Characteristics of stream types were surveyed within the Chattooga River wa
tershed in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southeastern US. The 728 km(2) water
shed is contained within the states of Georgia, South Carolina and North Ca
rolina. The stream types of about 190 streams of various sizes were determi
ned as perennial, intermittent or ephemeral using a combination of physical
and biological indicators. The key indicators were defined as channel eros
ion into the landscape and aquatic insects. Comparisons were made between t
he measured stream characteristics and their hydrologic orders. The stream
data indicated that most headwater order 1 streams were either ephemeral or
intermittent. Order 2 streams were divided among intermittent, perennial a
nd ephemeral. All order 3 streams and larger ones were perennial, except fo
r one small, third order intermittent stream with an 18% channel gradient.
The data suggest that the total 4670 km stream network was approximately eq
ually divided between defined channels (28% perennial and 17% intermittent)
and undefined channels (55% ephemeral). Changes in stream order produced e
xponential changes in the total number, mean segment length and total lengt
h of streams. The fine detail included about 15,630 order 1 channels with a
combined length of 2740 km. Comparisons are provided between the estimated
extent of stream types and the 'blue-line' streams identified on the US Ge
ological Survey topographic contour maps at both 1:24,000 and 1:100,000 sca
les. Streams indicated on the 1:100,000 scale maps identified about 650 km
of streams, while the 1:24,000 scale mapped the blue-line stream extent at
970 km. Of the estimated 1300 km of perennial streams, the topographic maps
identified 50-75%, depending on scale. However, only about 14-21% of the e
ntire stream network which includes perennial, intermittent and ephemeral s
treams were marked on the topographic contour maps. Recommendations are inc
luded for improving the consistency of how 'stream orders' and 'stream type
s' are delineated. Since water quality protection measures are often relate
d to the stream type, improvement in identifying streams should improve str
eam protection design and help to prevent impacts on water quality and aqua
tic habitat. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.