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Sedimentation of Lake Taneycomo, Missouri, 1913-1987

Water-Resources Investigations Report 89-4160
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https://doi.org/10.3133/wri894160

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Abstract

On the basis of the data from a sedimentation survey done by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, during 1935 and data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey during 1987, the volume of sediment accumulated in Lake Taneycomo from 1913 to 1935 and 1913 to 1987 was determined. Table Rock Dam, built directly upstream from Lake Taneycomo during 1958, eliminated about 92% of the 4,644-sq mi basin from contributing sediment directly to the lake. Cesium-137 isotope was used as a tracer in the sediment to determine the quantity of deposition in the lake after Table Rock Dam was completed. The relation between cross-sectional area and distance upstream from the dam (curve method) was used to determine the 1913 (original), the 1935, and the 1987 volumes of Lake Taneycomo. A total of 910,000,000 cu ft of sediment accumulated between 1913 and 1935, 42% of the original volume of the lake. A total of 1 ,066,000,000 cu ft of sediment accumulated between 1913 and 1987 , 49% of the original volume. Lake Taneycomo seems to be functioning as an alluvial river, responding to the new energy gradient established by the spillway at Ozark Beach Dam, and later to changes in the sediment load. The upper two-thirds of the lake seems to have been scoured after Table Rock Dam greatly decreased the sediment load to the lake. The cesium-137 analysis indicated that sediment is still accumulating in the lower reaches of the lake, with measured accumulation generally ranging from 0.2 to 2.6 ft. (USGS)
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Sedimentation of Lake Taneycomo, Missouri, 1913-1987
Series title Water-Resources Investigations Report
Series number 89-4160
DOI 10.3133/wri894160
Edition -
Year Published 1989
Language ENGLISH
Publisher Dept. of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey ; Books and Open-file report [distributor],
Description vii, 80 p. :ill. ;28 cm.
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