Publications
Below is a list of available Colorado Water Science Center publications and published products.
Filter Total Items: 754
Prevailing impacts of river management on microplastic transport in contrasting US streams: Rethinking global microplastic flux estimations
While microplastic inputs into rivers are assumed to be correlated with anthropogenic activities and to accumulate towards the sea, the impacts of water management on downstream microplastic transport are largely unexplored. A comparative study of microplastic abundance in Boulder Creek (BC), and its less urbanized tributary South Boulder Creek (SBC), (Colorado USA), characterized the downstream e
Authors
Anna Kukkola, Robert L. Runkel, Uwe Schneidewind, Sheila F. Murphy, Liam Kelleher, Greg Sambrook Smith, Holly Astrid Nel, Iseult Lynch, Stefan Krause
Snow surface roughness across spatio-temporal scales
The snow surface is at the interface between the atmosphere and Earth. The surface of the snowpack changes due to its interaction with precipitation, wind, humidity, short- and long-wave radiation, underlying terrain characteristics, and land cover. These connections create a dynamic snow surface that impacts the energy and mass balance of the snowpack, blowing snow potential, and other snowpack p
Authors
Steven R. Fassnacht, Kazuyoshi Suzuki, Jessica E. Sanow, Graham A. Sexstone, Anna K.D. Pfohl, Molly E. Tedesche, Bradley M. Simms, Eric S. Thomas
Source contributions to suspended sediment and particulate selenium export from the Loutsenhizer Arroyo and Sunflower Drain watersheds in Colorado
Selenium in aquatic ecosystems of the lower Gunnison River Basin in Colorado is affecting the recovery of populations of endangered, native fish species. Dietary exposure is the primary pathway for bioaccumulation of selenium in fish, and particulate selenium can be consumed directly by fish or by the invertebrates on which fish feed. Although selenium can be incorporated into particulate matter v
Authors
Carleton R. Bern, Cory A. Williams, Christopher G. Smith
The truth is in the stream: Use of tracer techniques and synoptic sampling to evaluate metal loading and remedial options in a hydrologically complex setting
Two synoptic sampling campaigns were conducted to quantify metal loading to Illinois Gulch, a
small stream affected by historical mining activities. The first campaign was designed to
determine the degree to which Illinois Gulch loses water to the underlying mine workings, and to
determine the effect of these losses on observed metal loads. The second campaign was designed to evaluate metal loadin
Authors
Robert L. Runkel, Philip Verplanck, Katherine Walton-Day, R. Blaine McCleskey, Patrick Byrne
USGS Colorado Water Science Center bookmark
The U.S. Geological Survey Colorado Water Science Center conducts water resource activities in Colorado in cooperation with different entities throughout the State. These activities include extensive data-collection efforts and interpretive studies to address many different issues of concern to Colorado water resource planners, managers, and others. Results are documented in report products and as
Authors
Jeannette H. Oden
Salinity and selenium yield maps derived from geostatistical modeling in the lower Gunnison River Basin, western Colorado, 1992–2013
Salinity is known to affect drinking-water supplies and damage irrigated agricultural lands. Selenium in high concentrations is harmful to fish and other wildlife. Land managers, water providers, and agricultural producers in the lower Gunnison River Basin in western Colorado expend resources mitigating the effects of these constituents. The U.S. Geological Survey revised existing salinity (total
Authors
Cory A. Williams, Rachel G. Gidley, Michael R. Stevens
Characterization of streamflow and nutrient occurrence in the upper White River Basin, Colorado, 1980–2020
In 2016, Colorado Parks and Wildlife identified filamentous algae collected from the main stem White River as Cladophora glomerata, a pervasive nuisance aquatic alga. Excessive levels of filamentous algae can compromise aesthetic quality, limit recreational activities, and have negative effects on aquatic life including strong fluctuations in dissolved oxygen levels and a reduction in overall biod
Authors
Natalie K. Day
Potential factors controlling benthic algae in the upper White River Basin, Colorado, 2018–21
Nuisance levels of benthic algae are becoming increasingly common in surface waters of the western United States and can compromise aesthetic quality, limit recreational activities, block water infrastructure, and negatively affect aquatic life. In cooperation with the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts, the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum, and the Colorado River Wate
Authors
Rachel G. Gidley, Natalie K. Day
Investigation of potential factors controlling benthic algae in the upper White River Basin, Colorado, 2018–21
Nuisance levels of benthic filamentous green algae are becoming increasingly common in surface waters of Colorado and the western United States. In 2018 the U.S. Geological Survey began a study in cooperation with the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts, Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum, and the Colorado River Water Conservation District to collect and analyze physical,
Authors
Natalie K. Day, Mark F. Henneberg
A call for strategic water-quality monitoring to advance assessment and prediction of wildfire impacts on water supplies
Wildfires pose a risk to water supplies in the western U.S. and many other parts of the world, due to the potential for degradation of water quality. However, a lack of adequate data hinders prediction and assessment of post-wildfire impacts and recovery. The dearth of such data is related to lack of funding for monitoring extreme events and the challenge of measuring the outsized hydrologic and e
Authors
Sheila F. Murphy, Charles N. Alpers, Chauncey W. Anderson, John R. Banta, Johanna Blake, Kurt D. Carpenter, Gregory D. Clark, David W. Clow, Laura A. Hempel, Deborah A. Martin, Michael Meador, Gregory Mendez, Anke Mueller-Solger, Marc A. Stewart, Sean E. Payne, Cara L. Peterman-Phipps, Brian A. Ebel
The water cycle
An illustrated diagram of the water cycle. This is a modern, updated version of the widely used diagram featured on the USGS Water Science School. Notably, this new water cycle diagram depicts humans and major categories of human water use as key components of the water cycle, in addition to the key pools and fluxes of the hydrologic cycle. This product targets an 8th grade audience and is designe
Authors
Hayley Corson-Dosch, Cee Nell, Rachel E. Volentine, Althea A. Archer, Ellen Bechtel, Jennifer L. Bruce, Nicole Felts, Tara A. Gross, Dianne Lopez-Trujillo, Charlotte E. Riggs, Emily K. Read
Hydrologic compartmentalization and analytic-element groundwater-flow simulations for a draining mine tunnel
Draining mine tunnels contribute contaminants to groundwater and surface water, but remediation strategies may be hindered as hydrogeologic characterization and modeling of these heterogeneous features generally relies on sparse data sets. The Captain Jack mine site in Colorado, USA, presents a unique data set allowing for temporal evaluation of groundwater connectivity in the vicinity of an aband
Authors
Connor P. Newman