Hydrologic assessment of groundwater resources in a foothills watershed in Jefferson County, Colorado Completed
Water quantity, water-quality, and growth issues are of concern to Jefferson County, Colorado, officials who must balance the needs of current (2002) residents and requests for future development with protection and allocation of available water resources.
The current status of groundwater resources in the mountainous parts of Jefferson County must be determined as a basis for developing a decision-making tool to be used by the planning and zoning department in their efforts to allow continued development without undesirable effects to the water resource. An understanding of water resources is necessary to make informed management decisions.
The pilot study in the Turkey Creek watershed is the foundation for future water resource monitoring in mountainous parts of Jefferson County. A water budget and fractured-bedrock ground-water model, PrecipitationRunoff Modeling System (PRMS), along with continuous monitoring of surface-water discharge, water-table fluctuations, precipitation, evapotranspiration, and water-quality constituents will help answer questions regarding land development and its effect on water resources in Jefferson County. The methods developed in this pilot study may be used to evaluate water resources in other fractured rock aquifers in Jefferson County, or in other mountainous areas of Colorado.
OBJECTIVES:
- Describe the current understanding of groundwater resources in the Turkey Creek watershed.
- Describe the occurrence and distribution of water-quality constituents in groundwater and surface water in the Turkey Creek watershed.
- Provide a water balance for the Turkey Creek watershed using the USGS Precipitation Runoff Modeling System (PRMS).
- Provide an approach to evaluate the effects of development on the quantity and quality of ground water in the Turkey Creek watershed.
Below are publications associated with this project.
Hydrologic conditions and assessment of water resources in the Turkey Creek watershed, Jefferson County, Colorado, 1998-2001
Evaluating uncertainty in predicting spatially variable representative elementary scales in fractured aquifers, with application to Turkey Creek Basin, Colorado
Fracture network, fault zone, and geologic data collected from the Turkey Creek watershed, Colorado Rocky Mountain Front Range
Bedrock Geology of the Turkey Creek Drainage Basin, Jefferson County, Colorado
Below are partners associated with this project.
- Overview
Water quantity, water-quality, and growth issues are of concern to Jefferson County, Colorado, officials who must balance the needs of current (2002) residents and requests for future development with protection and allocation of available water resources.
The current status of groundwater resources in the mountainous parts of Jefferson County must be determined as a basis for developing a decision-making tool to be used by the planning and zoning department in their efforts to allow continued development without undesirable effects to the water resource. An understanding of water resources is necessary to make informed management decisions.
The pilot study in the Turkey Creek watershed is the foundation for future water resource monitoring in mountainous parts of Jefferson County. A water budget and fractured-bedrock ground-water model, PrecipitationRunoff Modeling System (PRMS), along with continuous monitoring of surface-water discharge, water-table fluctuations, precipitation, evapotranspiration, and water-quality constituents will help answer questions regarding land development and its effect on water resources in Jefferson County. The methods developed in this pilot study may be used to evaluate water resources in other fractured rock aquifers in Jefferson County, or in other mountainous areas of Colorado.
OBJECTIVES:
- Describe the current understanding of groundwater resources in the Turkey Creek watershed.
- Describe the occurrence and distribution of water-quality constituents in groundwater and surface water in the Turkey Creek watershed.
- Provide a water balance for the Turkey Creek watershed using the USGS Precipitation Runoff Modeling System (PRMS).
- Provide an approach to evaluate the effects of development on the quantity and quality of ground water in the Turkey Creek watershed.
- Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Hydrologic conditions and assessment of water resources in the Turkey Creek watershed, Jefferson County, Colorado, 1998-2001
The 47.2-square-mile Turkey Creek watershed, in Jefferson County southwest of Denver, Colorado, is relatively steep with about 4,000 feet of relief and is in an area of fractured crystalline rocks of Precambrian age. Water needs for about 4,900 households in the watershed are served by domestic wells and individual sewage-disposal systems. Hydrologic conditions are described on the basis of contemAuthorsClifford R. Bossong, Jonathan S. Caine, David I. Stannard, Jennifer L. Flynn, Michael R. Stevens, Janet S. Heiny-DashEvaluating uncertainty in predicting spatially variable representative elementary scales in fractured aquifers, with application to Turkey Creek Basin, Colorado
Computational limitations and sparse field data often mandate use of continuum representation for modeling hydrologic processes in large‐scale fractured aquifers. Selecting appropriate element size is of primary importance because continuum approximation is not valid for all scales. The traditional approach is to select elements by identifying a single representative elementary scale (RES) for theAuthorsTristan P. Wellman, Eileen P. PoeterFracture network, fault zone, and geologic data collected from the Turkey Creek watershed, Colorado Rocky Mountain Front Range
No abstract available.AuthorsJonathan S. CaineBedrock Geology of the Turkey Creek Drainage Basin, Jefferson County, Colorado
This geospatial data set describes bedrock geology of the Turkey Creek drainage basin in Jefferson County, Colorado. It was digitized from maps of fault locations and geologic map units based on age and lithology. Created for use in the Jefferson County Mountain Ground-Water Resources Study, it is to be used at a scale no more detailed than 1:50,000.AuthorsStephen J. Char - Partners
Below are partners associated with this project.