Sugar Creek Watershed Study - Rough Creek

USGS Gage 07228290 - Rough Creek near Thomas, Oklahoma

On December 4, 1996, The team surveyed three cross sections around the gage location: one cross section of the main channel, which drains 10.4 square miles, approximately 217 feet downstream from county road bridge (crest stage gage is still mounted to left bridge pier, but was discontinued in 1985); the second and third cross sections were surveyed consecutively, (in a dog-leg manner) approximately 129 feet upstream from the bridge pier. The second cross section describes a tributary channel that drains 1.12 square miles, and the third cross section is of the main channel which drains 9.28 square miles. The survey party also profiled 330 feet downstream from the bridge and three hundred feet upstream from the bridge. The laser level was set up twice, both times tying back into the height of the holes in the bottom of the lower six-foot section of crest stage pipe, a 4.15 foot gage height at the holes. Bankfull indicators on the upstream cross section of the main stem tied in nicely to the bankfull indicators in the downstream cross section, indicating a continuous transition of "the bankfull line" between 9.28 and 10.4 square miles of drainage.

The USGS Gage on Rough Creek near Thomas, was in operation from 1964 to September 30, 1985. A review of the peak gage heights with peak discharges plotted against water year indicate a fairly uniform rating curve for twenty-one years. A semi-hard/resistant surface exists approximately two feet below the sand bed, which indicates a stable bed, which contributes greatly to a stable channel. The bankfull discharge of 240 cubic feet/sec (cfs) was determined by tying the downstream bankfull indicators with the upstream indicators. The bankfull stage corresponds to a gage height of 6.6 feet.

Assumptions about the Cross Section Survey

The 4.15 gage reading at the holes in the bottom cap of the lower six-foot section of crest pipe, and the 1.9 feet of air space between the bottom of the gage and the top of the sandy channel bed indicate that a approximately (~)2 foot layer of sand was resting over the gaging cross section. Later. we did verify a 20 inch layer of sand over a hard surface at the gage cross section, a 17 inch layer of sand over the same or similar hard surface in the main channel 129 feet upstream from the gage, and a 13 inch sand layer over a hard surface at the mouth of the tributary. In approximating the channel's cross sectional area during bankfull flow, no scour was assumed in the downstream cross section (10.4 square miles drainage), but 1.4 feet of scour was assumed to occur in the upstream cross section (9.28 square miles drainage),. The gage data for the bankfull stage, the slope of the bankfull water surface, and the Manning's n value for an E-type stream support the calculated cross sectional areas, it is likely that the tributary downstream has some influence of backwater at this cross section and the line of bankfull indicators support a uniform difference in bankfull cross sectional areas for 9.28 square miles and for 10.4 square miles under these assumptions.

Bankfull Characteristics

The bankfull slope (S= 0.0011 ft/ft) along this reach was determined by curve fitting a straight-line through the surveyed bankfull indicators. The downstream cross section represents 10.4 square miles of drainage. The bankfull stage at the downstream cross section is at a 6.4 foot gage height. The bankfull area was computed to be 81.5 square feet, mean depth is about 3.0 feet, and the top width of the bankfull flow is 27 feet. Width to depth ratio is 8.9 and the entrenchment ratio (width of the floodplain at twice the maximum bankfull depth to the width at bankfull depth) is 1.9. The bankfull velocity for 240 cfs is 2.9 feet/sec and Manning's roughness is n = 0.032. Applying Rosgen's Stream Classification System, the stream is an E5.

The upstream cross section represents 9.28 square miles. The bankfull stage at the upstream cross section is at a 6.7 foot gage height The bankfull area was computed to be 69 square feet, mean depth is about 3 feet, and the top width of the bankfull flow is 23 feet. Width to depth ratio is 7.8 and the entrenchment ratio is 2.3. The bankfull velocity for 210 cfs is 3.0 feet/sec and Manning's roughness is n=0.028. Applying Rosgen's Stream Classification System, the stream is also an E5.

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