A new forecasting curve for the Kaweah River in California

The April through July runoff volume of the Kaweah River at Three Rivers as a function of water equivalent of snow on the ground April 1, spring precipitation, and soil moisture deficiency in the fall is presented. The imperical relation obtained from 15 years of record has a maximum error of less than ten percent. The novel feature of the soil moisture deficiency factor is that it is determined by fall precipitation prior to the accumulation of continuous snow cover at a particular station.Discussion by W.B. Langbein indicates that the application of statistical methods produces a procedure of measuring the effect of the independent variables and permits a more efficient choice and use of the most effective values. Methods are illustrated and discussed.