Natural Resources Conservation Service

United States Department of Agriculture

Regional Hydraulic Geometry Curves

Regional Hydraulic Geometry Curves are log-log plots comparing channel dimensions (top width, mean depth, and cross-sectional area) at 'bankfull' or effective discharge (usually between the 1.1 and 1.9 year return interval) versus drainage area.

The National Water Management Center (NWMC) is working with other Federal, State, and Local agencies to develop Regional Hydraulic Geometry Curves across the country. We are organizing data by Physiographic Provinces (see map below). If you have data you would like to contribute and/or a link to a webpage you would like us to add, please contact us by clicking on the webmaster link.

Physiographic Map - Click on Image for larger version (182 KB)

Physiographic Map Reference: Fenneman, Nevin M., 1946, Physical Divisions of the United States: U.S. Geological Survey, scale 1:7,000,000.

SITES & DATA

Small Exit Sign NOTE: click on SECTION links to view regional curves or click on SITES links to view information on individual sites. (Most of the links are external.)

MAJOR DIVISION	PROVINCE	SECTION	SITES
Laurentian Upland	1. Superior Upland
Atlantic Plain	2. Continental Shelf
	3. Coastal Plain	a. Embayed Section
		b. Sea Island Section	NC State University - NC Stream Restoration Institute
			Bankfull Regional Curves for the Coastal Plain Physiographic Province of North Carolina
			USFWS- Bankfull Discharge and channel characteristics of streams in the Coastal Plain hydrologic region
		c. Floridian Section	Regional Channel Characteristics for Maintaining Natural Fluvial Geomorphology in Florida Streams
		d. East Gulf Coastal Plain
		e. Mississippi Alluvial Plain
		f. West Gulf Coastal Plain
Appalachian Highlands	4. Piedmont Province	a. Piedmont Upland	NC State University - NC Stream Restoration Institute
			USGS- Development of regional curves of bankfull-channel geometry and discharge for streams in the non-urban, Piedmont Physiographic Province, Pennsylvania and Maryland
			USFWS- Bankfull discharge characteristics of streams in the Piedmont Hydrologic Region
		b. Piedmont Lowlands	USGS- Development of regional curves of bankfull-channel geometry and discharge for streams in the non-urban, Piedmont Physiographic Province, Pennsylvania and Maryland
			USGS - Regional curve development and selection of a reference reach in the non-urban, lowland sections of the Piedmont Physiographic Province, Pennsylvania and Maryland
			USFWS- Bankfull discharge characteristics of streams in the Piedmont Hydrologic Region
	5. Blue Ridge Province	a. Northern Section	USFWS- Bankfull Discharge and channel characteristics of streams in the Allegheny Plateau and Valley and Ridge hydrologic region
	5. Blue Ridge Province	b. Southern Section	NC State University - NC Stream Restoration Institute
	6. Valley and Ridge Province	a. Tennessee Section	USGS- Regional Curves Project
		b. Middle Section	USFWS- Bankfull Discharge and channel characteristics of streams in the Allegheny Plateau and Valley and Ridge hydrologic region
		b. Middle Section	USGS - Development and Analysis of Regional Curves for Streams in the Non-Urban Valley and Ridge Physiographic Province, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia
		c. Hudson Valley Section
	7. St. Lawrence Valley	a. Champlain Section
	7. St. Lawrence Valley	b. Northern Section
	8. Appalachian Plateaus	a. Mohawk Section
		b. Catskill Section	Optimizing Catskill Mountain Regional Bankfull Discharge and Hydraulic Geometry Relationships
		c. Southern New York Section	Regionalized Equations for Bankfull-Discharge and Channel Characteristics of Streams in New York State: Hydrologic Region 5 in Central New York
		d. Allegheny Mountain Section
		e. Kanawha Section
		f. Cumberland Plateau Section
		g. Cumberland Mountain Section
	9. New England Province	a. Seaboard Lowland Section
		b. New England Upland Section	Vermont DEC Geomorphic Assessment
			Norwalk River at South Wilton, CT
			Saugatuck River Nr Redding, CT
			USGS Hydraulic Geometry Relations for Rivers in Coastal and Central Maine
		c. White Mountain Section
		d. Green Mountain Section
		e. Taconic Section
10. Adirondack Province
Interior Plains	11. Interior Low Plateaus	a. Highland Rim Section
		b. Lexington Plain
		c. Nashville Basin
	12. Central Lowland	a. Eastern lake Section
		b. Western lake Section
		c. Wisconsin Driftless Section
		d. Till Plains
		e. Dissected Till Plains
		f. Osage Plains	Development of bankfull discharge and channel geometry relationships for natural channel design in Oklahoma using a fluvial geomorphic approach
	13. Great Plains Province	a. Missouri Plateau, glaciated
		b. Missouri Plateau, unglaciated
		c. Black Hills
		d. High Plains
		e. Plains Border
		f. Colorado Piedmont
		g. Raton Section
		h. Pecos Valley
		i. Edwards Plateau
		j. Central Texas Section
Interior Highlands	14. Ozark Plateaus	a. Springfield-Salem Plateaus	Baron Fork at Eldon, OK
			Baron Fork at Dutch Mills, AR
			Flint Creek near Kansas, OK
			Flint Creek at Springtown, AR
			Flint Creek near West Siloam Springs, OK
			Spavinaw Creek Near Sycamore, OK
		b. Boston "Mountains"	Devleopment of bankfull discharge and channel geometry relationships for natural channel design in Oklahoma using a fluvial geomorphic approach
	15. Ouachita Province	a. Arkansas Valley
	15. Ouachita Province	b. Ouachita Mountains
Rocky Mountain System	16. Southern Rocky Mountains
	17. Wyoming Basin
	18. Middle Rocky Mountains
	19. Northern Rocky Mountains
Intermontane Plateaus	20. Columbia Plateaus	a. Walla Walla Plateau
		b. Blue Mountain Section
		c. Payette Section
		d. Snake River Plain
		e. Harney Section
	21. Colorado Plateaus	a. High Plateaus of Utah
		b. Uinta Basin
		c. Canyon Lands
		d. Navajo Section
		e. Grand Canyon Section
		f. Datil Section
	22. Basin and Range Province	a. Great Basin
		b. Sonoran Desert
		c. Salton Trough
		d. Mexican Highlands
		e. Sacramento Section
Pacific Mountain System	23. Cascade-Sierra Mountains	a. Northern Cascade Mountains
		b. Middle Cascade Mountains
		c. Southern Cascade Mountains
		d. Sierra Nevada
	24. Pacific Border Province	a. Puget Trough
		b. Olympic Mountains
		c. Oregon Coast Range
		d. Kiamath Mountains	Regional Hydraulic Geometry Curves of the South Umpqua Area in Southwestern Oregon
		e. California Trough
		f. California Coast Ranges
		g. Los Angeles Range
	25. Lower Californian Province

PROCEDURE INFORMATION

Within the procedure information page you will find information on site selection and site survey process used by the National Water Management Center.

GLOSSARY

The glossary page contains definitions and references for many of the terms used in geomorphology and the development of Regional Hydraulic Geometry Curves.

LINKS

Within the links page you will find links to similar web pages on regional hydraulic geometry curves and other hydrology and geomorphology pages.

External Links Disclaimer
The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the United States Department of Agriculture-NRCS of the linked web sites, or the information, products or services contained therein. Unless otherwise specified, NRCS does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. All links are provided for your convenience only, and with the intent of meeting the mission of NRCS’s web site.

Please be aware that the privacy protection provided on the nrcs.usda.gov domain does not apply to third-party sites.

Links to external websites are identified by the “Exit” symbol and are entering an external link or third-party site.

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