Effects of channelization on sediment distribution and aquatic habitat at the mouth of Redwood Creek, northwestern California
Ricks CL. 1995. Effects of channelization on sediment distribution and aquatic habitat at the mouth of Redwood Creek, northwestern California. Pages Q1-Q17. In Nolan KM, Kelsey HM, Marron DC. Geomorphic Processes and Aquatic Habitat in the Redwood Creek Basin, Northwestern California. U.S Geological Survey. Menlo Park, CA. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Professional Paper. 1454
Aggradation and levee construction since the early 1960's have greatly changed the estuary and mouth of Redwood Creek. This article discusses these changes and their effects on the seasonal berm formation, on sediment movement in the lower river, and on important salmonid rearing habitat in the estuary and adjacent sloughs. Effects have degraded both volume and quality of aquatic habitat, important to upstream migrators as well as to juvenile salmonids. With half the estuary area filled in, flooding of adjacent pastures is common, and premature breaching of the berm to relieve this can release as much as 75 percent of the embayed water. It includes maps of the lower river (two weeks after 1964 flood, after channelization, bank positions from 1936-1967, river mouth, with heavy mineral locations), and photographs (1948, and after two major floods). Other illustrations are river profiles, coarse sediment discharge, flood discharges, age of Sitka spruce on middle island.
- Type
- Published Report Section
- Authors
- Ricks, Cynthia
- Units
- REDW
- Keywords
- berms, Ecology, Estuaries, Floods, Geomorphology, Habitats, Map, Physical Sciences, Presence (Biodiversity), Redwood Creek Basin, River Channel, Rivers, Salmonids, Sediment Transport, Streams, Taxa Links To References