Neosho, Spring, and Elk Rivers Bathymetry Completed

In February 2017, the Grand River Dam Authority filed to relicense the Pensacola Hydroelectric Project with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The predominant feature of the Pensacola Hydroelectric Project is Pensacola Dam, which impounds Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees (locally called Grand Lake) in northeast Oklahoma. Identification of information gaps and assessment of Project effects on stakeholders are central aspects of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission relicensing process. Some upstream stakeholders have expressed concerns about the dynamics of sedimentation and flood flows in the transition zone between major rivers and Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees. To relicense the Pensacola Hydroelectric Project with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the hydraulic models for these rivers require high-resolution bathymetric data along the river channels. In support of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission relicensing process, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Grand River Dam Authority, performed bathymetric surveys of (1) the Neosho River from the Oklahoma border to the U.S. Highway 60 bridge at Twin Bridges State Park, (2) the Spring River from the Oklahoma border to the U.S. Highway 60 bridge at Twin Bridges State Park, and (3) the Elk River from Noel, Missouri, to the Oklahoma State Highway 10 bridge near Grove, Oklahoma. The Neosho River and Spring River bathymetric surveys were performed from October 26 to December 14, 2016; the Elk River bathymetric survey was performed from February 27 to March 21, 2017. The bathymetric surveys covered a total distance of about 76 river miles and a total area of about 5 square miles. Greater than 1.4 million bathymetric-survey data points were used in the computation and interpolation of bathymetric-survey digital elevation models and derived contours at 1-foot intervals. The bathymetric-survey data may later serve as a baseline to which temporal changes in channel capacity, due to sediment accumulation and erosion, can be compared.

Hunter, S.L., Ashworth, C.E., and Smith, S.J., 2017, Bathymetric surveys of the Neosho River, Spring River, and Elk River, northeastern Oklahoma and southwestern Missouri, 2016–17: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5101, 59 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20175101 with data release at https://doi.org/10.5066/F71N7ZMS.

Neosho River, Spring River, and Elk River Bathymetric Data Viewer