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Water-Resources Investigation Report 03-4324

Characterization of Channel Substrate, and Changes in Suspended-Sediment Transport and Channel Geometry in White Sturgeon Spawning Habitat in the Kootenai River near Bonners Ferry, Idaho, Following the Closure of Libby Dam

Gary J. Barton
Abstract

The Kootenai River substrate and sediment-transport study is part of an overall effort by local, State, and Federal agencies and the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho to improve the Kootenai River white sturgeon spawning habitat. A decline in populations of white sturgeon resulted in its listing as an Endangered Species in 1994. This report describes changes in suspended-sediment transport and channel substrate in the Kootenai River near Bonners Ferry after closure of Libby Dam in 1972 and the effects of these changes on the white sturgeon spawning reaches. Historical data on streamflow and suspended sediment in the Kootenai River and tributaries were used to determine suspended-sediment transport during the pre-Libby Dam and Libby Dam eras, and sediment cores and seismic subbottom profiles of the Kootenai River bed in the study area were analyzed to describe channel substrate during each era.

View Water-Resources Investigation Report 03-4324 PDF (1.2 MB)

Suggested Citation

Barton, G.J., 2003, Characterization of channel substrate, and changes in suspended-sediment transport and channel geometry in white sturgeon spawning habitat in the Kootenai River near Bonners Ferry, Idaho, following the closure of Libby Dam: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigation Report Report 03-4324, 33 p.