▲ 99 r/bluelining
Hey folks. I've been messing around in ArcGIS, and found some really interesting databases including topographical maps, hydrology maps, and public access maps. After combining those and fooling around with some blue lines formatting (color for slope and size for flow) and some basic pop-ups for stream information like average CFS, stream order, and drainage area, I'm pretty happy with the result. Here's the link: https://arcg.is/1ab9811
Some observations (from someone in Southern Appalachia):
- Some of my favorite blue lines are only between 3 and 15 CFS, on average. I've not found many streams < 1 CFS that hold trout, but I'm sure there are exceptions. In our area, there's not many brook trout to be found in any body of water more than 15 CFS (about the threshold over which rainbows and browns dominate).
- Some of the best mountain streams have an average slope of 2%-8%, with > 10-15% sometimes being too difficult to traverse.
- Sections of stream with average velocity less than 1 ft/s aren't great trout habitat.
- Most of our trout are found above 1600', and most of our brook trout over 2100'.
What are the "specs" on your favorite blue line? Here's mine:
Annual Mean Flow: 8 cfs
Velocity: 1.1 f/s
Slope: 4.4%
Order: 4
Drainage Area: 3 sq. mi.
Lower Elevation: 3,000 ft
u/thereal_aperson23 — 8 days ago