Step 1:�Delineate the watershed and determine the drainage area of the

Kilchis River using topographic maps.

Topographic maps used in this example are published by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and
were obtained for use here from the online map source topozone.com. The watershed was
delineated using labeled ridges where possible.� For the areas of the watershed where the ridge
tops are not clearly identified, headwaters of adjacent watersheds were used to determine the
correct location of the drainage divide.� For this example, drainage area was calculated using an
overlay grid of boxes with equivalent and known areas.� The boxes were counted and the number
of boxes within the watershed multiplied by the area of an individual box.� The watershed drainage
area was found to be 76 mi2.�

Step 2:� Review the preliminary estimations page to determine a rough

estimate of streamflow and precipitation values in this region.

The preliminary estimations for the North Coast will appear as follows:
 NORTH COAST BASIN
Range for annual precipitation 80-180 in

2032 – 4572 mm

Annual discharge per unit area 4.98 ft3/mi2

0.054 m3/km2

Monthly flow as a percentage of mean annual flow (%)

OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP
4 12 18 17 16 12 8 5 3 2 1 1

Note that the values for monthly flow as a percentage of annual flow do not add up to 100%.� This
is due to overlapping of drainage areas (i.e., nesting) of some or all gages used to calculate the
percentages.�

The preliminary estimations for this basin show that the annual rainfall is approximately 80
inches.� The lower value of the range was chosen because the study site is at an elevation near
sea level that would not be influenced by the orographic lift effect experienced higher in the
mountain range.� Had the study site been located at or near the headwaters of the stream, the
upper value would have been chosen.� With a drainage area of 76 mi2and use of the North Coast
Basin annual discharge per unit area (4.98 cfs/mi2), the annual discharge is expected to be
approximately 379 cfs.� The flow regime for a typical water year is anticipated to follow the
general trend for areas west of the Cascade Mountains, namely, low flow during the summer
months and peak flows during the winter months.� Furthermore, the most days of wetland
inundation can be expected to occur during the months of December, January and February.�

Step 3:� Identify and list the characteristics of all nearby gages

A review of the table of USGS gages for the north coast of Oregon shows two gages that may
be appropriate choices for providing the data with which to perform hydrologic analysis of the
Kilchis River: Wilson and Trask Rivers.

Gage Information
������ Period of
Record
Stati Station Fr To Num Drain Altit Mean Disch
on Name o ber age ude Annua arge
Num m of Area (ft l /Unit
ber Wat (sq abov Disch Area
er mi) e arge (cfs/s
Year sea (cfs) q mi)
s level
)
19 20
14 00
WILSON - -
RIVER NEAR 10 09
14301 TILLAMOOK, - -
500 OR 01 30 86 161 72 1,190 7.40
14302 TRASK 19 19
500 RIVER NEAR 31 72 40 145 58 968 6.68
 TILLAMOOK, - -
OREG. 07 06
- -
01 30

It is advantageous to select a gaged river that contains many years in the period of record.� The
table shows the Wilson River gage as having 46 more years of data than the Trask gage, which
suggests the use of data from the Wilson gage.� Normally, you would want to pick a gaged river
with a drainage area similar to the drainage area of the study watershed; however, this is not
always possible.� As can be seen, the drainage areas of both gaged rivers are much higher than
that of the Kilchis.� Scaling will be needed in order to use either gage, but first further analyses
must be conducted to determine which gage will be used.

Step 4:� Perform simple statistics on data to choose the most appropriate
gage.

Mean monthly discharge for a typical water year, normalized by drainage area, is used in the
selection process by showing the general pattern of streamflow for both gages.� As can be seen in
the following figure, the pattern for the Wilson and Trask rivers are similar.� This means both
gages exhibit the same flow regime that can be assumed to be typical of the region.� Although the
Wilson River shows larger discharges throughout the rainy season, this is to be expected given its
larger drainage area.� The important item to note here is the similarity in seasonal patterns.�
Plotting mean monthly discharge normalized by mean annual discharge for a typical water year
shows that, in general, the discharge in both rivers are equivalent throughout most months.� The
graph does suggest slight dissimilarities between the two sets of data, such that the Wilson may
tend to rise toward the seasonal peak annual discharge earlier than the Trask.� The discrepancy
could also have developed due to gaps (missing years) in period of record for one or both gages.�
Because scaling will have to be done regardless, the flow regimes of the two rivers are comparable,
and the Wilson has over twice the number of years in the period of record.� Therefore, the Wilson
will most likely be used for the remainder of the analyses. However, both sets of data will be used
for the flood frequency analysis to give one final comparison.
 Step 5: Scale the Wilson River gage data to represent flows expected to be
experienced by the smaller watershed of the Kilchis River.

The Kilchis River has a drainage area is considerably smaller than that of the Wilson River.� Using
the following proportion, the values from the Wilson River gage were scaled down to better
represent flows expected in the smaller Kilchis River:

(1)

Where AK is the drainage area of the Kilchis River watershed, AW the drainage area of the Wilson
River watershed, QK the discharge scaled for the Kilchis River, and QW the discharge for the Wilson
River as obtained from the USGS gage.� Solving this proportion for QK for each discharge value in
the period of record results in the scaled Kilchis River data. The highlighted columns of the Microsoft
Excel worksheet shows the results of the above calculation performed for each data point in the
period of record.
 Step 6:� Conduct a flood frequency analysis to estimate at what magnitude
of discharge inundation of the wetland will occur.

In order to estimate the magnitudes of large floods in the watershed, a Log Pearson type III flood
frequency analysis regionalized for the northern coast of Oregon was conducted using the methods
outlined in the Analysis Techniques section of this web site.� Instantaneous discharge values
were used to conduct this analysis, as instantaneous values can briefly flood areas of concern.�
After a survey of the study site has been conducted, the extent of inundation of the riparian
wetland area due to floods of various return periods can be determined, as shown in the following
figure.

Bankfull discharge is widely assumed to be associated with a flood with a 2-year return period,
according to the plot that follows, bankfull discharge for the Kilchis River is approximately 8,000
cfs.� Bankfull discharge is the flow at which the channel is full to capacity (to the top of the
banks).� Because it is more important for this project to know about the discharges associated
with overtopping of the banks and inundation of the floodplain, a flow that may represent the
threshold of general overbank flow is preferred.� Hence, any flow greater than 8,000 cfs will be
considered a critical flow to investigate.� To get a more accurate figure for inundation, a survey of
the channel adjacent to the wetland under study would need to be conducted.� A design flood can
then be chosen according to the desired extent of inundation.�
 Step 7:� Sort scaled daily data in preparation of constructing a flow duration
curve.

Before constructing the flow duration curve, a frequency distribution (histogram) was constructed
for the sorted data to show the general spread of the data.� For this example, the data for the
Kilchis has been sorted using the log cycles shown in the following Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. If
improper intervals are chosen, the amount of information the flow duration curve can provide is
diminished.� The elongated plateau of peak values suggest that the flow duration curve should be
rather flat in the middle range.� This allows you to validate your methodology.
 Step 8:� Construct a flow duration curve to predict what percent of time the
wetland will be inundated.

As shown on the flood frequency curve, bankfull discharge is equaled or exceeded less than one
percent of the time.� It would appear that if a seasonally flooded wetland were desired, mechanical
means of flooding the wetland area would have to be employed.� A closer inspection of the daily
values may expose additional information about how often pumping may be needed to artificially
inundate the wetland.
 Step 9:� Develop a visual representation of the discharge associated with a
typical water year

Using scaled monthly discharge values averaged over the entire period of record a plot of discharge
vs. month for a typical water year was compiled.�� From the following figure, it is concluded that
if inundation does occur during a typical year, it will most likely occur during the months of
December and January.� However, further analysis will improve the accuracy of this prediction.�
 Step 10:� Conduct a monthly analysis to isolate the critical months for
inundation and determine the average number of consecutive days
inundation will occur.

Mean daily values by month validate the prior assumption that the flood regime of this area will
create inundated vegetation mostly during the months of December and January.� However, the
graph also shows a likely chance of overtopping periodically during February and late November.�
With this new information, we can now predict that artificial flooding of the wetland during at least
part of the rainy season may be unnecessary. Further analysis must be conducted to determine
how often and for how many days to expect natural inundation versus how many days pumping will
be implemented.�
 Step 11:� Construct a table of discharges and dates for the flows that have a
magnitude greater than 8000 cfs.

From the following table, it appears that the previous assumption that inundation may occur for a
number of consecutive days was not correct.� We can conclude from the table that pumping must
be used to flood the wetland area unless recharge due to groundwater poses a major influence on
the hydrology of the site.

Days of Natural Inundation of Wetland:

Date Alt mean daily Q (cfs) Number of days of inundation

�(8,000 cfs)

12/21/33 9,964

12/22/33 12,925 2

12/27/37 8,554 1

2/17/49 8,084 1

12/22/64 11,092
 12/23/64 8,178 2

Step 12:� Select vegetation that can withstand the predicted hydrologic
regime.

There is a variety of native wetland vegetation in this region.� Two examples are camas lily and
narrow-leaf mule’s-ears, which have both recently been successfully established in a Nature
Conservancy restoration project (Nature Conservancy 2002).