Measurement the relationship between flow competence and size distribution of bedload sediment shows that abundant sediment is transported out of the system.
Fine sediment remains shielded, however, in the interstices of cobbles and boulders.
A flood event with twice the power of this season's snowmelt will be necessary to entrain the cobbles and mobilize the sediment from armored reaches of the channel. Wetlands have the capacity to mitigate these effects by taking up excess nutrients and reducing the loading into adjacent water bodies. To determine the capacity of a given wetland for remediate water quality, velocity and direction of water flow must be determined. Bromide tracer studies show that water resides in Wetland C in the Loch Vale watershed for at least four hours. Little bromide was detected leaving the system, suggesting that dilution may limit detection after four hours.