Cuivre River @ R. H. Crouch Conservation Area
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1. What is the elevation at the parking lot? (posted coordinates)
2. What is the elevation at these coordinates N 39 1.809 W 91 1.706?
3. The Cuivre River has how many forks, and which fork is this conservation area on?
4. The lower half of this river near Moscow Mills is influenced by the Mississippi River, which Lock and Dam regulates this? (Lock & Dam # and city,state)
5. picture of area with the river and bridge in it (request that you be in the picture but not required)
*** UPDATE The contracters for Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) has completed the new Cuivre River Bridge as of November 14, 2017. ***
Physiographic Region
The Cuivre River Basin lies in the Dissected Till Plains of the Central Lowland Physiographic Province (Fenneman 1938). This area is a part of the Glaciated Plains Natural Division (Thom and Wilson 1980)(Figure nd). It is characterized by soils and topography resulting from the influence of the Kansan stage of Pleistocene glaciation. The western and northern portion of the basin lies in the Eastern Section of the Dissected Till Plains and the southeastern and eastern edge of the basin lies in the Lincoln Hills Section.
The Eastern Section has claypan soil and the land is generally flat except for steep hills near streams. Shale underlies most of this area. Aquifers and recharge to streams during dry periods are poor. Stream substrates are dominated by sand and silt. Stream water is frequently turbid from large quantities of fine sediments in runoff water (Pflieger 1971).
Historically, prairies dominated the upland landscape. Deciduous trees grew in rugged areas and bottomland trees grew along the streams. Wet prairies and springs were uncommon.
Terrain in the Lincoln Hills Section is hillier and steeper than in the Eastern Section. Limestone replaces shale as the predominant bedrock and some karst topography is present. The streams tend to be clear and have substrates of gravel and rubble.
Presettlement vegetation was mainly deciduous forest with prairie constituting less than 5 percent of the section. There were also glade, cliff and march communities. The flora and fauna of this section are similar to that found in the Ozarks (Thom and Wilson 1980).
Geology
Pennsylvanian shales and sandstone are the principal bedrocks of the region (Figure ge). Mississippian and older rock, primarily limestone, line the surface along the Mississippi River. Lincoln and Pike counties show some karst topography.
The stratum in the region generally slants to the west. Many limestone areas have east-facing escarpments hidden by glacial drift. Some escarpments are at least 50 feet thick.
Soils developed from glacial and loess deposits. Loess deposits vary from a few feet to 90 feet in depth. The land has a submature-to-mature erosion cycle. Relief is from 100 to 300 feet.
Streams meander through broad valleys dotted by many oxbows and sloughs. The channels typically are bordered by high alluvial banks. The pools are generally long and riffle sections are sometimes lacking or are poorly defined. Silt, sand and gravel are common substrates. Water flows tend to be intermittent or have a low base.
The following list identifies the geological characteristics for the basin by county (Missouri Department of Natural Resources 1986):
* Audrain - characterized by Pennsylvanian (Desmoinesian Series) rock types which consist of alternating thin limestone, shale and sandstone. Coal deposits and clay also are present.
* Lincoln - primarily Mississippian formation of limestone, shale and sandstone. Near the Mississippi River flood plain quaternary alluvium predominates.
* Montgomery - contains Pennsylvanian and Mississippian formations of limestone, shale and sandstone, coal and clay.
* Pike - a combination of Pennsylvanian and Mississippian formations.
* St. Charles - generally Mississippian formation of limestone, shale and sandstone. Near the Mississippi River flood plain quaternary alluvium predominates.
* Warren - is Mississippian formation composed primarily of limestone, shale and sandstone.
Soils
The majority of the West Fork Cuivre River subbasin lies in the Central Claypan region (Figure 2, contact authors for information on Figure 2). Its soil is a poorly draining type known as a Putnam-Mexico (Soil Conservation Service 1979). The silt-loam surface overlies a silty clay subsoil. The landscape tends to be nearly level to gently sloping; slopes range from 0 to 5 percent. Stream valleys tend to be shallow and narrow. Alluvium is present in the river bottoms. This region was originally covered by prairie grasses but is now heavily cultivated. This soil is well suited for growing corn, soybeans, grain sorghum and hay crops.
The remaining areas of the West Fork subbasin and most of the North Fork Cuivre River and Cuivre River subbasin lie in the Central Mississippi Valley Wooded Slopes region (Figure 2). The soil types are Hatton-Keswick-Lindley-Goss, Menfro-Winfield-Lindley, and Hatton-Keswich-Goss-Gasconade (SCS 1979). In general, these soils formed under prairie and forest vegetation.
They tend to be well-drained loamy and clayey upland soils with some areas of chert. Ridgetops are gently sloping but valley sides can be very steep, up to 50 percent. Small fields of grain sorghum, corn or hay are commonly found on ridgetops. Steeper valley sides are often pastured or left in forest.
Lastly, a small area near the mouth of the Cuivre River is in the Missouri and Mississippi Alluvium region (SCS 1979). This alluvial (waster-deposited) soil is quite deep and is a mixture of silt, loam and clay. The landscape tends to be moderately flat with large bottomland crop fields; slopes do not exceed 3 percent.
Stream Order
Stream order was determined using the Strahler method (Strahler 1959) from United States Geological Survey (USGS) 7.5-minute topographic maps. Within the basin are 112 third-order-and-larger streams. Of these, 84 are third order, 21 are fourth, four are fifth, two (the North Fork Cuivre River and the West Fork Cuivre River) are sixth and one (the Cuivre River) is seventh (Table 1, Table 2, Table 3). Each third order-or-larger stream was assigned a code number based on a 1981 method devised by Pflieger, Haverland and Schene Jr. 1981). The North Fork and West Fork Cuivre rivers were given two code numbers because of their length. Segment 1 includes the sixth order reach and segment 2 includes the fifth-order-and-smaller segments.
Watershed Area/Stream Length
Watershed area and stream length for third-order-and-large streams were determined from USGS 7.5-minute topographic maps. Appendix A summaries the dates and names of these maps. The watershed area was digitized using PADPAC software (Taylor 1988) on a Houston Instrument True Grid Digitizing tablet, Model T.G.-1017; stream mileage was measured with calipers.
The total Cuivre River watershed is 1,235 square miles. The Cuivre River (below confluence of the North Fork Cuivre River and the West Fork Cuivre River) is 32.6 miles long and drains only 305 square miles. The North Fork and West Fork rivers are 37.9 and 76.8 miles long and drain 346 and 584 square miles, respectively. Measuring from the mouth of a stream to its headwaters, there are 420.9 miles of third order streams, 155.1 miles of fourth order streams, 93.9 miles of fifth order streams, 114.7 miles of sixth order streams and 32.6 miles of a seventh order stream (Table 1, Table 2, Table 3).
Channel Gradient
Gradient information for fourth-order-and-larger streams was obtained from USGS 7.5 minute topographic maps. Gradient plots of these streams are provided in Appendix A (Contact authors for information from Appendix A). The Cuivre River is a low-gradient stream, averaging 1.2 feet per mile. The gradient of the West Fork Cuivre River changes from 4.1 to 16.6 feet per mile along its length and the North Fork Cuivre River increases from 3.2 to 40.0 feet per mile at it's headwaters. In general, the gradients of major tributaries are lowest in the West Fork Cuivre subbasin. This drainage encompasses the largest portion of the basin's Central Claypan Area. This soil formation is characterized by fairly low relief with slopes from 0 to 5 percent.
THE HYDROLOGIC INFORMATION ON THE CUIVRE RIVER
Precipitation
The average annual precipitation for the Cuivre River Basin is 36 inches. Precipitation peaks in spring (March-May) and averages 12 inches. Precipitation is next highest in summer and fall (11 inches each season), and lowest in winter (5-6 inches). For comparison, the state’s average annual precipitation ranges from 32 inches in the northwest to 48 inches in the southeast (Missouri Department of Natural Resources 1986).
U.S. Geological Gaging Stations
Only one U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) gaging station, number 05514500, is active in the Cuivre River Basin. It is located on the Cuivre River, on the downstream side of the U.S. Highway 61 bridge, 1.2 miles downstream from the confluence of the North Fork Cuivre River and the West Fork Cuivre River, and 2 miles north of Troy in Lincoln County (Table 5; Figure gs). The datum of the gage is 450.27 feet above the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929. It is a water-stage recorder and crest-stage gage. It has been recording hydrographic data from February 1922 to July 1972 and May 1979 to the present. Water-quality data was collected as this station from 1972 to 1975 and from 1982 to the present. A National Weather Service gage-height telemeter also is present at this site. From October 1930 to July 1939 there was a nonrecording gage at the present site. Prior to October 1930, there was a nonrecording gage 3 miles downstream of the present one, at datum 445.96 feet. There are six other gage stations (three low-flow and three crest-stage record stations) in the basin which are currently inactive (Table 5; Figure gs). They were used before 1966.
Permanence/Intermittence of Flow in Stream Reaches
Permanence of stream flow and pools was determined for fourth-order-and-larger streams from USGS topographic maps and literature review. No streams in the Cuivre River Basin are currently identified as losing streams by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geology and Land Survey (Duchrow 1992a). The USGS identified perennial reaches of stream with solid blue lines, defining perennial as streams having water 12 months of the year during years of normal precipitation. Intermittent streams were indicated by a broken line and were defined as streams carrying water less than 12 months of the year. Funk (1968) classified streams as permanent if they had flow during drought. Funk’s classification was meant to identify streams capable of sustaining fish populations. The results of these two methods are summarized in Table 6.
In general, fewer miles of stream had permanent pools during drought than were indicated as perennial stream by the USGS. The entire seventh order reach of the Cuivre River always has water that supports fish. Seventy to 75 percent of the West Fork Cuivre River and the North Fork Cuivre River have permanent pools.
Average Annual Discharge
The average annual discharge at gage station #05514500 on the Cuivre River near Troy for the last 61-year period is 650 cubic feet per second (U.S. Geological Survey 1990). Actual discharge into the Mississippi River is larger because drainage from 305 square miles enters Cuivre River below this gage station. Stream flows are lowest in August, September and October and highest in March, April and May (Figure 6). The highest instantaneous peak flow, 120,000 cfs, was recorded on October 5, 1941. The lowest instantaneous peak flow was 0 cfs and occurred several times.
Detailed Hydrologic Data
7-day Q2, Q10, Q20 low flows and slope index:
Every 20 years Cuivre River flows fall below 0.1 cfs for seven days. Available seven-day Q2, Q10 and Q20 flows for the Cuivre River, the West Fork Cuivre River, the North Fork Cuivre River and Big Creek are summarized in Table 7. The slope index (the ratio of the seven-day Q2 to Q20) for the Cuivre River gaging station near Troy is 45. This indicates highly variable low flows. A slope index of 45 is high even for the Dissected Till Plains physiographic region (Spears and Schrader 1989).
Flow duration curve and 90:10 ratio:
Figure 7 shows a flow duration curve which allows for interbasin comparisons of discharge variability. Median discharge (discharge exceeded 50% of the time) is about 100 cfs. The 90:10 ratio (discharge exceeded 90% of the time to that exceeded 10% of the time) is 218. This value indicates highly variable flows.
Flood Frequency Flood magnitude for the Cuivre River near Troy, Lincoln County, is provided in Table 8 for 2-5-, 10-, 25-, 50- and 100-year recurrence intervals. The flood magnitude for the Cuivre River is high for its small basin area (Hauth 1974). The Corps of Engineers (Corps of Engineers 1991) identified three locations along the Cuivre River and one site along the North Fork Cuivre River that frequently flood; the town of Old Monroe; near the town of Chain of Rocks; Highway C to Highway 61; and the town of Silex.
Dam and Hydropower Influence In 1985, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) inventorial 3,789 large lakes (dam height at least 6 feet and impounding 50 or more acre-feet or dam at least 25 feet high and storing at least 15 acre-feet of water) in the state (MDNR 1986). Its survey indicated that four of the six counties within the basin had 85-100 dams. Two counties, Lincoln and Pike had 45-65 impoundments. This is a high density of large lakes when compared with other areas around the state. No hydroelectric power reservoirs are located within the Cuivre watershed. However, the lower reaches of the Cuivre River (up to the vicinity of Moscow Mills) are influenced by the stage of the Mississippi River regulated by Lock and Dam 26R near Alton, Illinois. Near the mouth of the Cuivre River, the mean pool elevation in the Mississippi River is 423.2 feet m.s.l.; its highest pool elevation, 442.5 feet m.s.l., occurred in April 1973. During dry periods the water level rarely drops below 418 feet m.s.
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