No matter the season, we are out monitoring Colorado waters.
In winter...
In winter...
No matter the season, we are out monitoring Colorado waters.
In spring...
In spring...
No matter the season, we are out monitoring Colorado waters.
In summer...
In summer...
No matter the season, we are out monitoring Colorado waters.
and in the fall.
and in the fall.
Colorado Water Science Center
Welcome to the USGS Colorado Water Science Center! Please use these pages to explore the hydrologic data and scientific investigations we conduct on Colorado water resources.
NOTICE: USGS is improving the way that sample data are stored and served to the public.
Current Conditions
Current Conditions
Explore real-time Colorado streamflow, groundwater, and water-quality conditions.
Science Highlight
Science Highlight
Next Generation Water Observing System: Upper Colorado River Basin
The Next Generation Water Observing System provides high-fidelity, real-time data on water quantity, quality, and use to support modern water prediction and decision-support systems that are necessary for informing water operations on a daily basis and decision-making during water emergencies.
News
Media Alert: USGS Dye Tracing Study in Fraser River
Media Alert: USGS Dye Tracing Study in Fraser River
Media Alert: USGS Dye-Tracing Study in Lake Fork Creek to Map Groundwater Flow
Media Alert: USGS Dye-Tracing Study in Lake Fork Creek to Map Groundwater Flow
Art Illuminates the Grand Canyon: Exploring the Environmental Puzzle
Art Illuminates the Grand Canyon: Exploring the Environmental Puzzle
Publications
U.S. Geological Survey 2024 Rocky Mountain Region Science Exchange—Showcasing cutting-edge science to adapt to extreme weather events and stakeholder needs
IntroductionThe Rocky Mountains and the Colorado River Basin in the Western United States are complex, interconnected systems that sustain a large variety of species, including tens of millions of humans. These regions face risks from drought, wildfires, invasive plant and animal species, and habitat reduction. Working with many stakeholders, scientists can help to characterize these...
Data gap analysis for estimation of agricultural return flows in the Upper Gunnison River Basin, Colorado
The Gunnison River and many tributaries in the Upper Gunnison River Basin provide water to irrigate agricultural crops. The application of irrigation water can recharge some aquifers locally by water percolating below the root zone and eventually flowing back to the stream or river through the subsurface. Diverting surface water for irrigation reduces streamflow during the irrigation...
Fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing of hydrologic processes—Diverse deployments and new applications by the U.S. Geological Survey
Fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing instruments harness the temperature-dependent properties of glass to measure temperature continuously along optical fibers by using precise pulses of laser light. In the mid-2000s, this technology was refined for environmental monitoring purposes such as snowpack-air exchange, groundwater/surface-water exchange, and lake-water stratification...
Science
Agricultural Return Flows in the Upper Gunnison River Basin
Canals and ditches divert water from streams in the Upper Gunnison River Basin, Colorado, to irrigate agricultural fields. In some areas, irrigation water that percolates below the root zone can locally recharge groundwater and later return to streams through the subsurface, which can extend streamflow outside of the snowmelt runoff season. Understanding the timing and quantity of agricultural...
Camera Installations Collecting Hydrologic Imagery at USGS Monitoring Locations in Colorado
The Colorado Water Science Center Network Integration and Science Innovation team has focused on installing cameras at U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) monitoring locations for situational and observational awareness of conditions at streams, rivers, and lakes in Colorado. Several USGS monitoring locations have been configured with cellular modems and network cameras to obtain still and video imagery...
Colorado River Headwaters, Water Isotope Network
Water availability is controlled by processes that can be hard to measure, like the process of groundwater discharging from a streambed that becomes streamflow. Naturally occurring, radioactive and stable (non-radioactive) isotopes can help trace those processes, particularly the isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen that are part of the water molecule. Tritium, the radioactive isotope of hydrogen, has...