Hobble Creek is one of several inflowing streams and rivers into Utah Lake, Utah, USA. Historically, June sucker (Chasmistes liorus), a federally listed endemic fish, spawned up all the major inflowing streams and rivers but is now limited to just the Provo River. The State of Utah has recently proposed restoring the lower reaches of Hobble Creek for additional spawning and rearing needs. This restoration effort will likely involve removal of migration barriers, re-aligning the stream, and removing existing levees that prevent floodplain access. These changes have raised several questions that this study aims to answer. First, what are the sediment transport rates under current flow conditions in Hobble Creek, and how well do various predictive models match the actual rates? Secondly, assuming a successful introduction of adult June sucker into the Hobble Creek system, will the existing flow regime be capable of transporting the fry to an area adequate for successful population growth? Four bedload predictive models were used to create sediment rating curves for flows typically found in Hobble Creek: the Meyer-Peter, Muller equation (MPM), Wilcock's two parameter model, Rosgen's Pagosa reference curve, and Bathurst's Phase 2 equation. Each were used and compared to data obtained on Hobble Creek during the spring 2006 snowmelt runoff season. Results show that the uncalibrated MPM formula over predicted bedload rates by several orders of magnitude, while the Wilcock model sometimes performed more accurately, but was also prone to inaccuracies greater than an order of magnitude. The Rosgen and Bathurst predicted rates were consistently within an order of magnitude of observed rates. Areas of optimal rearing potential were determined by separating the stream-lake interface into four zones: dense vegetation, sparse vegetation, open lake, and within the creek. These four zones were analyzed for rearing potential based on food resources, temperature patterns and existing small fish densities. Larval drift modeling was performed to characterize the ability of the stream to transport larvae to the zones studied. We found that highest food density occurs in the open lake; small fish were most abundant in the open lake as well. The open lake is also better for rearing habitat in terms of temperatures between zones. Furthermore, larval drift studies show that the current geometry and flow regime is incapable of transporting larvae to zones in the lake where food and warm water are both available, and that larvae are likely to die before reaching those areas.

Due to the endangerment of the June sucker (Chasmistes liorus), the lower two miles of Hobble Creek, Utah has been the focus of several restoration efforts. The portion of the creek between Interstate 15 and Utah Lake has been moved into a more "natural" channel and efforts are now being made to expand restoration to the east side of the freeway. This thesis reports on three different parts of a sedimentological analysis performed on Hobble Creek. The first part is a data set that contains information about the particle size distribution on the bed of Hobble Creek between 400 W and Interstate 15 in Springville, Utah. Particle size distributions were obtained for eleven sub-reaches within the study section. Particle size parameters such as D50 were observed to decrease from an average of 72 mm to 24 mm downstream from the 1650 W crossing and Packard Dam. Streambed armoring was observed along most of the reach. This data set can be used as input for PHABSIM software to determine the location and availability of existing spawning material for June sucker during a range of flows. The second part of this thesis compares predictions from four bed-load transport models to bed-load transport data measured on Hobble Creek. In general, the Meyer-Peter, Muller and Bathurst models overpredicted sediment transport by several orders of magnitude while the Rosgen and Wilcock methods (both calibrated models) were fairly accurate. Design channel dimensions resulting from the bed-load transport predictions diverged as a function of discharge. Once validated, the models developed in this section can be used by design engineers to better understand sediment transport on Hobble Creek. The models may also be applied to other Utah Lake tributaries. The third section of the thesis introduces a detailed survey data set that covers the Hobble Creek floodplain on the shifted section between Interstate 15 and Utah Lake with an approximate 10 foot resolution grid. Water surface elevations at two flows, along with invert, fence, saddles, and other points, are labeled in the survey. A comparison with a survey completed last year did not reveal any significant lateral changes caused by the 2010 spring runoff. Due to the potential importance of the side ponds to June sucker survival, this data set can be used to monitor sedimentation in the side ponds. It may also be used in a GSSHA model to determine the magnitude of flow that is required before each side pond will be connected to the main channel.

Spatial heterogeneity in ecosystem metabolism may play a critical role in determining ecosystem functions. Variation in ecosystem metabolism between macrophyte patches in shallow wetlands at the extremes of freshwater habitats has not been investigated. We estimated ecosystem metabolism in mesocosms containing different macrophytes using 24-hour oxygen curves to test our hypotheses: (1) net aquatic production (NAP) during spring and summer would be similar among algal patches (metaphyton and Chara), (2) NAP in algal patches would be greater than patches dominated by the vascular plant Potamogeton foliosus, (3) heterotrophy and anaerobiosis would be greatest in patches dominated by Lemna, and (4) the pond would be autotrophic in the spring and fall but heterotrophic in the summer. We found that different patches generated differences in NAP but not always as we predicted. NAP was different among algal patches in the spring and summer, and only metaphyton was more heterotrophic than P. foliosus. In the summer Chara and Lemna patches were heterotrophic and metaphyton became autotrophic. As predicted, the pond was net autotrophic in the spring and heterotrophic in the summer with an absence of patchiness in fall attributed to the dominance of Lemna. This research suggests the importance of macrophyte patchiness in wetlands in determining patterns of ecosystem metabolism despite challenges in measuring 24 hour oxygen curves (e.g. oxygen supersaturation). Consequently, macrophyte traits may be important in determining spatial heterogeneity of ecosystem metabolism in shallow ponds.