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Publications

Below is a list of available Colorado Water Science Center publications and published products.

Filter Total Items: 818

Bifenthrin causes trophic cascades and alters insect emergence in mesocosms: implication for small streams Bifenthrin causes trophic cascades and alters insect emergence in mesocosms: implication for small streams

Direct and indirect ecological effects of the widely used insecticide bifenthrin on stream ecosystems are largely unknown. To investigate such effects, a manipulative experiment was conducted in stream mesocosms that were colonized by aquatic insect communities and exposed to bifenthrin-contaminated sediment; implications for natural streams were interpreted through comparison of...
Authors
Holly Rogers, Travis S. Schmidt, Brittanie L. Dabney, Michelle Hladik, Barbara Mahler, Peter C. Van Metre

Comparison of methods for quantifying surface sublimation over seasonally snow-covered terrain Comparison of methods for quantifying surface sublimation over seasonally snow-covered terrain

Snow sublimation can be an important component of the snow-cover mass balance, and there is considerable interest in quantifying the role of this process within the water and energy balance of snow-covered regions. In recent years, robust eddy covariance (EC) instrumentation has been used to quantify snow sublimation over snow-covered surfaces in complex mountainous terrain. However, EC...
Authors
Graham A. Sexstone, David W. Clow, David I. Stannard, Steven R. Fassnacht

Paleoflood investigations to improve peak-streamflow regional-regression equations for natural streamflow in eastern Colorado, 2015 Paleoflood investigations to improve peak-streamflow regional-regression equations for natural streamflow in eastern Colorado, 2015

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Colorado Department of Transportation, developed regional-regression equations for estimating the 50-, 20-, 10-, 4-, 2-, 1-, 0.5-, 0.2-percent annual exceedance-probability discharge (AEPD) for natural streamflow in eastern Colorado. A total of 188 streamgages, consisting of 6,536 years of record and a mean of approximately 35...
Authors
Michael S. Kohn, Michael R. Stevens, Tessa M. Harden, Jeanne E. Godaire, Ralph E. Klinger, Amanullah Mommandi

Macroinvertebrate community sample collection methods and data collected from Sand Creek and Medano Creek, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado, 2005–07 Macroinvertebrate community sample collection methods and data collected from Sand Creek and Medano Creek, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado, 2005–07

This report provides a table of site descriptions, sample information, and semiquantitative aquatic macroinvertebrate data from 105 samples collected between 2005 and 2007 from 7 stream sites within the Sand Creek and Medano Creek watersheds in Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Saguache County, Colorado. Additionally, a short description of sample collection methods and...
Authors
Morgan A. Ford, Robert E. Zuellig, David M. Walters, James F. Bruce

2014 annual summary of the lower Gunnison River Basin Selenium Management Program water-quality monitoring, Colorado 2014 annual summary of the lower Gunnison River Basin Selenium Management Program water-quality monitoring, Colorado

Dissolved-selenium loading analyses of data collected at 18 water-quality sites in the lower Gunnison River Basin in Colorado were completed through water year (WY) 2014. A WY is defined as October 1–September 30. Selenium is a trace element that bioaccumulates in aquatic food chains and can cause reproductive failure, deformities, and other harmful effects. This report presents...
Authors
Mark F. Henneberg

Parameter regionalization of a monthly water balance model for the conterminous United States Parameter regionalization of a monthly water balance model for the conterminous United States

A parameter regionalization scheme to transfer parameter values from gaged to ungaged areas for a monthly water balance model (MWBM) was developed and tested for the conterminous United States (CONUS). The Fourier Amplitude Sensitivity Test, a global-sensitivity algorithm, was implemented on a MWBM to generate parameter sensitivities on a set of 109 951 hydrologic response units (HRUs)...
Authors
Andrew R. Bock, Lauren E. Hay, Gregory J. McCabe, Steven L. Markstrom, R. Dwight Atkinson

Screening for contaminants of emerging concern in Northern Colorado Plateau Network waters: 2015 surface-water data Screening for contaminants of emerging concern in Northern Colorado Plateau Network waters: 2015 surface-water data

In 2015, as part of an on-going screening program for contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8, surface waters at 18 locations in or near seven national park units within the Northern Colorado Plateau Network (NCPN) were sampled for pesticides and pesticide degradation products, pharmaceuticals and personal care...
Authors
R Weissinger, William A. Battaglin, Paul M. Bradley

Biogeochemical controls of uranium bioavailability from the dissolved phase in natural freshwaters Biogeochemical controls of uranium bioavailability from the dissolved phase in natural freshwaters

To gain insights into the risks associated with uranium (U) mining and processing, we investigated the biogeochemical controls of U bioavailability in the model freshwater speciesLymnaea stagnalis (Gastropoda). Bioavailability of dissolved U(VI) was characterized in controlled laboratory experiments over a range of water hardness, pH, and in the presence of complexing ligands in the form...
Authors
Marie Noele Croteau, Christopher C. Fuller, Daniel J. Cain, Kate M. Campbell, George R. Aiken

Spatiotemporal patterns of mercury accumulation in lake sediments of western North America Spatiotemporal patterns of mercury accumulation in lake sediments of western North America

For the Western North America Mercury Synthesis, we compiled mercury records from 165 dated sediment cores from 138 natural lakes across western North America. Lake sediments are accepted as faithful recorders of historical mercury accumulation rates, and regional and sub-regional temporal and spatial trends were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. Mercury accumulation...
Authors
Paul Drevnick, Colin A. Cooke, Daniella Barraza, Jules M. Blais, Kenneth Coale, Brian F. Cumming, Chris Curtis, Biplob Das, William F. Donahue, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Daniel R. Engstrom, William F. Fitzgerald, Chad V. Furl, John R. Gray, Roland I. Hall, Togwell A. Jackson, Kathleen R. Laird, W. Lyle Lockhart, Robie W. Macdonald, M. Alisa Mast, Callie Mathieu, Derek C.G. Muir, Peter Outridge, Scott Reinemann, Sarah E. Rothenberg, Ana Carolina Ruiz-Fernandex, Louis, Rhea Sanders, Hamed Sanei, Elliott Skierszkan, Peter C. Van Metre, Timothy Veverica, Johan A. Wiklund, Brent B. Wolfe

Response of selenium concentrations in groundwater to seasonal canal leakage, lower Gunnison River Basin, Colorado, 2013 Response of selenium concentrations in groundwater to seasonal canal leakage, lower Gunnison River Basin, Colorado, 2013

Selenium is a water-quality concern in the lower Gunnison River Basin because irrigation water interacting with seleniferous soils derived from the Mancos Shale Formation has mobilized selenium and increased its concentrations in surface water. Understanding the occurrence of elevated selenium concentrations in groundwater is necessary because groundwater discharge is an important source...
Authors
J.I. Linard, P.B. McMahon, L. R. Arnold, J.C. Thomas

Numerical experiments to explain multiscale hydrological responses to mountain pine beetle tree mortality in a headwater watershed Numerical experiments to explain multiscale hydrological responses to mountain pine beetle tree mortality in a headwater watershed

The effects of mountain pine beetle (MPB)-induced tree mortality on a headwater hydrologic system were investigated using an integrated physical modeling framework with a high-resolution computational grid. Simulations of MPB-affected and unaffected conditions, each with identical atmospheric forcing for a normal water year, were compared at multiple scales to evaluate the effects of...
Authors
Colin A. Penn, Lindsay A. Bearup, Reed M. Maxwell, David W. Clow
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