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U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Scientific Investigations Report 2006–5323

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Hydrology of Duck and Jordan Creeks

Duck and Jordan Creeks receive water primarily from rainfall, and secondarily from snowmelt and ground water, depending on the season. Tides influence both streams near their mouths. The USGS systematically collected peak-streamflow data at continuously-operating stream-gaging stations on Duck Creek below Nancy Street (15053200) from 1994–2004 and on Jordan Creek below Egan Drive (15052475) from 1998–2005. The Jordan Creek streamflow record also includes a 1996 peak, considered a historic peak because it falls outside the systematic record. Daily mean discharge and annual maximum instantaneous peak streamflow data are available at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ak/nwis, or through the Alaska Science Center at the address listed at the back of this report. Annual peak streamflows are listed in table 1.

Duck Creek’s streamflow correlates to ground water conditions (Neal, 2006) and rises and declines relatively slowly. Both of these conditions reflect its valley floor origin. In contrast, Jordan Creek has a steep, mountainous headwater and flashy—quickly rising and declining—peak streamflows. Despite the urban nature of the watersheds, annual peak-streamflow data for Duck and Jordan Creeks show no readily discernible trends during their respective periods of record (fig. 4). The short systematic record of Jordan Creek peak streamflows appears to show a roughly declining trend, but a USGS miscellaneous measurement made in November 2005 (Ed Neal, USGS, written commun., 2006), shortly after the gaging station was discontinued, eliminates this appearance. The short period of record for both streams precludes the likelihood of identifying an urbanizing trend and the likelihood of comparing data from less- to more-urbanized areas. No known streamflow regulation affects peak streamflows in the study area.

For the period of record at the respective USGS stream-gaging stations, peak streamflows for Duck Creek occurred from September to February, and peak streamflows for Jordan Creek occurred from late July to December. Average annual mean flow for Duck Creek is 4 ft³/s and for Jordan Creek is 8 ft³/s. Records show zero-discharge days on both streams during dry periods, and observers reported seeing the channel bed dry.

In-channel ponding is common along both streams. In the study area, Duck Creek flows through small ponds at various locations upstream from Egan Drive, and Jordan Creek flows through several ponds downstream from Glacier Highway. This study did not investigate the extent of storage provided by these ponds during floods.

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