California Rivers and Streams: The Conflict Between Fluvial Process and Land UseCalifornia Rivers and Streams provides a clear and informative overview of the physical and biological processes that shape California's rivers and watersheds. Jeffrey Mount introduces relevant basic principles of hydrology and geomorphology and applies them to an understanding of the differences in character of the state's many rivers. He then builds on this foundation by evaluating the impact on waterways of different land use practices—logging, mining, agriculture, flood control, urbanization, and water supply development. Water may be one of California's most valuable resources, but it is far from being one we control. In spite of channels, levees, lines and dams, the state's rivers still frequently flood, with devastating results. Almost all the rivers in California are dammed or diverted; with the booming population, there will be pressure for more intervention. Mount argues that Californians know little about how their rivers work and, more importantly, how and why land-use practices impact rivers. The forceful reconfiguration and redistribution of the rivers has already brought the state to a critical crossroads. California Rivers and Streams forces us to reevaluate our use of the state's rivers and offers a foundation for participating in the heated debates about their future. |
Contents
Grade and Equilibrium | 9 |
Summary | 15 |
Sediment Entrainment Transport | 38 |
The Shape of a River | 63 |
Introduction | 71 |
Summary | 80 |
Why Rivers Run All Year | 86 |
Snowmelt Runoff | 94 |
Summary | 159 |
Tectonics and Geology of Californias Rivers | 175 |
The Last 200 Years | 189 |
Mining and the Rivers of California | 202 |
Logging Californias Watersheds | 227 |
Food Production and the Rivers of California | 246 |
How Much and How Often? | 267 |
The Urbanization of Californias Rivers | 287 |
Sediment Supply | 101 |
River Network and Profile | 121 |
Climate and the Rivers of California | 145 |
The Damming of Californias Rivers | 313 |
Changing Climate Changing Rivers | 337 |
CONVERSIONS AND EQUIVALENTS | 351 |
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Common terms and phrases
100-year flood 100-year floodplain aggradation amount areas associated bank bankfull basin bedload bedrock boundary braided braided rivers California California's rivers Central Valley changes chap climate coarse coast Creek dams debris decrease delta deposition downstream drainage engineering erosion flood control floodplain gradient gravel grazing habitat Horton overland flow hydraulic mining hydrograph Hydrologic impacts incision increase infiltration capacity intense knickpoint land lead levees lithosphere logging mass movements material meander mountain North occur overall overland flow Pacific Pacific Plate peak discharges plate point bar precipitation processes produce rainfall region reservoirs riparian river channels river system rivers of California rocks runoff Sacramento River salmon San Joaquin scouring sediment load sediment supply sediment yields shear stress Sierra Nevada slope snowpack soil state's rivers storms stream power subduction surface surface runoff tectonic tion transport typically U.S. Geological Survey upstream urban variables vegetation velocity water quality Water Resources watershed zone