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W.L. Haushild

Publications and source records attributed to W.L. Haushild.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2010

Determination of Columbia River flow times from Pasco, Washington using radioactive tracers introduced by the Hanford reactors

Radioactive tracers introduced into the Columbia River in cooling water from the Hanford reactors were used to measure flow times downstream from Pasco, Washington, as far as Astoria, Oregon. The use of two tracer methods was investigated. One method used the decay of a steady release of Na 24 (15-hour half-life) to determine flow times to various downstream locations, and flow times were also determined from the time required for peak concentration of instantaneous releases of I 131 (8-day half-life) to reach these locations. Flow times determined from the simultaneous use of the two methods agreed closely. The measured flow times for the 224 miles from Pasco to Vancouver, Washington, ranged from 14.6 to 3.6 days, respectively, for discharges of 108,000 and 630,000 ft 3 /sec at Vancouver, Washington. A graphic relation for estimating flow times at discharges other than those measured and for several locations between Pasco and Vancouver was prepared from the data of tests made at four river discharges. Some limited data are also presented on the characteristics of dispersion of I 131 in the Columbia River.

Oregon, Washington↗
USGS2010

Accumulation of radionuclides in bed sediments of the Columbia River between Hanford reactors and McNary Dam

Amounts of radionuclides from the Hanford reactors contained in bed sediments of the Columbia River were estimated by two methods: (1) from data on radionuclide concentration for the bed sediments between the reactors and McNary Dam, and (2) from data on radionuclide discharge for river stations at Pasco, Washington, and Umatilla, Oregon. Umatilla is 3.2 kilometers below McNary Dam. Accumulations of radionuclides in the Pasco to Umatilla reach estimated by the two methods agree within about 8%. In October 1965 approximately 16,000 curies of gamma emitting radionuclides were resident in bed sediments of the river between the Hanford reactors and McNary Dam. Concentrations and accumulations of chromium-51, zinc-65, cobalt-60, manganese-54, and scandium-46 generally are much higher near McNary Dam than they are in the vicinity of the reactors. These changes are caused by an increase downstream from the reactors in the proportion of the bed sediment that is fine grained and the proportions of the transported zinc, cobalt, manganese, and scandium radionuclides associated with sediment particles.

Oregon, Washington↗
USGS1979

Estimation of floods of various frequencies for the small ephemeral streams in eastern Washington

Equations were developed to estimate the magnitude of floods for various occurrence frequencies at ungaged sites on ephemeral streams that drain small, relatively undeveloped basins in the semiarid part of eastern Washington. The equations were developed from regression analyses that used the logarithms of the longitude indexes of gaged sites, forest cover, and drainage areas of the upstream basins as independent variables and the logarithms of the discharges for selected exceedance-probabilities at the gaged sites were used as dependent variables. These equations may be used to estimate floodflows with probabilities of being exceeded in any year of 50, 20, 10, 4, 2, and 1 percent in natural-flow ephemeral streams that drain relatively undeveloped basins with areas and forest covers less than about 40 square miles and 30 percent, respectively. The standard errors of estimate for the equations range from 57 to 100 percent. Equations that use longitude index as a surrogate for a precipitation index more accurately estimate floods than do equations that use mean annual precipitation, which, in turn, are better than the equations that use the 24-hour precipitation with an exceedance probability of 50 percent. (Kosco-USGS)

Washington↗
USGS1978

Evaluation and design of a streamflow-data network in Washington

A method of evaluating the transferability of streamflow information by regional regression analysis was applied in Washington to several streamflow variables. The annual mean and annual standard deviation were chosen to represent the development potential of the water resource, while the mean, standard deviation, and the 50-year recurrence interval of the annual flood series were chosen to represent flood potential. Low-flow characteristics were not used because of the inability to model them by regression analysis. Ephemeral streams in the vicinity of the Columbia Plateau were ignored for the same reason. The results of the study indicate that the standard errors of estimate of the regression relations were good approximations of the medians of the Bayesian distributions of estimates of inaccuracy and that for the streamflow variables used in the study, little if any improvement can be expected in the regression relations by the collection of additional streamflow data. Improved transferability of streamflow information for these variables has a prerequisite of more accurate information-transfer models. It is therefore recommended that the future streamflow-data network contain only those streamflow stations needed to provide data for (1) the design or operation of water-resources projects, (2) the investigation and study of water resources, and (3) monitoring long-term trends in streamflow.

Washington↗
USGS1977

Low-flow characteristics of streams on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington

Streams in lowland basins of the Olympic Peninsula, Washington, generally have their low flows in summer and peak flows in winter, whereas streams originating at higher elevations in the mountains have their low flows in late summer-early fall and they have both winter and spring peak flows. Data from long-term stations indicate no important trend in low flows during 1940-73 but they do indicate that low flows generally were lower during the relatively dry 1940 's than during the relatively wet 1950-73 period. The magnitude and frequency of 7-day low flows were estimated for 116 sites either from frequency analyses of a data at long-term stations or from correlation of data at a short-term station with data at an appropriate long-term station. (Woodard-USGS)

Open-File Report↗
USGS1976

Modeling coliform-bacteria concentrations and pH in the salt-wedge reach of the Duwamish River Estuary, King County, Washington

Total- and fecal-coliform bacteria, plus pH, alkalinity, and dissolved inorganic carbon are water-quality parameters that have been added to an existing numerical model of water quality in the salt-wedge reach of the Duwamish River estuary. The coliform bacteria are modeled using a first-order decay (death) rate, which is a function of the local salinity, temperature, and daily solar radiation. The pH is computed by solving a set of chemical-equilibrium equations for carbonate-bicarbonate buffered aqueous solutions. Concentrations of total- and fecal-coliform bacteria computed by the model for the Duwamish River estuary during June-September 1971 generally agreed with observed concentrations within about 40 and 60 percent, respectively. The computed pH generally agreed with observed pH within about a 0.2 pH unit; however, for one 3-week period the computed pH was about a 0.4 unit lower than the observed pH.

Washington↗
USGS1976

Numerical model of the salt-wedge reach of the Duwamish River estuary, King County, Washington

A numerical model of a salt-wedge estuary developed by Fischer (1974) has been expanded and used to calculate the distributions of salinity, temperature, chlorophyll a concentration, biochemical oxygen demand, and dissolved-oxygen concentration in the Duwamish River estuary, King County, Wash. The model was used to predict the dissolved-oxygen concentrations in the Duwamish River estuary when the Renton Treatment Plant sewage-effluent discharge is increased to its proposed maximum of 223 cubic feet per second. The computed monthly average dissolved-oxygen concentrations in the estuary decreased by a maximum of 2 milligrams per liter when compared with computations for the summer of 1971, when the effluent discharge averaged 37 cubic feet per second. The increase in effluent discharge is not expected to cause large changes in phytoplankton concentrations in the estuary. (Woodard-USGS)

Professional Paper↗
USGS1975

Numerical model of the salt-wedge reach of the Duwamish River estuary, King County, Washington

A numerical model of a salt-wedge estuary developed by Fischer has been expanded and used to calculate the distributions of salinity, temperature, chlorophyll a concentrations, biochemical oxygen demand, and dissolved-oxygen concentrations in the Duwamish River estuary, King County, Wash. With this model, which was calibrated and verified with observed data, computed temperatures usually agreed within 2° Celsius of observed temperatures. During a phytoplankton bloom in the summer of 1968 the computed chlorophyll a concentrations increased and decreased with the observed concentrations; however, during two blooms in 1967 the computed high concentrations persisted farther downstream and lasted a few days longer than the observed concentrations. The computed and observed dissolved-oxygen concentrations usually agreed within 2 milligrams per litre, except during phytoplankton blooms. During the blooms, the differences were often larger, especially when the computed chlorophyll a concentrations were larger than the observed concentrations. The model was used to predict the dissolved-oxygen concentrations in the Duwamish River estuary when the Renton Treatment Plant sewage-effluent discharge is increased to its proposed maximum of 223 cubic feet per second (6.31 cubic metres per second). The computed monthly average dissolved-oxygen concentrations in the estuary decreased by a maximum of 2 milligrams per litre when compared with computations for the summer of 1971, when the effluent discharge averaged 37 cubic feet per second (1.05 cubic metres per second). The increase in effluent discharge is not expected to cause large changes in phytoplankton concentrations in the estuary.

Washington↗
USGS1973

Predicted effects of proposed navigation improvements on residence time and dissolved oxygen of the salt wedge in the Duwamish River estuary, King County, Washington

A model of the circulation and quality of water in the Duwamish River estuary has been sufficiently developed to allow prediction of the effects of a proposed widening and deepening of waterways on residence time and dissolved oxygen in the estuary's salt wedge. For a low river-discharge period in August 1970, use of the model yielded an estimated residence time of wedge water to be 6.3 days in the present waterways estuary and 8.6 days in the wider and deeper proposed-waterways estuary--a 37-percent increase. June-September 1970 and for the estuary about 4 miles upstream from its mouth, the model estimates indicate that dissolved-oxygen values in the wedge of the proposed-waterways estuary would be as much as 1.4 milligrams per liter lower and would average 0.4 milligram per liter lower than (average difference significant at 95-percent confidence level) dissolved-oxygen values in the wedge of the present-waterways estuary. Extrapolation to low dissolved-oxygen values of a regression between the predicted dissolved oxygen for both the proposed and present-waterways estuaries suggests that 4 miles upstream of the estuary mouth oxygen would be completely depleted from the proposed-waterways estuary wedge whereas there still would be 0.2 milligram of oxygen per liter of water in the wedge of the present-waterways estuary.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1971

Radionuclides in transport in the Columbia River from Pasco to Vancouver, Washington

The radionuclide discharges in the cooling-water effluent of the reactors on the U.S. Atomic Energy Reservation at Hanford, Wash., were formed by neutron activation of: (1) impurities in the Columbia River water used to cool the reactors, (2) corrosion products from the reactor components, and (3) chemicals used in the water-treatment process. Until all the eight reactors that were cooled by once-through flow were shut down, their cooling-water effluents were the main source of dissolved and particulate radionuclides in the Columbia River. Concentrations and discharges of 13 dissolved and particulate radionuclides were observed at Pasco and Vancouver, Wash., for all or parts of the period from January 1964 to September 1966, and at Umatilla, Oreg., from May 1965 to September 1966.

Washington↗