Sediment Transport

In an effort to better understand sediment movement and its relation to flow regimes of the Upper Colorado River in Colorado, in 2019, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Upper Colorado River Wild and Scenic Stakeholder Group, studied the magnitude and recurrence interval of streamflow (discharge) needed to initiate bed movement of gravel-sized and finer sediment in a segment of...

The Upper Yampa River Basin (UYRB) drains approximately 1,800 square miles west of the Continental Divide in northwestern Colorado. In 2019, the USGS, in cooperation with local stakeholders in the UYRB water community, initiated a study to characterize streamflow, suspended sediment, and nutrients using historic and recently acquired water-quality data from a long-term monitoring program initiated...

The Fountain Creek watershed, Colorado, is characterized by steep channel slopes and varied land use. Spatially distributed precipitation events result in varying rates of direct runoff. These dynamics contribute to large streamflows and sediment transport, which has caused periodic flooding, and sediment aggradation and deposition in Fountain Creek and its tributary streams. The U.S. Geological...