Doelle’s Creek

High water this year on the lake has left little of beach and has caused the creeks to exhibit typical subcritical flow regimes. Subcritical flow regimes are influenced by downstream conditions, meaning in this case the lake. Supercritical flow regimes are influenced by upstream traffic or flow. They work like traffic jams, heavy traffic backs the traffic up or in this case the lake backs up the water. I would have thought that a clogged toilet would have made a better analogy, but I’m not the hydrology engineer here, let alone a very good plumber. What about cut channels? Meandering creeks are natural. Channels that just serve to just move water aspire to supercritical, but the lake will always lean towards the downstream influence. So, is it OK to be super critical about cut channels? Always!