Channel Hydrogeomorphic Units for Kalamazoo River Reference Reaches Between Trowbridge Dam and Allegan, Michigan, 2023
Dates
Publication Date
2024
Time Period
2021-10-20
Time Period
2015-01-01
Citation
Vaughan, A.A., Fitzpatrick, F.A., Strange, J.M., Roland, C.J., and Broerman, H.M., 2023, Geomorphic Reference Reach Data for the Kalamazoo River Basin, Michigan Area of Concern (ver. 2.0, October 2024): U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P96JBHF4.
Summary
This dataset is a map of in-channel hydrogeomorphic units (HGUs) for an approximately 15 kilometer (km) reach of the Kalamazoo River between the Trowbridge Dam and Allegan, Michigan (MI). HGUs are the building blocks of the riverscape, including, for example, bars, banks, riffles, and pools. The HGUs were mapped with the automated Geomorphic Unit Tool (GUT; Bangen et al., 2017; Wheaton et al., 2015) run on a digital elevation model (DEM) comprising topographic and bathymetric data covering the channel bed, banks, and floodplain for Area 5 of the Kalamazoo River (Quantum Spatial, 2017). The DEM was created from topobathymetric aerial lidar data collected in November, 2016, combined with multibeam bathymetric data collected in May, 2017 [...]
Summary
This dataset is a map of in-channel hydrogeomorphic units (HGUs) for an approximately 15 kilometer (km) reach of the Kalamazoo River between the Trowbridge Dam and Allegan, Michigan (MI). HGUs are the building blocks of the riverscape, including, for example, bars, banks, riffles, and pools. The HGUs were mapped with the automated Geomorphic Unit Tool (GUT; Bangen et al., 2017; Wheaton et al., 2015) run on a digital elevation model (DEM) comprising topographic and bathymetric data covering the channel bed, banks, and floodplain for Area 5 of the Kalamazoo River (Quantum Spatial, 2017). The DEM was created from topobathymetric aerial lidar data collected in November, 2016, combined with multibeam bathymetric data collected in May, 2017 to fill gaps in the lidar.
This dataset was collected to characterize the geomorphology of reference reaches that are representative of minimally disturbed conditions in the Trowbridge Dam-Allegan stretch of the Kalamazoo River. The goal of the reference reach analysis is to inform river restoration designs and evaluations associated with dam removal projects by developing channel criteria that meet stakeholders' priorities for hydrologic connectivity, channel stability, and fish passage within the river/floodplain system. These mapped HGUs may be used to characterize the spatial scale, organization, and frequency of geomorphic forms in the reference reach, and thereby may be useful as a guide for the design and review of channel restoration plans. Because HGUs are formed and reworked by a specific set of processes, their identification and classification provide a basis for interpreting the origin of landforms, potential processes affecting them (erosional or depositional), and their sensitivity to and expected type of change.
