Colorado River eddy-deposited sandbars from high-flow experiment

The USGS has released three publications in recent days, on the results of the 2008 high-flow experiment at Glen Canyon dam,    The latest one looks at the temporary sandbars and related features created along the Colorado River.  Another looked at the impacts on rainbow trout and a third examined impacts on macroinvertebrates.

The study focused on habitat created by the sandbars and backwater areas, concluding that "steady flows are associated with a greater amount of continuously available backwater habitat than fluctuating flows, which result in a greater amount of intermittently available habitat."



Grams, P.E., Schmidt, J.C., and Andersen, M.E., 2010, 2008 high-flow experiment at Glen Canyon Dam; morphologic response of eddy-deposited sandbars and associated aquatic backwater habitats along the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2010-1032, 73 p.