SEASONAL METEOROLOGICAL EFFECTS UPON STREAMFLOW IN NORTHERN UTAH

Abstract

Abstract A watershed's seasonal streamflow fluctuations are caused by meteorological conditions as they are modified by the watershed's inherent characteristics such as size, shape, aspect, geology, and plant cover. Records from Halfway Creek watershed, a perennial tributary to Farmington Creek located on the Wasatch Mountains in northern Utah, show that winter streamflow comprises only a small portion of the total annual yield. The winter contribution, which is low but constant, originates as drainage from deep aquifers. A much greater portion of the water yield comes in the spring as seepage flow derived from melting snow and spring rains, although the highest instantaneous spring peak so far recorded is only 24 csm (cubic feet per second per square mile). Initial recession of the flow of Halfway Creek from its spring peak is rapid, but in a short time its decrease becomes so gradual that in late summer the hydrograph becomes an almost flat line. The summer recession ends when climatic conditions in the...