River Channel Survey Data, Redwood Creek, California, 1953-2013

Publication Date

2018-09-24

Start Date

1953

End Date

2013

Madej, M.A., Ozaki, V., Truesdell, R., Falvo, C.I.P, Enns, K.D., Bell, T.M., Everette, A.L., and Faundeen, J.F., 2018, River Channel Survey Data, Redwood Creek, California, 1953-2013: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9G0N0TN.

Type: Related Primary Publication

Under the federal Clean Water Act of 1972, many rivers in the United States have been designated as "sediment-impaired" because the level of sediment in the river impacts beneficial uses, such as cold freshwater and estuarine habitats. In northern California about 60% of the region drains to rivers and streams that are considered sediment impaired. Land use disturbances, primarily timber harvest and road construction, have caused accelerated erosion on these steep forested hillslopes and the resulting loss of soil diminishes on-site productivity. The excess sedimentation in many northern coastal rivers also results in destruction of pool habitat and spawning gravel quality and has led to several types of salmonids being listed as threatened or endangered. This effort is a rare example of long-term monitoring of channel changes due to land use disturbances and subsequent watershed restoration efforts. River channel assessment consists of evaluation of channel stability (bank erosion, scour and fill, pool formation, and channel shifting) in streams and rivers. These data sets can be used to understand future river changes and provides an excellent baseline for incorporating climate change into channel morphologic studies. Studies of river changes in other regions can use this data set to compare channel response under different climatic and geologic conditions.

ScienceBase WMS

ScienceBase WFS

• Fort Collins Science Center (FORT)
• USGS Data Release Products
• USGS Western Ecological Research Center