Sixteen different suspended-solids scenarios were developed using the calibrated Beaver Lake model. Daily input inorganic suspended solids were decreased by half and increased by 2, 5, and 10 times the input concentrations for the White River, Richland Creek, and War Eagle Creek simultaneously and for each tributary independently.

The increase in total suspended solids (TSS) was greatest in the hypolimnion at the upstream end of Beaver Lake, and negligible changes were observed at the downstream end of the reservoir for all of the scenarios. An increase of 10 times the calibrated daily input concentration of inorganic suspended solids in all three tributaries resulted in an increase in daily mean TSS of more than 5 times the calibrated condition in the epilimnion and more than 10 times the calibrated condition in the hypolimnion at site L2 (fig. 1). Concentrations demonstrated a greater increase in the hypolimnion because of how the inflow was distributed in the water column of the reservoir according to density. The density of the inflow water generally would be greater because the inflow water in the spring, when most of the high-flow events occur, had lower temperatures compared to the epilimnion of the lake, and because the inflow water had a greater mass of suspended solids compared to the mass of suspended solids in the reservoir.