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Historical channel changes in the lower Yuba and Feather Rivers, California; long-term effects of contrasting river-management strategies

L. Allan James, Michael B. Singer, Subhajit Ghoshal and Mary Megison
Historical channel changes in the lower Yuba and Feather Rivers, California; long-term effects of contrasting river-management strategies (in Management and restoration of fluvial systems with broad historical changes and human impacts, L. Allan James (editor), Sara L. Rathburn (editor) and G. Richard Whittecar (editor))
Special Paper - Geological Society of America (2009) 451: 57-81

Abstract

Hydraulic gold-mining tailings produced in the late nineteenth century in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California caused severe channel aggradation in the lower Feather and Yuba Rivers. Topographic and planimetric data from historical accounts, maps, topographic surveys, vertical sections, aerial photographs, and LiDAR (light detection and ranging) data reveal contrasting styles of channel change and floodplain evolution between these two rivers. For example, levee cross-channel spacings up to 4 km along the lower Yuba River contrast with spacings <2 km on the larger Feather River. More than a quarter billion cubic meters of hydraulic-mining sediment were stored along the lower Yuba River, and the wide levee spacing was intentionally maintained during design of the flood-control system to minimize delivery of sediment to navigable waters downstream. Consequently, the lower Yuba floodplain has a multi-thread high-water channel system with braiding indices >12 in some reaches. Some of the larger of these channels remain clearly visible on aerial photographs and LiDAR imagery in spite of intensive agricultural leveling. Narrow levee spacings on the Feather River were designed to encourage transport of mining sediment downstream and keep the channel clear for navigation. Levee spacings on the lower Feather River reached a minimum near the turn of the twentieth century, when floodplain widths were reduced at several constricted reaches to <250 m. Historical data indicate that the general channel location of the lower Yuba River had stabilized by the end of the nineteenth century, whereas substantial channel avulsions began later and continued into the twentieth century on the lower Feather River. The striking contrasts in channel change between the Yuba and Feather Rivers are due, at least in part, to different river-management strategies, although the Yuba River received much more sediment. Early river engineering of these channels represented the first efforts at integrated river-basin management west of the Mississippi, so the observed long-term effects are instructive. Modern river management should consider how the disturbance factors in these channels and the imprint of early river management affect the modern morphologic stability and sediment-production potential of the channel and floodplain.


ISSN: 0072-1077
EISSN: 2331-219X
Coden: GSAPAZ
Serial Title: Special Paper - Geological Society of America
Serial Volume: 451
Title: Historical channel changes in the lower Yuba and Feather Rivers, California; long-term effects of contrasting river-management strategies
Title: Management and restoration of fluvial systems with broad historical changes and human impacts
Author(s): James, L. AllanSinger, Michael B.Ghoshal, SubhajitMegison, Mary
Author(s): James, L. Allaneditor
Author(s): Rathburn, Sara L.editor
Author(s): Whittecar, G. Richardeditor
Affiliation: University of South Carolina, Geography Department, Columbia, SC, United States
Affiliation: University of South Carolina, Geography Department, Columbia, SC, United States
Pages: 57-81
Published: 2009
Text Language: English
Publisher: Geological Society of America (GSA), Boulder, CO, United States
Meeting name: 2007 GSA annual meeting
Meeting location: Denver, CO, USA, United States
Meeting date: 20071028Oct. 28-31, 2007
References: 64
Accession Number: 2009-074387
Categories: Environmental geologyGeomorphology
Document Type: Serial Conference document
Bibliographic Level: Analytic
Illustration Description: illus. incl. 3 tables, geol. sketch maps
N38°45'00" - N40°30'00", W121°45'00" - W120°00'00"
Secondary Affiliation: Colorado State University, USA, United StatesOld Dominion University, USA, United StatesUniversity of St. Andrews, GBR, United Kingdom
Country of Publication: United States
Secondary Affiliation: GeoRef, Copyright 2017, American Geosciences Institute.
Update Code: 200940
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