Publications

This report documents water quality and suspended sediment with an emphasis on evaluating the effects of stormflow on Fountain Creek Basin in the vicinity of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Water-quality data collected at 11 sites between 1981 and 2001 were used to evaluate the effects of stormflow on water quality. Suspended-sediment data collected at seven sites from 1998 through 2001 were...

In the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, major highways are often constructed in stream valleys. In the event of a vehicular accident involving hazardous materials, the close proximity of highways to the streams increases the risk of contamination entering the streams. Recent population growth has contributed to increased traffic volume along Colorado highways and has resulted in increased...

Community-based watershed groups, many of which collect environmental data, have steadily increased in number over the last decade. The data generated by these programs are often underutilized due to uncertainty in the quality of data produced. The incorporation of data-quality measures into stakeholder monitoring programs lends statistical validity to data. Data-quality measures are...

No abstract available.

Depth-integrated snowpack chemistry was measured just prior to maximum snowpack depth during the winters of 1992-1999 at 12 sites co-located with National Atmospheric Deposition Program/National Trend Network (NADP/NTN) sites in the central and southern Rocky Mountains, USA. Winter volume-weighted mean wet-deposition concentrations were calculated for the NADP/NTN sites, and the data...

Satellite imagery from the Landsat Thematic Mapper (nominal date 1992) was used to classify and map the location of irrigated land overlying the High Plains aquifer. The High Plains aquifer underlies 174,000 square miles in parts of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. The U.S. Geological Survey is conducting a water-quality study of the...

This report documents water quality and suspended sediment with an emphasis on evaluating the effects of stormflow on Fountain Creek Basin in the vicinity of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Water-quality data collected at 11 sites between 1981 and 2001 were used to evaluate the effects of stormflow on water quality. Suspended-sediment data collected at seven sites from 1998 through 2001 were...

The U.S Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests, began a study in 2000 to develop selected streamflow characteristics for 60 streamflow-gaging stations in and near the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests. The study area is located in southwestern Colorado within the Gunnison River, Dolores River, and Plateau...

The High Plains Aquifer, located in the United States, is one of the largest freshwater aquifers in the world and is threatened by continued decline in water levels and deteriorating water quality. Understanding the physical and cultural features of this area is essential to assessing the factors that affect this groundwater resource. About 27% of the irrigated land in the United States...

A reactive transport model based on one-dimensional transport and equilibrium chemistry is applied to synoptic data from an acid mine drainage stream. Model inputs include streamflow estimates based on tracer dilution, inflow chemistry based on synoptic sampling, and equilibrium constants describing acid/base, complexation, precipitation/dissolution, and sorption reactions. The dominant...

Intensive mining activity and highly mineralized rock formations have had significant impacts on surface-water and streambed-sediment quality and aquatic life within the upper reaches of the Uncompahgre River in western Colorado. A synoptic study by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program was completed in the upper Uncompahgre River Basin in 1998 to better...

Metal contamination in the upper Alamosa River Basin has occurred for decades from the Summitville Mine site, from other smaller mines, and from natural, metal-enriched acidic drainage in the basin. In 1995, the need to quantify contamination from various source areas in the basin and to quantify the spatial, seasonal, and annual metal loads in the basin was identified. Data collection...