Streamflow gain/loss in the Republican River Basin, Nebraska, October 1998

This arc and point data set contains streamflow-measurement sites and reaches indicating streamflow gain or loss under base-flow conditions along the Republican River and tributaries in Nebraska during October 25 to 28, 1998 (Boohar, 2000). The streamflow measurements were made to obtain data on ground-water/surface-water interaction. Flow was observed visually to be zero, was measured, or was estimated at 374 sites. The measurements were made on the main stem of the Republican River and all flowing tributaries that enter the Republican River between Swanson and Harlan County Reservoirs in the Nebraska part of the Republican River Basin. Tributaries were followed upstream until the first road crossing where zero flow was encountered. Measurements also included estimates of average wastewater discharge during the period when the flow measurements were made, based upon data obtained from towns having measureable wastewater discharge. For selected streams, points of zero flow upstream of the first zero flow site also were checked.

Streamflow gain or loss for each stream reach was calculated by subtracting the streamflow values measured at the upstream end of the reach and values for contributing tributaries from the downstream value. The data obtained reflected base-flow conditions suitable for estimating streamflow gains and losses for stream reaches between sites. However, due to fluctuations in streamflow on the main stem of the Republican River above Swanson Reservoir during the measurement period, flow measurements on the main stem could not be used for calculating reach gains and losses. Flows measured on tributaries to the Republican River above Swanson Reservoir were of suitable quality to use for streamflow gain/loss calculations. Flows on Sappa Creek did not reflect base-flow conditions and thus were not suitable for investigating ground-water/surface-water interaction.

This digital data set was created by manually plotting locations of streamflow measurements. These points were used to designate stream-reach segments to calculate gain/loss per river mile Reach segments were created by manually splitting the lines from a 1:250,000 hydrography data set (Soenksen and others, 1999) at every location where the streams were measured. Each stream-reach segment between streamflow-measurement sites was assigned a unique reach number. All other lines in the hydrography data set without reach numbers were omitted.

This data set was created to archive the calculated streamflow gains and losses of streams in the Republican River Basin, Nebraska, in October 1998, and make the data available for use with geographic information systems (GIS).

If measurement sites are used separately from reaches, the maximum scale of 1:100,000 should not be exceeded. When used in conjunction with the reach segments, the maximum scale should not exceed 1:250,000.