As large-scale energy development continues in the Piceance Basin, there is potential for changes in surface-water and groundwater resources. In the southern Piceance Basin, a water task force consisting of numerous local governments, municipalities, and energy companies collectively identified the need for a common data repository. In the northern Piceance Basin, similar efforts were underway in approximately the same timeframe. The outcome of these efforts is the combined northern and southern Piceance Basins project, referred to collectively as "the Piceance Basin." Data collected for the Piceance Basin provide an invaluable contribution to the planning, monitoring, conservation, and management of water resources.
Approach
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with energy industry and local and State agency partners, is in the process of creating and maintaining a public, web-accessible common data repository. The repository will combine waterquality data from industry, local, State, Federal, and other sources. Data will be screened and merged from disparate locations and formatted into a single uniform format. The quality and completeness of the incoming data will be reviewed and documented. Using the repository, the USGS will evaluate all available water-quality data to develop a baseline assessment of the region’s water resources. Results of the baseline assessment will facilitate the development of regional monitoring strategies to fill identified data gaps and minimize redundancies in current and future water-resource monitoring
Below are other science projects associated with the Colorado Water-Quality Data Repository.
Upper Yampa Watershed Water-Quality Data
Eagle River Water-Quality Data
Upper Gunnison River Water-Quality Data
Southwest Study Area Water-Quality Data
Roaring Fork Watershed Water-Quality Data
Arkansas River Water-Quality Data
Blue River Water-Quality Data
Below are multimedia items associated with this project.
Below are publications associated with this project.
Methane in groundwater from a leaking gas well, Piceance Basin, Colorado, USA
Characterization of hydrology and water quality of Piceance Creek in the Alkali Flat area, Rio Blanco County, Colorado, March 2012
Groundwater ages and mixing in the Piceance Basin natural gas province, Colorado
Chemistry and age of groundwater in the Piceance structural basin, Rio Blanco county, Colorado, 2010-12
Characterization and data-gap analysis of surface-water quality data in the Piceance study area, western Colorado, 1959–2009
Overview of groundwater quality in the Piceance Basin, western Colorado, 1946--2009
Assessment of in-place oil shale resources of the Green River Formation, Piceance Basin, western Colorado
Nahcolite resources in the Green River Formation, Piceance Basin, northwestern Colorado
Intertonguing of the lower part of the Uinta Formation with the upper part of the Green River Formation in the Piceance Creek Basin during the late stages of Lake Uinta
The Yampa Bed — A regionally extensive tonstein in the Williams Fork Formation, northwestern Piceance Creek and southern Sand Wash Basins, Colorado
Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado, Oil Shale Geodatabase
Baseline characterization of water quality and mass loading in Piceance Creek, Rio Blanco County, Colorado, December 2000
Hydrology and geochemistry of a surface coal mine in northwestern Colorado
Below are partners associated with this project.
- Overview
As large-scale energy development continues in the Piceance Basin, there is potential for changes in surface-water and groundwater resources. In the southern Piceance Basin, a water task force consisting of numerous local governments, municipalities, and energy companies collectively identified the need for a common data repository. In the northern Piceance Basin, similar efforts were underway in approximately the same timeframe. The outcome of these efforts is the combined northern and southern Piceance Basins project, referred to collectively as "the Piceance Basin." Data collected for the Piceance Basin provide an invaluable contribution to the planning, monitoring, conservation, and management of water resources.
Piceance Basin Water Quality Data Study Area Approach
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with energy industry and local and State agency partners, is in the process of creating and maintaining a public, web-accessible common data repository. The repository will combine waterquality data from industry, local, State, Federal, and other sources. Data will be screened and merged from disparate locations and formatted into a single uniform format. The quality and completeness of the incoming data will be reviewed and documented. Using the repository, the USGS will evaluate all available water-quality data to develop a baseline assessment of the region’s water resources. Results of the baseline assessment will facilitate the development of regional monitoring strategies to fill identified data gaps and minimize redundancies in current and future water-resource monitoring
Groundwater sampling Piceance Basin, CO - Science
Below are other science projects associated with the Colorado Water-Quality Data Repository.
Upper Yampa Watershed Water-Quality Data
The Upper Yampa River Watershed (UYRW) drains approximately 1,798 square miles west of the Continental Divide in northwestern Colorado. The Upper Yampa River Watershed includes the Yampa River Basin upstream from Elkhead Creek and the Elkhead Creek Basin and primarily is in Routt County. The city of Steamboat Springs and the towns of Hayden, Oak Creek, and Yampa are in the watershed. The Yampa...Eagle River Water-Quality Data
The Eagle River drains approximately 970 square miles (sq mi) west of the Continental Divide in central Colorado before flowing into the Colorado River. The Eagle River watershed (ERW) is located primarily within Eagle County and includes the towns of Vail, Minturn, Avon, Edwards, Eagle, and Gypsum. The eastern boundary of the Eagle River watershed is drained by Gore Creek, located at Vail Pass...Upper Gunnison River Water-Quality Data
The Upper Gunnison River Watershed, located in the Rocky Mountains 150 miles southwest of Denver, Colorado, drains approximately 3,965 square miles. Forest and rangeland comprise 89 percent of land within the watershed, but the traditional western ranching economy is increasingly supplemented through a tourism economy centered around Crested Butte Mountain Resort and the Curecanti National...Southwest Study Area Water-Quality Data
In southwest Colorado, drought, wildfires, mining activities, agriculture, and population growth have altered the landscape from its natural condition. These changes have potentially degraded the water-quality of streams, rivers, reservoirs, and groundwater by introducing or increasing levels of metals, nutrients, synthetic organic chemicals, and sediment. Recognizing the need to understand how...Roaring Fork Watershed Water-Quality Data
The Roaring Fork Watershed, located in the Rocky Mountains 150 miles west of Denver, Colorado, has seen rapid development and population growth in recent years. The USGS, in cooperation with Pitkin County, Colorado Water Conservation District, Ruedi Water and Power Authority, and other local entities, conducted a comprehensive surface- and ground-water resource assessment in the Roaring Fork River...Arkansas River Water-Quality Data
The Arkansas River Basin drains an area of 24,904 square miles of southeastern Colorado. Like other basins on the Front Range, the Arkansas Basin has experienced growth and is expected to have significant increases in growth in the future. Demands on the limited water resources also will increase as changes in water storage, water releases, and/or transfer of waters within or outside of the basin...Blue River Water-Quality Data
The Blue River drains approximately 680 square miles west of the Continental Divide in central Colorado before flowing northward into the Colorado River near Kremmling, Colorado. The Blue River watershed (BRW) is almost entirely located in Summit County and includes the towns of Breckenridge, Dillon, Frisco, Montezuma, and Silverthorne. Dillon Reservoir and Green Mountain Reservoir are major water... - Multimedia
Below are multimedia items associated with this project.
- Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Methane in groundwater from a leaking gas well, Piceance Basin, Colorado, USA
Site-specific and regional analysis of time-series hydrologic and geochemical data collected from 15 monitoring wells in the Piceance Basin indicated that a leaking gas well contaminated shallow groundwater with thermogenic methane. The gas well was drilled in 1956 and plugged and abandoned in 1990. Chemical and isotopic data showed the thermogenic methane was not from mixing of gas-rich formationAuthorsPeter B. McMahon, Judith C. Thomas, John T. Crawford, Mark M. Dornblaser, Andrew G. HuntFilter Total Items: 27Characterization of hydrology and water quality of Piceance Creek in the Alkali Flat area, Rio Blanco County, Colorado, March 2012
Previous studies by the U.S. Geological Survey identified Alkali Flat as an area of groundwater upwelling, with increases in concentrations of total dissolved solids, and streamflow loss, but additional study was needed to better characterize these observations. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, White River Field Office, conducted a study to characterizAuthorsJudith C. ThomasGroundwater ages and mixing in the Piceance Basin natural gas province, Colorado
Reliably identifying the effects of energy development on groundwater quality can be difficult because baseline assessments of water quality completed before the onset of energy development are rare and because interactions between hydrocarbon reservoirs and aquifers can be complex, involving both natural and human processes. Groundwater age and mixing data can strengthen interpretations of monitoAuthorsPeter B. McMahon, Judith C. Thomas, Andrew G. HuntChemistry and age of groundwater in the Piceance structural basin, Rio Blanco county, Colorado, 2010-12
Fourteen monitoring wells were sampled by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, to better understand the chemistry and age of groundwater in the Piceance structural basin in Rio Blanco County, Colorado, and how they may relate to the development of underlying natural-gas reservoirs. Natural gas extraction in the area has been ongoing since at least the 1950AuthorsPeter B. McMahon, Judith C. Thomas, Andrew G. HuntCharacterization and data-gap analysis of surface-water quality data in the Piceance study area, western Colorado, 1959–2009
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Federal, State, county, and industry partners, developed a Web-accessible common data repository to provide access to historical and current (as of August 2009) water-quality information (available on the Internet at http://rmgsc.cr.usgs.gov/cwqdr/Piceance/index.shtml). Surface-water-quality data from public and private sources were compiled for theAuthorsJudith C. Thomas, Jennifer L. Moore, Keelin R. Schaffrath, Jean A. Dupree, Cory A. Williams, Kenneth J. LeibOverview of groundwater quality in the Piceance Basin, western Colorado, 1946--2009
Groundwater-quality data from public and private sources for the period 1946 to 2009 were compiled and put into a common data repository for the Piceance Basin. The data repository is available on the web at http://rmgsc.cr.usgs.gov/cwqdr/Piceance/index.shtml. A subset of groundwater-quality data from the repository was compiled, reviewed, and checked for quality assurance for this report. The resAuthorsJ.C. Thomas, P. B. McMahonAssessment of in-place oil shale resources of the Green River Formation, Piceance Basin, western Colorado
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently completed a reassessment of in-place oil shale resources, regardless of richness, in the Eocene Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin, western Colorado. A considerable amount of oil-yield data has been collected after previous in-place assessments were published, and these data were incorporated into this new assessment. About twice as many oil-yielAuthorsRonald C. Johnson, Tracey J. Mercier, Michael E. Brownfield, Michael P. Pantea, Jesse G. SelfNahcolite resources in the Green River Formation, Piceance Basin, northwestern Colorado
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently completed an assessment of in-place nahcolite (NaHCO3) resources in the Piceance Basin, northwestern Colorado. Nahcolite is present in the oil shale deposits of the Parachute Creek Member of the Eocene Green River Formation. It occurs as disseminated aggregates, nodules, bedded units of disseminated brown crystals, and white crystalline beds associated wiAuthorsMichael E. Brownfield, Ronald C. Johnson, Jesse G. Self, Tracey J. MercierIntertonguing of the lower part of the Uinta Formation with the upper part of the Green River Formation in the Piceance Creek Basin during the late stages of Lake Uinta
During most of middle Eocene time, a 1,500-mi2 area between the Colorado and White Rivers in northwestern Colorado was occupied by the Piceance lobe of Lake Uinta. This initially freshwater lake became increasingly saline throughout its history. Sediments accumulating in the lake produced mostly clay shale, limestone, and dolomite containing varying concentrations of organic matter.At the time ofAuthorsJohn R. DonnellThe Yampa Bed — A regionally extensive tonstein in the Williams Fork Formation, northwestern Piceance Creek and southern Sand Wash Basins, Colorado
A regionally persistent and distinctive unit of Upper Cretaceous age is here formally named the Yampa Bed of the Williams Fork Formation for exposures in the Yampa, Danforth Hills, and Grand Hogback coal fields, Moffat and Routt Counties, northwest Colorado; the name is derived from the Yampa River valley. The type section was measured in the NE¼ SW¼ sec. 6, T. 5 N., R. 91 W., about 8 miles southAuthorsMichael E. Brownfield, Edward A. JohnsonPiceance Creek Basin, Colorado, Oil Shale Geodatabase
This geodatabase is a digital reproduction of three legacy USGS oil shale publications--MF-958 (Pitman and Johnson, 1978), MF-1069 (Pitman, 1979), and OC-132 (Pitman and others, 1990). The database consists of 106 feature classes in three feature datasets organized by publication. Each dataset contains isopach contours, isoresource contours, isoresource polygons, and corehole and drillhole locatioAuthorsBaseline characterization of water quality and mass loading in Piceance Creek, Rio Blanco County, Colorado, December 2000
No abstract available.AuthorsRoderick F. OrtizHydrology and geochemistry of a surface coal mine in northwestern Colorado
The hydrology and geochemistry of a reclaimed coal mine in northwestern Colorado were monitored during water years 1988 and 1989. Some data also were collected in water years 1987 and 1990. This report describes (1) the sources of hydrologic recharge to and discharge from reclaimed spoil, (2) the relative contributions of recharge to the reclaimed spoil aquifer from identified source waters and thAuthorsR.S. Williams, G. M. Clark - Partners
Below are partners associated with this project.
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