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Research about Clear Creek

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Clear Creek.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2024

An integrated analysis for estimation of survival, growth, and movement of unmarked juvenile anadromous fish

Managers invest substantial resources to promote recovery of declining anadromous fish stocks. Recovery strategies are manifold and often include management actions intended to stimulate somatic growth, increase in-river survival, and motivate juvenile outmigration during favorable environmental conditions. Evaluating the efficacy of these management actions is difficult, however, because monitoring data that explicitly track individuals from egg deposition to juvenile outmigration are typically lacking. We developed an integrated population model that links two different and often collected types of anadromous fish monitoring data: spawning ground surveys and rotary screw trap juvenile catch data. The integrated model accounts for incomplete detection and uses the two sources of data to estimate juvenile demographic parameters in a multistate framework. We evaluated the model's performance using simulated data under a range of conditions typically encountered in similar surveys. Simulation results indicated that the model estimated juvenile survival, growth, and movement with no-to-minimal bias (i.e., ≥ 50 % of simulations ± 0–0.05). As an example case study, we fit the model to empirical fall-run Chinook Salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ) monitoring data collected in California's Central Valley, U.S.A. In doing so, we evaluated the influence of environmental conditions (e.g., discharge, water temperature) and habitat availability on juvenile demographic rates. We demonstrated that through our integrated approach we could estimate state transition probabilities that are typically inestimable for naturally produced, unmarked juvenile fish when using traditional statistical approaches to analyze these types of monitoring data. Furthermore, the structure of our model can serve as a useful foundation for decision-support models within adaptive management programs by directly linking management actions, decision-support-model predictions, and monitoring.

California↗
USGS2018

Discharge, sediment, and water chemistry in Clear Creek, western Nevada, water years 2013–16

Clear Creek is a small stream that drains the eastern Carson Range near Lake Tahoe, flows roughly parallel to the Highway 50 corridor, and discharges to the Carson River near Carson City, Nevada. Historical and ongoing development in the drainage basin is thought to be affecting Clear Creek and its sediment-transport characteristics. Previous studies from water years (WYs) 2004 to 2007 and from 2010 to 2012 evaluated discharge, selected water-quality parameters, and suspended-sediment concentrations, loads, and yields at three Clear Creek sampling sites. This report serves as a continuation of the data collection and analyses of the Clear Creek discharge regime and associated water-chemistry and sediment concentrations and loads during WYs 2013–16. Total annual sediment loads ranged from 870 to 5,300 tons during WYs 2004–07, from 320 to 1,770 tons during WYs 2010–12, and from 50 to 200 tons during WYs 2013–16. Ranges in annual loads during the three study periods were not significantly different; however, total loads were greater during 2004–07 than they were during 2013–16. Annual suspended-sediment loads in WYs 2013–16 showed no significant change since WYs 2010–12 at sites 1 (U.S. Geological Survey reference site 10310485; Clear Creek above Highway 50, near Spooner Summit, Nevada) or 2 (U.S. Geological Survey streamgage 10310500; Clear Creek above Highway 50, near Spooner Summit, Nevada), but significantly lower loads at site 3 (U.S. Geological Survey site 10310518; Clear Creek at Fuji Park, at Carson City, Nevada), supporting the theory of sediment deposition between sites 2 and 3 where the stream gradient becomes more gradual. Currently, a threshold discharge of about 3.3 cubic feet per second is required to mobilize streambed sediment (bedload) from site 2 in Clear Creek. Mean daily discharge was significantly lower in 2010–12 than in 2004–07 and also significantly lower in 2013–16 than in 2010–12. During this study, lower bedload, and therefore lower total sediment load in Clear Creek was primarily due to significantly lower discharge and cannot be directly attributed to sediment mitigation work in the basin. Water chemistry in Clear Creek shows that the general water type of the creek under base-flow conditions in autumn is a dilute calcium bicarbonate. During winter and spring, the chemistry shifts toward a slightly more sodium and chloride character. Though the chemical characteristics show seasonal change, the water chemistries examined as part of this investigation remain within ecological criteria as adopted by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection. There was no evidence of aqueous polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) present in Clear Creek water during this study. Concentrations of PAHs, as determined in one bed-sediment sample and multiple semi-permeable membrane device extracts, were either less than quantifiable limits of analysis or were found at similar concentrations as blank samples. In July 2014, a 250–300-acre fire burned in the Clear Creek drainage basin. One day after the fire was extinguished, a thunderstorm washed sediment into the creek. A water chemistry sample collected as part of the post-fire storm event showed that the stormwater entering the creek had increased the concentrations of ammonium and organic nitrogen, phosphorus, manganese, and potassium; a similar finding of many other studies evaluating the effects of fires in small drainage basins. Subsequent chemical analyses of Clear Creek water in August 2014 (one month later) showed that these constituents had returned to pre-fire concentrations.

Nevada↗
USGS2015

Discharge, suspended sediment, bedload, and water quality in Clear Creek, western Nevada, water years 2010-12

Clear Creek is a small stream that drains the eastern Sierra Nevada near Lake Tahoe, flows roughly parallel to the U.S. Highway 50 corridor, and discharges to the Carson River near Carson City, Nevada. Historical and ongoing development in the drainage basin is thought to be affecting Clear Creek and its sediment-transport characteristics. A baseline study from water years 2004–07 collected and evaluated data at three Clear Creek sampling sites. These data included discharge, selected water-quality parameters, and suspended-sediment concentrations, loads, and yields. This study builds on what was learned from the baseline study in water years 2004–07 and serves as a continuation of the data collection and analyses of the Clear Creek discharge regime and associated water-quality and sediment concentrations and loads during water years 2010–12. During this study, total annual sediment loads ranged from 355 tons per year in 2010 to 1,768 tons per year in 2011 and were significantly lower than the previous study (water years 2004–07). Bedload represented between 29 and 38 percent of total sediment load in water years 2010–12, and between 72 and 90 percent of the total sediment load in water years 2004–07, which indicates a decrease in bedload between study periods. Annual suspended-sediment loads in water years 2010–12 indicated no significant change from water years 2004–07. Mean daily discharge was significantly lower in water years 2010–12 than in waters years 2004–07 and may be the reason for the decrease in bedload that resulted in a lower total sediment load.

Nevada↗
USGS1999

Traveltimes along Clear Creek and selected tributaries upstream from Golden, Colorado, 1996-97

Increased traffic along mountainous stretches of Interstate Highway 70, U.S. Highway 40, and U.S. Highway 6 in Colorado has resulted in a corresponding increase in the movement of hazardous materials. The proximity of Clear Creek and its tributaries to these highways places downstream water users at risk in the event of an accidental hazardous-material release. A traveltime study was performed on two reaches of Clear Creek and two of its tributaries to provide the necessary information to allow downstream water managers to protect water supplies in the event of a hazardous-material release. The information also can be used by hazardous-materialresponse teams to intercept contaminants as they move downstream. This report summarizes the methods and findings of the traveltime study. Traveltime measurements were made using rhodamine-WT dye as a tracer in two reaches of Clear Creek and two Clear Creek tributaries in Clear Creek and Jefferson Counties, Colorado. The reaches were Clear Creek from the town of Berthoud Falls to the city limits of Golden; Clear Creek from the eastern edge of the Loveland Basin Ski Area parking lot to the town of Georgetown; the headwaters of two Clear Creek tributaries near Loveland Pass to the Loveland Valley Ski Area; and two unnamed tributaries of Hoop Creek (a tributary of Clear Creek) near Berthoud Pass to the confluence with the West Fork of Clear Creek. Measurements were made at three times of the year to obtain data from different flow conditions. Traveltime and average velocities were determined for each stream reach. During high flow, dye-cloud leading-edge traveltimes ranged from about 0.6 hour along the Loveland Pass to the Loveland Valley Ski Area drainage to about 8.8 hours between Berthoud Falls and Golden. During low flow, leading-edge traveltimes ranged from about 2.6 hours along the same drainage from Loveland Pass to about 28.6 hours between Berthoud Falls and Golden. Average velocity between the Loveland Pass sites ranged from about 1.3 miles per hour during high flow to about 0.3 mile per hour during low flow. Average velocities between Berthoud Falls and Golden ranged from about 4.4 miles per hour during high flow to about 1.3 miles per hour during low flow. A curve-fitting program was used to fit Lorentz and Gaussian distributions to the data generated from the traveltime measurements. Because discrete (not continuous) traveltime measurements were made, an estimate of the actual time of the leading edge, peak, and trailing edge needed to be determined from the sample data. The curve-fitting program provided the means to calculate the timing of events (leading edge, peak, and trailing edge) that were not precisely measured. Calculated leading-edge, peak, and trailing-edge times were used to generate a series of graphs for each study reach. Traveltime estimation tables were generated from the data for a range of Clear Creek discharges. Because of the high variability of discharge within the basin, the Lawson surface-water gage located near the center of the basin was used as the reference location. Discharge measurements for the Lawson gage are available on the Internet, which can be accessed by most hazardous-material-team dispatchers. Traveltimes determined during the individual studies were plotted against the corresponding discharge at the reference location. A curve-fitting program was used to generate a series of curves, which were used to produce traveltime estimation tables.

Colorado↗