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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.

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

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...
Authors
Rachel G. Gidley, Quinn M. Miller, Wayne R. Belcher

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...
Authors
Martin A. Briggs, David M. Rey, Chad C. Opatz, Neil C. Terry, Connor P. Newman, Lance R. Gruhn, Carole D. Johnson

Latitudinal gradients of snow contamination in the Rocky Mountains associated with anthropogenic sources

Seasonal snow is an important source of drinking water and recreation, and for agriculture in the Rocky Mountain region. Monitoring snow-water quality can inform on the effects to the albedo and energy balance of the snowpack, and the sources of natural and anthropogenic aerosol and gases. This study analyzed metals in the seasonal snowpack from water year (WY) 2018 for 49 sites. Calcium...
Authors
Monica Arienzo, Kelly Gleason, Graham A. Sexstone, Mae Sexauer Gustin, Melissa Schwan, Nicole Choma, Sarrah Dunham-Cheatham, Joseph R. McConnell, Peter Weisberg, Adam Csank

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...
link

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...
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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...
link

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...
Learn More

Biologically Active Chemical Research Core Technology Team

About the Research. The Biologically Active Chemicals Research Core Technology Team (CTT) as part of the Environmental Health Program conducts field and laboratory research on the occurrence, fate, and effects of complex mixtures of biologically active organic and inorganic chemicals in aquatic environments.
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Biologically Active Chemical Research Core Technology Team

About the Research. The Biologically Active Chemicals Research Core Technology Team (CTT) as part of the Environmental Health Program conducts field and laboratory research on the occurrence, fate, and effects of complex mixtures of biologically active organic and inorganic chemicals in aquatic environments.
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