Quantifying Transmission Losses in a New Mexico Ephemeral Stream: A Losing Proposition

Abstract

Under natural conditions, stormwater runoff in much of the semiarid Southwest drains through a network of unlined stream channels called arroyos. Dry during most of the year, arroyos are transformed into raging rivers for short periods of time following intense rain events. As stormwater travels downstream, a portion of the flow infiltrates into the highly permeable arroyo bed. The purpose of this study was to quantify these so called transmission losses for a 13 km reach of one New Mexico arroyo. Infiltration rates were tested in the field using a double ring infiltrometer. Test results varied considerably from 3.0 cm/hr to 19.6 cm/hr, with a median rate of 9.4 cm/hr. Additionally, three stream gauging stations were installed along the arroyo; for two storms in 2015, they measured a dramatic decrease in peak discharge (91% and 84%, respectively) and runoff volume (90% and 80%, respectively). Gauge data was used to successfully simulate transmission losses in HEC-HMS; the average loss rate for the arroyo was found to be 3.8 cm/hr. On average, infiltrometer results overestimated reach-scale loss rates by 60%.

On the Sensitivity of Hillslope Runoff and Channel Transmission Losses in Arid Piedmont Slopes

“…To account for channel transmission losses in the watershed, we modified the kinematic wave routing scheme using two methods that differ in their treatment of capillary forces during the initial period of infiltration into channel sediments. The Constant Loss method reduces channel streamflow ( Q c ) by an amount dependent on the saturated hydraulic conductivity ( K chan ) of channel sediments as (Schoener, ) follows: where P CL is the resulting percolation (or transmission) loss and W c and L c are the channel width and length, respectively. The Transient Loss method accounts for the higher infiltration rates initially observed during the wetting process in dry, ephemeral channels (Blasch et al, ) as follows: where P TL is the percolation loss from the method, K tc is the transient channel hydraulic conductivity, t is time since streamflow initiation, and τ is the length of the transient period.…”

“…Mahmood & Vivoni, 2011;Méndez-Barroso et al, 2016). For arid and semiarid regions, an essential model component is to account for transmission losses in the channel network using one of a number of possible numerical methods (e.g., Abdulrazzak & Morel-Seytoux, 1983;Lane, 1982;Rew & McCuen, 2010;Schoener, 2017;R. E. Smith, Goodrich, et al, 1995).…”

“…To account for channel transmission losses in the watershed, we modified the kinematic wave routing scheme using two methods that differ in their treatment of capillary forces during the initial period of infiltration into channel sediments. The Constant Loss method reduces channel streamflow (Q c ) by an amount dependent on the saturated hydraulic conductivity (K chan ) of channel sediments as (Schoener, 2017) follows:…”

“…Mahmood & Vivoni, ; Méndez‐Barroso et al, ). For arid and semiarid regions, an essential model component is to account for transmission losses in the channel network using one of a number of possible numerical methods (e.g., Abdulrazzak & Morel‐Seytoux, ; Lane, ; Rew & McCuen, ; Schoener, ; R. E. Smith, Goodrich, et al, ). Costa et al () provide an excellent review of the modeling approaches available for channel transmission losses in disconnected losing streams that are typical of small dryland watersheds.…”

Climate Simulations of Early Mars With Estimated Precipitation, Runoff, and Erosion Rates

“…Transmission losses for different terrains vary greatly, ranging from~20% to up to 95% of the total precipitation (e.g., Greenbaum et al, 2002;Lange, 2005;Goodrich et al, 2004). However, an accepted average transmission loss over a long period of time is approximately 30-40% (Schoener, 2016). Here we assume a 35% mean annual transmission loss (F = 0.35) for all cases.…”