Simulation of Streamflow and Suspended-Sediment Concentrations and Loads in the Lower Nueces River Watershed, Downstream from Lake Corpus Christi to the Nueces Estuary, South Texas, 1958-2008

摘要

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of EngineersFort Worth District, City of Corpus Christi, Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, San Antonio River Authority, and San Antonio Water System, developed, calibrated, and tested a Hydrological Simulation ProgramFORTRAN (HSPF) watershed model to simulate streamflow and suspended-sediment concentrations and loads during 19582008 in the lower Nueces River watershed, downstream from Lake Corpus Christi to the Nueces Estuary in South Texas. Data available to simulate suspended-sediment concentrations and loads consisted of historical sediment data collected during 194282 in the study area and suspended-sediment concentration data collected periodically by the USGS during 200607 at three USGS streamflow-gaging stations, Nueces River near Mathis, Nueces River at Bluntzer, and Nueces River at Calallen. The Nueces River near Mathis station is downstream from Wesley E. Seale Dam, completed in 1958 to impound Lake Corpus Christi. Suspended-sediment data collected before and after completion of Wesley E. Seale Dam provide insights to the effects of the dam and reservoir on suspended-sediment loads transported by the lower Nueces River from downstream of the dam to the Nueces Estuary. Annual suspended-sediment loads at a site near the Nueces River at Mathis station were considerably lower, for a given annual mean discharge, after the dam was completed than before the dam was completed.