Link to USGS home page

SIMULATION OF HYDRODYNAMICS, TEMPERATURE, AND DISSOLVED OXYGEN IN BULL SHOALS LAKE, ARKANSAS, 1994-1995

By Joel M. Galloway and W. Reed Green

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Water–Resources Investigations Report 03-4077

This document is available in Portable Document Format (PDF):  WRIR03-4077 (2.13 MB)
To view this document, you need the Adobe Acrobat® Reader installed on your computer.
(A free copy of the Acrobat® Reader may be downloaded from Adobe Systems Incorporated.)


Abstract

Outflow from Bull Shoals Lake and other White River reservoirs supports a cold-water trout fishery of substantial economic yield in north-central Arkansas and south-central Missouri. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has requested an increase in existing minimum flows through the Bull Shoals Lake dam to increase the amount of fishable waters downstream. Information is needed to assess the impact of increased minimum flows on temperature and dissolved-oxygen concentrations of reservoir water and the outflow.

A two-dimensional, laterally averaged, hydrodynamic, temperature, and dissolved-oxygen model was developed and calibrated for Bull Shoals Lake, located on the Arkansas-Missouri State line. The model simulates water-surface elevation, heat transport, and dissolved- oxygen dynamics. The model was developed to assess the impacts of proposed increases in minimum flow from 4.6 cubic meters per second (the existing minimum flow) to 22.6 cubic meters per second (the increased minimum flow). Simulations included assessing the impact of (1) increased minimum flows and (2) increased minimum flows with increased initial water-surface elevation of 1.5 meters in Bull Shoals Lake on outflow temperatures and dissolved-oxygen concentrations.

The increased minimum flow simulation (without increasing initial water-surface elevation) increased the water temperature and dissolved-oxygen concentration in the outflow. Conversely, the increased minimum flow and increased initial water-surface elevation (1.5 meters) simulation decreased outflow water temperature and dissolved-oxygen concentration through time. However, results from both scenarios for water temperature and dissolved-oxygen concentration were within the boundaries of the error between measured and simulated water column profile values.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS - Figure
  1. Map showing location of Bull Shoals Lake and the White River Basin in Arkansas and Missouri
  2. Plot showing idealized model segments, layers, and branches for the CE-QUAL-W2 reservoir model.
  3. Plot showing side view, top view, and face view from the dam of the computational grid of Bull Shoals Lake used in CE-QUAL-W2..5
  4. Relation between water-surface elevation and volume and water-surface elevation and surface area in Bull Shoals Lake
  5. Annual mean streamflow for the White River near Branson, Missouri, upstream from Bull Shoals Lake, 1952-1995
  6. Daily inflow and hourly dam outflow for Bull Shoals Lake, January 1994 through December 1995
  7. Simulated and measured water-surface elevations near the Bull Shoals Lake dam, January through December 1994 and January through December 1995
  8. Relation between simulated and measured water temperatures in the water column near the Bull Shoals Lake dam, January through December 1994
  9. Relation of difference between simulated and measured water temperatures near the Bull Shoals Lake dam to measured water temperature, sampling date, and water depth, January through December 1994
  10. Relation between simulated and measured water temperatures in the water column near the Bull Shoals Lake dam, January through December 1995
  11. Relation of difference between simulated and measured water temperatures near the Bull Shoals Lake dam to measured water temperature, sampling date, and water depth, January through December 1995
  12. Relation between simulated and measured dissolved-oxygen concentrations in the water column near the Bull Shoals Lake dam, January through December 1994
  13. Relation of difference between simulated and measured dissolved-oxygen concentrations near Bull Shoals Lake dam to measured dissolved-oxygen concentrations, sampling date, and water depth, January through December 1994
  14. Relation between simulated and measured dissolved-oxygen concentrations in the water column near the Bull Shoals Lake dam, January through December 1995
  15. Relation of difference between simulated and measured dissolved-oxygen concentrations near Bull Shoals Lake dam to measured dissolved-oxygen concentrations, sampling date, and water depth, January through December 1995
  16. Vertical temperature distributions near the Bull Shoals Lake dam on July 7, 1994 and January 20, 1995, showing calibrated model profiles and profiles as a result of differing model parameters
  17. Vertical dissolved-oxygen concentration distributions near the Bull Shoals Lake dam on July 7, 1994, and January 20, 1995, showing calibrated model profiles and profiles as a result of differing model parameters
  18. Simulated water-surface elevations resulting from increased minimum flow scenarios
  19. Relation of difference between water-surface elevations predicted from increased minimum flow scenarios and calibrated model water-surface elevation with time
  20. Simulated water temperature differences between increased minimum flow scenarios and the calibrated model
  21. Simulated and estimated water temperatures in Bull Shoals Lake outflow and measured temperatures downstream from Bull Shoals Lake dam
  22. Simulated dissolved-oxygen concentration differences between increased minimum flow scenarios and calibrated model
  23. Simulated and estimated dissolved-oxygen concentrations in Bull Shoals Lake outflows
TABLES
  1. Hydraulic and thermal input parameters specified for Bull Shoals Lake model
  2. Rate coefficients used in water-chemistry and biological simulations and other parameters specified as input in the Bull Shoals Lake model



FirstGov button  Take Pride in America button