Comparison of Tracer-Dilution and Current-Meter Discharge Measurements in A Small Gravel-Bed Stream, Little Lost Man Creek, California
Comparison of Tracer-Dilution and Current-Meter Discharge Measurements in A Small Gravel-Bed Stream, Little Lost Man Creek, California
Comparison of Tracer-Dilution and Current-Meter Discharge Measurements in A Small Gravel-Bed Stream, Little Lost Man Creek, California
U. S
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT. . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
FIELD SITE
EXPERIMENT
10
10
DISCUSSION
16
CONCLUSION
18
REFERENCES
19
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure 1.
A map of the study ,reach.. . .......... . ........
~ . . .. . ... ..
Figure 3.
Chloride concentration curve at Site "224m" . . .
11
Figure 4.
Discharge from current-meter measurements. .. . .
12
Figure 5.
Longitudinal variation in discharge .... ... ....
14
Figure 6.
Discharge from three tracers .. . . . . . . .. . .... .. .
15
Figure 7.
Summary of discharge at Site "330m" ..... . . . ...
17
Figure 2.
Ion tracer 1imits ....... . ..........
iii
" _..
. . '- --
--
' . --
- - - - - --
._---- - - - -
'.
indicated that as much as 25 percent of the channel discharge may have been
flowing as underflow through gravel zones in the channel.
Current-meter
Furthermore,
discharge can vary both diurnally and longitudinally over relatively short
reaches.
On the seventh
day, a second injection of sodium, chloride, and rhodamine WT dye was made for
24 hours, 305 meters below the first injection, and was sampled 25 meters
downstream.
__
....
_ - -
The average discharge of 17.4 Lis calculated from the tracer that
traveled 300 meters was greater than the average of 15.9 Lis calculated for
the tracer that traveled 25 meters.
The second
FIELD SITE
2
(3.6 mi ) and is at elevations between 24 and 695 meters above
The study reach was 330 meters long, located in the lower
clay and silt in the streambed permitting considerable water flow through the
gravel (Bencala and others, 1984).
bed in and beside the stream, two of which extended a meter below the stream
bottom, none reached the lower limit of the gravel deposit, indicating that
the gravel sediments, in these locations, were at least one meter thick.
precipitation occurred during the study period.
No
Background concentrations of
sodium and chloride just above the study reach were each approximately 6 mg/L.
Figure 1 is a map of the study reach.
injection (Site 1-2m") and at 20, 52, 99, 137, and 224 meters below the
injection.
EXPERIMENT
The primary tracer was a solution of lithium chloride pumped into the
stream continuously beginning at 2: 30 p . m. PDT on August 15, 1984 and ending
at 10 : 00 a.m. on August 23.
170.1 gi L.
the filling of a 50-mL volumetric flask, averaged 37.29 .32 (1 sd) mL/min.
On the seventh day of the eight-day injection, a secondary injection of
sodium, chloride, and rhodamine WT was made for 24 hours, starting at 11:02
a.m. on August 21, 305 meters below the primary injection.
This secondary
injection was intended for comparison with discharge calculations made from
the primary injection.
1983), however in this study the dye was used over a short mixing r each.
On August 14 , 21 , and 28, personnel of the U.S. Geological Survey field
office in Eureka, California, measured discharge with a current meter
following routine procedures (Buchanan and Somers, 1969).
Two measurements
were made on each date at each site usually three to four hours apart.
Samples collected for chloride and sodium analy sis were filtered through
a 0.45
~m
Samples for rhodamine WT analysis were collected in glass bottles and kept in
darkness until analyzed on August 25, 1984.
Samples were analyzed for chloride using a Dionex ion chromatograph
Model 10 fluorometer.
stream in as few as 62 meters (Bencala and others, 1984) , it was not measured
in this experiment.
--------- -
--
For this
the tracer by all of the water with which the tracer has mixed between the
injection point and the sample point.
A conservative
tracer neither gains nor loses mass by any chemical or physical action within
the study reach.
(C - C )
i
a
(C - C )
b
a
where:
Qb
Qi
Injectant discharge
C.
C
a
C
b
l.
1000
0
\\
UJ
C/)
a:
UJ
a..
C/)
a:
UJ
:::J
Na-CI
\\
750
\\
'\
'\
\\
500
'\
'\
~.
'\
'\
', ..........
~Li-CI
UJ
(9
a:
250
"" -----
".
..........
.....
--
""
CI-LI
............
~--.
C/)
..
-- ..
--- - - -=-=--===-..:.:=::.:.=:="
DURATION, IN DAYS
Figure 2.
Limits on the use of ionic tracers assuming an
injection rate of 1 Llmin, maximum tank capacity of 1400 L, a
$500 budget restriction and a tracer increase equivalent to 5
mglL of chloride. Different analytical sensitivities have been
taken into account. The notation Cl-Li indicates the tracer is
chloride from the salt LiCI. The pump rate is exceeded for GI
as NaGI at discharges above 750 Lis.
In typical streams,
***
an element that is
characterized by its existence in ionic form, and one that is stable with
respect to chemical reactions that greatly influence the behavior of many
other common elements."
There
1985).
The usefulness of anion tracers is limited by background concentrations
and stream size.
Precision decreases as
storage tanks limited to about 1,400 L, then anion tracers become impractical
3
in streams with flows greater than 600 L/s (50 ft /s) especially for
injections of 24 hours or longer.
are not practical and where adsorption by stream sediments and organic
materials is minimized.
micrograms per liter; Smart and Laidlaw (1977) reported a minimum detection
level of 0.013 ~g/L in distilled water on a Turner Model 111 fluorometer.
Portable battery-powered fluorometers can be used to measure fluorescence in
the field.
Discharge measurements were made on Little Lost Man Creek using routine
U.S. Geological Survey methods (Buchanan and Somers, 1969).
A Price pygmy
meter, which is more suitable for shallow streams than the standard Price type
AA current meter, was used to measure stream velocities.
modified at four locations by removing large cobbles from the stream channel,
creating a short reach of uniform width and relatively even flowing water.
measuring tape was secured across the channel of 1 to 2 meters width, and the
depth and average water velocity were measured at 17 to 25 vertical sections
across the width of the channel.
COMPARISON OF METHODS
was increasing
plateau indicated that there was a considerable volume of water in the stream
channel that was not in immediate contact with the visible surface stream.
Once plateau was reached, the concentration curve showed a slow steady
increase, as would be expected during a period of no precipitation.
The averages of each pair of current-meter discharge measurements are
plotted against downstream distance in figure 4.
in discharge with time and a variation along the length of the stream.
An
estimate of the precision of the current-meter method was made by pooling all
of the 11 sets of two measurements from the three times the stream was
measured.
This estimate assumes that the stream discharge did not change
10
- - - - -- - - - -
cr:
UJ
14
::J
cr:
UJ
8 I
6
I-
10
c..
cr:
Z
0
..-- -
.,-
f-
2
0
Chloride
Site 224m
f--
14
f-
Z
0
~ 4 f--
.. - .. -
I
cr:
zUJ
(!J
.....J
,.
-
12
(f)
16
20
18
22
24
AUGUST
Figure 3.
A plot of the chloride concentration at Site
"224m" . The concentration rises soon after the start of the
injection at 2:30 pm, August 15 and continues to rise reaching
a "plateau" about two days later.
11
20 ,---------,----------,---------,----------,
Aug. 14
15
()
(fJ
oc
Aug. 28
ill
a..
(fJ
oc
w
f- 10
:J
c:>
oc
<{
()
(fJ
(5
o ~--------~--------~--------~--------~
o
100
200
300
DISTANCE DOWNSTREAM, IN METERS
400
- .. - - - - .... - _._--_._--_.
The
The longitudinal
from tracer dilution were clearly greater than those from current-meter
measurements at each of the four sites.
Samples from the secondary injection of August 21/22, collected at "Site
330m", were analyzed for sodium, chloride, and rhodamine WT.
Discharge was
calculated from each hourly sample and the corresponding background sample
from site "300m".
chloride, lS.88 O.SO Lis for sodium, and lS.78 0.S7 Lis for rhodamine WT.
The precision values are one standard deviation and assume that no change in
discharge occurred during the 24-hour injection.
shown in figure 6 along with the discharge values from the two current-meter
measurements which averaged 13.0 Lis.
meter discharge values are less than the tracer-dilution discharge values.
The agreement between the three sets of tracer-discharge calculations
indicates that the analytical techniques used were precise.
All three
tracers would have had the same hydraulic behavior, so to the extent that
mixing was not complete, each tracer would have been equally affected.
13
- . - - _.-
- - --
- --
- - -- - - -
._- -
. -- -- - - - -- - -
---
- - - _.- _.
_ _._-
- - -------
, - - - - - --
20
Chloride dilution~
+ + +
0
-t-
15
0
0
ill
(f)
a:
Current meter /
ill
CL
(f)
a:
ill
f-
::::i
10 -
ill
(')
a:
S2
5 I-
OL-____~I------~I------~I~----~
100
200
300
400
14
- - - _.
_ . _ - --
20
0
0
w
(/)
a:
15 I-
+$~~~~~~1~~&~t~~~~~~~Ob.
n..
(/)
a:
w
I- 10 f
:::i
ui
CJ
a:
<{
I
0
51
Chloride
Sodium
Rhodamine
b. Current meter
(/)
0
0
0600
1200
1800
0000
0600
AUGUST 22
AUGUST 21
1200
Figure 6.
Discharge for 24 hours, near "Site 330m", as
calculated from the three tracers of the secondary injection on
August 21/22.
Squares, plus signs, and diamonds represent
discharge by dilution of
Cl,
Na,
and
rhodamine
WT,
respectively.
The triangles represent the two current-meter
discharge measurements.
15
the reaction was fast and reached equilibrium within 13 minutes before the
first sample was collected.
The
average of these values, 17 . 40 O.lS Lis, along with the averages from figure
6, are shown in figure 7 .
DISCUSSION
The discharges calculated from the averages of the three methods are 13.0
Lis for the current-meter measurements, 15.9 Lis for tracer dilution over 25
meters, and 17.4 Lis for tracer dilution over 300 meters.
great enough, when compared with their respective standard deviations of 1.0,
0.46, and 0.15 Lis, to indicate actual differences in discharge.
The explanation may be that there is enough water flowing through the
coarse gravel deposits in the stream channel to account for the differences in
discharge measurements.
times wider than the surface stream during the low flow season and at least
one meter thick in some locations, might carry as much as 25 percent of the
total channel flow (4 Lis).
zone but moves from the gravel zone into the surface stream in some reaches
and from the stream into the gravel zone in other reaches.
distances greater mixing occurs.
meters would have some opportunity to mix with underflow water, and the tracer
traveling 300 meters would have the greatest opportunity to mix with underflow
water.
16
..
-- ._-_._ - - - - - - - - - -
20
~---------------------------------,
300
25m
o
() 15 f------
ill
(/)
a:
ill
0..
a:
ill
I
:::::i 101---
Z
ill
(9
a:
f------
0"---
CL
Na
CI
Dilution method
Rh
Current
meter
method
Figure 7.
Summary of measurement of discharge near Site
"330m" by three methods.
First, by chloride dilution over 300
meters of reach; second, by dilution of sodium, chloride, and
rhodamine WT over 25 meters of reach; and third, by current
meter method.
17
CONCLUSION
It has long been known that water occupies inter-gravel spaces in steam
channels and presumably moves down the channel as underflow.
In some systems,
Furthermore,
dilution and current-meter methods result indifferent values, but the tracer
dilution method seems to produce different results when used over different
stream lengths.
18
-- - ----- ---
---- ----- - -- -- -- -- - -
REFERENCES
Bencala,
V.
R.
J.,
1984,
C.,
Zellweger ,
G.
W.,
Jackman,
A.
P.,
and
of
cation
and
anion
transport
in
Bencala,
K.
1985,
E.,
Experimental
and
Performance
simulation
of
sodium
as
transport
tracer-
Buchanan,
T.
stations:
J.,
U.S.
and
Geological
Survey,
Techniques
of
Water-Resources
continental
water--A
review:
U.
S.
Janda,
R.
1975,
and
Redwood
U.S.
Division,
American
high-gradient
streams :
Journal
of
the
1519-1539.
Kennedy,
lead
chloride,
strontium,
potassium
19
~ ..
u.s.
tracers:
D.,
Geological
1985,
Survey,
Measurement
of
Techniques
of
discharge
using
Water-Resources
Investigations,
Book 3, Chapter A16, 52 p .
,
Kondolf,
G.
Examples
Marchand,
J.
P.,
water-surface
Jarrett,
slope,
and
bed-material
size
for
selected
streams
in
for
sediments:
determination
U.S.
Geological
of
E.,
1979,
Techniques
of
Water-Resources
some
fluorescent
dyes for water tracing: Water Resources Research, v. 13, no. 1, p. 15-33.
20
- - - - --