Abstract
To study the River Continuum Concept (RCC) and the Serial Discontinuity Hypothesis (SDH), I looked at temperature and discharge changes along 52 km of the Little Bear River in Cache Valley, Utah. The Little Bear River is a fourth order stream with one major reservoir, a number of irrigation diversions, and one major tributary, the East Fork of the Little Bear River. Discharge data was collected at six sites on 29 September 2012 and temperature data was collected hourly at eleven sites from 1 October to 20 October 2012. Discharge and temperature both increased as elevation declined to Hyrum Reservoir. After which point, temperature increased slightly and discharge dropped sharply for a period and then returned to similar patterns occurring above the reservoir. In addition to the data collected during our sampling efforts, a long-term temperature dataset available from the Internet was used to observe seasonal temperature changes. While seasonal temperature patterns were variable above the reservoir, the site below Hyrum Reservoir exhibited the strongest increase in temperature from winter lows to summer highs.
Recommended Citation
Pappas, Andy
(2013)
"Temperature and Discharge on a Highly Altered Stream in Utah's Cache Valley,"
Natural Resources and Environmental Issues: Vol. 18, Article 4.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/nrei/vol18/iss1/4
