26 115 0.33 1025.86 1.06 0.1240 535.66 1.76
28 1287.02 101 0.29 1195.64 0.77 0.1562 674.62 1.95
29 1500.03 63 0.18 1393.53 0.59 0.1967 849.63 1.53
30 1748.30 32 0.09 1624.17 0.50 0.2477 1070.04 0.98
31 2037.65 29 0.08 1892.98 0.41 0.3120 1347.64 1.12
32 2374.90 33 0.09 2206.27 0.32 0.3929 1697.24 1.60
33 2767.95 37 0.11 2571.43 0.21 0.4948 2137.54 2.26
34 3226.07 58 0.17 2997.01 0.05 0.6232 2692.06 4.46
35 3760.00 17 0.05 3493.03 0.00 0.7848 3390.44 1.65

35006 100 0.69854 31.70

 5000

4500
Sediment Transport Rate (tons/day) Sediment (Tons)
4000

3500
Sediment Yield (Tons)

3000

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
Discharge (cfs)
 Arithmetic Bins
Bin Freq PROB of AVG Q PROB of SED RATE SED RATE PRODUCT
max. flow 3760 OCCUR EXCEED
min. flow 24
(PDF) (CFS) (CDF) (CFS) (Tons/Day)
(Tons)
Q2 5724
A B C = A*B
Interval 186.8
1 24 14 0.0000 12.00 100 0.0000 0.00 0.00
2 210.80 32807 93.7182 117.40 6.28 0.0047 20.47 19.18
3 397.60 1175 3.3566 304.20 2.93 0.0199 85.87 2.88
4 584.40 319 0.9113 491.00 2.01 0.0409 176.59 1.61
5 771.20 114 0.3257 677.80 1.69 0.0664 286.97 0.93
6 958.00 98 0.2800 864.60 1.41 0.0958 414.03 1.16
7 1144.80 128 0.3657 1051.40 1.04 0.1287 555.87 2.03
8 1331.60 98 0.2800 1238.20 0.76 0.1646 711.11 1.99
9 1518.40 47 0.1343 1425.00 0.63 0.2034 878.69 1.18
10 1705.20 29 0.0828 1611.80 0.55 0.2449 1057.80 0.88
11 1892.00 20 0.0571 1798.60 0.49 0.2888 1247.74 0.71
12 2078.80 16 0.0457 1985.40 0.44 0.3352 1447.94 0.66
13 2265.60 18 0.0514 2172.20 0.39 0.3838 1657.92 0.85
14 2452.40 15 0.0428 2359.00 0.35 0.4345 1877.24 0.80
15 2639.20 16 0.0457 2545.80 0.30 0.4874 2105.54 0.96
16 2826.00 36 0.1028 2732.60 0.20 0.5422 2342.48 2.41
17 3012.80 24 0.0686 2919.40 0.13 0.5990 2587.76 1.77
18 3199.60 14 0.0400 3106.20 0.09 0.6577 2841.12 1.14
19 3386.40 7 0.0200 3293.00 0.07 0.7181 3102.31 0.62
20 3573.20 5 0.0143 3479.80 0.06 0.7803 3371.11 0.48
 Effective Discharge

Effective discharge is extremely sensitive to

the methods employed:
– Arithmetic (gravel) vs. logarithmic (sand)
approaches
– Number of classes for flows (# of bins)
– Selection of sediment transport relationship
– Modes of sediment transport across flows
– Overbank flows
– Availability and temporal density of flow data
 Application
Computation of effective Q provides
another piece of the puzzle
– when morphologic indicators are sparse
– in unstable systems
– in circumstances of rapidly changing land use
where significant changes in hydrology are
expected
 Take home message
• Bankfull Discharge = Field Measurement
• Dominant Discharge = Theoretical
• Effective Discharge = Computational
– Flow that moves the most sediment
– Product of Flow PDF and Sediment Transport